A1 (Beginner)Lesson 5: Irregular & Modal Verbs
Eight more high-frequency verbs that break the present-tense pattern: dizer, ver, vir, dar, saber, trazer, pôr and ouvir (to say, see, come, give, know, bring, put, hear). Almost all of their irregularity sits in the eu form, so once you learn that one the rest of each verb behaves. It also sorts out vir (to come: vem) versus ver (to see: vê), a pair even Brazilians write wrong.
The irregularity lives in eu: digo, vejo, venho, dou, sei, trago, ponho, ouço (I say, see, come, give, know, bring, put, hear) — learn those eight and the rest of each verb falls into line.
The eu form usually grows a consonant: -go (digo, trago), -ço (faço, ouço), -nho (tenho, venho, ponho).
dizer (to say): digo · diz · dizemos · dizem — trazer (to bring): trago · traz · trazemos · trazem.
ver (to see): vejo · vê · vemos · veem — dar (to give): dou · dá · damos · dão — saber (to know): sei · sabe · sabemos · sabem.
vir (to come): venho · vem · vimos · vêm — pôr (to put): ponho · põe · pomos · põem.
vir has the M (vem, vêm); ver never does (vê, veem) — the pair Brazilians themselves write wrong.
saber + infinitive means "to know how to": Eu sei nadar. (I know how to swim.)
eu is the irregular form — digo · vejo · venho · dou · sei · trago · ponho · ouço (I say · see · come · give · know · bring · put · hear) — every other person stays close to regular
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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.
These eight verbs look intimidating as a list and turn out to be tame in practice, because each one is irregular in essentially one place: the eu form.
Take dizer (to say). Nothing in the infinitive prepares you for eu digo — where did that g come from? But the moment you move past eu, the verb settles down and takes the ordinary -er endings you already use for comer: nós dizemos, just like nós comemos.
That is the strategy for every verb on this page: learn the eu form, then relax.
In most of this group the eu form does the same trick — it grows an extra consonant the infinitive never showed you. There are only three shapes, and you already own two of them:
| Portuguese | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Eu vejo a praia daqui. | I can see the beach from here. |
| O João sempre diz a mesma coisa. | João always says the same thing. |
| A gente vem de ônibus. | We come by bus. |
| Eles vêm para o Brasil em janeiro. | They're coming to Brazil in January. |
| Você sabe o nome do hotel? | Do you know the name of the hotel? |
| A professora dá aula na escola. | The teacher teaches at the school. |
| A Maria traz o almoço para o trabalho. | Maria brings lunch to work. |
| Eu ponho açúcar no café. | I put sugar in my coffee. |
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 comes toward you, levar goes away from you. English uses "bring" for both. ✅ 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.)
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