More irregular verbs in the present: dizer, ver, vir, dar, saber, trazer, pôr, ouvir

Five irregular verbs got you started; these eight are the ones you meet next, and you meet them constantly — saying, seeing, coming, giving, knowing, bringing, putting, hearing. Without them you end up building sentences around the verbs you can conjugate instead of the ones you actually mean, which is how learners start sounding vague. There is a payoff further down the road too: several structures you will meet later are built directly on the eu form you learn here, so digo, venho and ponho are an investment rather than eight more things to memorize.

1. Start with eu, then check the other forms

These eight verbs look intimidating as a list, but their distinctive eu forms give you a useful starting point. Several of them are also irregular in other persons.

Take dizer (to say). Nothing in the infinitive prepares you for eu digo — where did that g come from? The nós form takes the ordinary -er ending you already use for comer: nós dizemos, just like nós comemos. But diz is also irregular: it lacks the regular third-person-singular ending -e.

That is the strategy for every verb on this page: learn the eu form, then the other forms in the tables.

2. Three patterns of consonant change

Five verbs in this group have eu forms ending in -go, -ço or -nho, and you already know examples of two patterns. A consonant can change rather than simply grow: dizer → digo and trazer → trago replace z with g; ouvir → ouço replaces v with ç.

Common Pitfalls

• Making the eu form regular. This is the one mistake everybody makes, because the regular pattern is so tempting. ❌ eu sabo, ❌ eu pono, ❌ eu dizo, ❌ eu trazo → ✅ sei, ponho, digo, trago. Eu sei onde ele mora. (I know where he lives.)

• saber is not conhecer. Saber is for facts and know-how; conhecer is for being acquainted with people and places. ❌ Eu sei o João. → ✅ Eu conheço o João. (I know João.) But ✅ Eu sei o telefone dele. (I know his phone number.)

• trazer and levar depend on the reference point. Usually trazer brings something toward the reference point, often the speaker or listener, while levar takes it to another place. English bring/take also depend on viewpoint. ✅ Eu trago o vinho. (I'll bring the wine — to where we are.) ✅ Eu levo o vinho. (I'll take the wine — somewhere else.)

• Writing eles vem for eles vêm. The plural of vir needs its circumflex. ❌ Eles vem amanhã. → ✅ Eles vêm amanhã. (They're coming tomorrow.)

• Losing the accent on pôr. In writing, pôr (to put) and por (by, for) are different words. ✅ Eu vou pôr o livro na mesa. (I'm going to put the book on the table.) ✅ Obrigado por tudo. (Thanks for everything.)

• ouvir or escutar? Ouvir leans toward "hear", escutar toward "listen" — but Brazilians use them loosely, and both are normal with music. ✅ Eu ouço um barulho. (I hear a noise.) ✅ Eu escuto música no ônibus. (I listen to music on the bus.)