Essential modals: poder, querer, precisar

These three verbs turn a plain statement into what you can, want, or need to do — the backbone of everyday Brazilian conversation. With them you can ask permission (Posso entrar? — May I come in?), order politely (Quero um café — I want a coffee) and state a need (Preciso de ajuda — I need help). Best of all, they pair with the infinitives you already know: posso, quero or preciso + almost any verb. Learn these three and you instantly multiply what you can say.

Three everyday helper verbs

Poder (can / may), querer (to want) and precisar (to need) are modal verbs: you conjugate them and add a second verb in the infinitive — its dictionary form (–ar, –er, –ir). Poder and querer are irregular; precisar follows the regular –AR pattern.

Conjugation (present)

PODER — can / may (irregular)

• eu posso

• você / ele / ela pode (a gente pode)

• nós podemos

• vocês / eles / elas podem

QUERER — to want (irregular; note the short você/ele/ela form quer)

Permission & requests (PODER)

• "Posso entrar?" (May I come in?)

• "Você pode ajudar?" (Can you help?)

• "Podemos comer aqui?" (Can we eat here?)

• "Você pode repetir, por favor?" (Can you repeat, please?)

Saying what you want (QUERER)

• "Quero um café." (I want a coffee.)

• "Você quer pão?" (Do you want bread?)

• "Não queremos sair hoje." (We don't want to go out today.)

• "Eles querem viajar." (They want to travel.)

PRECISAR: when to use de

• Before a noun, use de: Preciso de dinheiro.

• Before an infinitive, de is optional: Preciso trabalhar or Preciso de trabalhar. Brazilian Portuguese usually omits de here.

• de + article contracts (Lesson 2): de + o → do, de + a → da — Preciso do médico.

QUERER: the short quer

• ✅ Ele quer café. (never quere)

• The other present-tense forms listed here follow regular endings: quero, queremos, querem.

PODER: ability or permission?

Context decides:

• Posso nadar. = I can swim (ability) or I am allowed to swim (permission).