A1 (Beginner)Lesson 3: Present Indicative & Modal Verbs
Regular –IR verbs in the present indicative describe actions happening now or habitually, just like –AR and –ER verbs, but with their own ending pattern.
Remove -IR from the infinitive to find the stem
Add the endings: eu -o, você/ele/ela -e, nós -imos, vocês/eles/elas -em
Tu -es exists but is rarely used in Brazil
A gente uses the 3rd-person-singular form (-e)
The only difference from -ER is the nós form (-imos vs -emos)
Smallest verb class, but holds many everyday verbs
Many -IR verbs are about movement, decisions and dividing
A few (like dormir, cobrir, tossir) change their stem vowel in the eu form only
verb stem (remove -IR) + present tense ending (-o, -e, -imos, -em)
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Don't let the small size fool you — -IR verbs punch above their weight in daily Brazilian life. You can't go anywhere without partir or sair, you can't open doors or windows without abrir, you can't share the bill or a cake without dividir, and you can't make plans without decidir. These verbs show up in everyday moments: Que horas você parte? (What time are you leaving?), Você divide o apartamento? (Do you share the apartment?), A gente divide a conta? (Shall we split the bill?).
On top of that, finishing -IR rounds out all three Portuguese regular conjugations. From here, every regular verb you meet — and most modern loanwords land on -AR by default — falls into a pattern you already know.
The -IR conjugation is the close cousin of the -ER conjugation — almost identical except for one detail in the nós form. Once you know -ER, -IR takes minutes, not hours.
Use PARTIR (to leave / to break) as the model:
Find the stem: PARTIR − IR = PART-
Add the ending that matches the subject:
part + o = parto (I leave)
TU → -ES (rarely used in Brazil)
"Eu abro a porta de manhã" (I open the door in the morning)
"Você divide o apartamento?" (Do you share the apartment?)
"A que horas vocês partem?" (What time are you leaving?)
"Ela assiste televisão todo dia" (She watches TV every day)
"Nós dividimos o bolo" (We share the cake)
"Eu decido depois" (I'll decide later)
"A gente decide isso agora" (We decide this now)
"Vocês permitem cachorro?" (Do you allow dogs?)
"Ele descobre tudo" (He finds out everything)
Stem change o → u in the eu form only:
dormir → eu durmo
cobrir → eu cubro
descobrir → eu descubro
tossir → eu tusso
Portuguese -IR verbs that don't line up with their Spanish look-alikes:
assistir = to watch / attend (Spanish asistir = to attend only)
partir = primarily "to leave" in Portuguese; "to break" is also common (Spanish partir is mainly "to divide / split")
subir = same meaning as Spanish subir, but slight conjugation differences
Partir descends from Latin partīre "to share, divide" — the same root that gave English part, party, particle and apartment. The "break / cut" sense kept the original meaning of splitting something into pieces, while the "depart" sense came from the metaphor of separating yourself from a place. That is why partir o bolo (cut the cake) and partir para o aeroporto (leave for the airport) are the same verb doing two related jobs.
Source: Wiktionary — partir (Portuguese etymology).
Classical Latin had four regular conjugations; Portuguese trimmed it down to three by rerouting the inheritance. Most modern -IR verbs descend from Latin's 4th conjugation in -īre (partīre → partir, aperīre → abrir), and a smaller set are refugees from the 3rd conjugation in short -ere (dīvidere → dividir). That mixed pedigree is one reason -IR is the smallest of the three Portuguese verb classes.
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