A2 (Elementary)Lesson 3: Reflexive Pronouns & Daily Routines
A group of very common -ir verbs shifts the vowel inside its stem in the present tense, but only in certain forms — eu prefiro (I prefer) sitting right next to você prefere (you prefer). This point sorts them into three small classes and shows exactly which form moves in each one.
e → i in the eu form only: servir → eu sirvo (I serve), vestir → eu visto (I get dressed), seguir → eu sigo (I follow). Everything else keeps the e: você serve (you serve).
o → u in the eu form only: dormir → eu durmo (I sleep), cobrir → eu cubro (I cover), tossir → eu tusso (I cough).
u → o runs the other way round: the eu form is the regular one, eu subo (I go up), while você sobe (you go up) and eles sobem (they go up) take the o.
nós never changes: servimos (we serve), dormimos (we sleep), subimos (we go up). If the ending carries the stress, the stem is safe.
pedir is a cousin, not a member: it changes a consonant, not a vowel — eu peço (I ask for), você pede (you ask for).
Two eu forms cause daily confusion: peço (I ask for) against posso (I can), and sigo (I follow) against sinto (I feel).
e → i in eu only: servir → sirvo (I serve) · o → u in eu only: dormir → durmo (I sleep) · u → o in você/ele + vocês/eles: subir → sobe (goes up) · nós never changes
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These are not exotic verbs. Dormir (to sleep), vestir (to get dressed), pedir (to order), preferir (to prefer), sentir (to feel), servir (to serve) and seguir (to follow) run through every conversation about your day, your food and your mood. Get the stem wrong and out comes eu dormo or eu prefero, two recognizable beginner errors in Brazilian Portuguese. In the first two vowel classes, the form that changes is the eu form, which is the one you use to order, to ask and to say how you are: eu peço (I'll have), eu prefiro (I prefer), eu sinto (I feel). It is the first form out of your mouth in a café.
Regular -ir verbs are the easy part. Abrir (to open) keeps the same stem all the way through:
| Form | abrir (to open) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| eu | abro | I open |
| você / ele, ela | abre | you open / he, she opens |
| nós | abrimos | we open |
| vocês / eles, elas | abrem | you (plural) / they open |
Now put servir (to serve) beside it. The endings are identical — -o, -e, -imos, -em. The only thing that moved is the vowel inside the stem, and it moved once:
| Portuguese | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Eu prefiro café sem açúcar. | I prefer coffee without sugar. |
| Você prefere praia ou piscina? | Do you prefer the beach or the pool? |
| Eu durmo oito horas por noite. | I sleep eight hours a night. |
| Vocês dormem bem com tanto barulho? | Do you all sleep well with that much noise? |
| Eu sirvo o almoço às onze e meia. | I serve lunch at half past eleven. |
| Ela sempre repete a mesma história. | She always repeats the same story. |
| Eu visto uma camisa branca no trabalho. | I wear a white shirt at work. |
| Eu sinto muito pelo atraso. | I'm very sorry about the delay. |
| O elevador sobe até o quinto andar. | The elevator goes up to the fifth floor. |
| Eu peço um pão de queijo, por favor. | I'll have a cheese bread roll, please. |
Leaving the eu form regular. eu dormo is a common slip — it is eu durmo (I sleep). The change bites only there, so você dorme (you sleep) is exactly what you expect it to be.
Borrowing the Spanish shape. eu prefero and eu prefiero are both wrong: Portuguese raises the vowel to a plain i, eu prefiro (I prefer). This present-tense change does not break it into ie.
Spreading the change too far. ele pide and eles sirvem do not exist. In the e → i class only the eu form moves, and pedir likewise changes its consonant only there: ele pede (he asks for), eles servem (they serve).
peço against posso. Eu peço ajuda. (I ask for help.) comes from pedir. Eu posso ajudar. (I can help.) comes from poder. Two different verbs that happen to sound alike.
sigo against sinto. Eu sigo você no Instagram. (I follow you on Instagram.) is seguir. Eu sinto saudade de você. (I miss you.) is sentir.
Touching the nós form. nós durmimos and nós sirvimos are both wrong. The nós form is always regular: nós dormimos (we sleep), nós servimos (we serve).
Running subir like the others. ele sube is wrong; it is ele sobe (he goes up). In this class the odd one out is not the eu form.
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