Today I am starting with a list of irregular verbs in Portuguese, which I consider to be the most used and handy to know. In the following posts, I will continue to explore the immense world of these kind of verbs, so stay tuned!
For today, I have chosen the verbs DIZER and FAZER, which translate into English as to say and to do/make.
I will now start by giving you the conjugation in the Present Simple or Presente Simples. Be aware that in future posts I will also be adding more infos about these verbs in other tenses, but for the sake of keeping it simple, in this post I will only focus on the present tense, which is already hard enough.
You can also watch the following video from my YouTube channel, where I am speaking about this topic:
Irregular Verbs in Portuguese – Presente Simples
| FAZER | |
| Eu | faço |
| Tu | fazes |
| Ele/Ela/Você | faz |
| Nós | fazemos |
| Vocês | fazem |
| Eles/Elas | fazem |
| DIZER | |
| Eu | digo |
| Tu | dizes |
| Ele/Ela/Você | diz |
| Nós | dizemos |
| Vocês | dizem |
| Eles/Elas | dizem |
As you can see, these two verbs both belong to the second conjugation – verbs ending in “er” – and they both form the Present Simple in a fairly similar way. What makes them irregular is the way that the first and third persons are formed. Take a look!
Take care – the first person is irregular
If you remember, regular verbs ending in “er” form the first person by taking the ending letters of the infinitive and adding an “o” to the stem of the verb (like COMER –> eu como). DIZER and FAZER, however, form it by changing the middle letter. In DIZER, the “z” changes to “g” and in FAZER, the “z” changes to “ç”. Only after this change, is the “o” added. We end up with “Eu digo” and “Eu faço“.
Pay also attention to the third person
The third person of the regular verbs, on the other hand, adds an “e” to the stem of the verb (like in COMER –> ele come). With these two verbs I present today, this does not occur, however. In fact, the third person of these verbs is formed by loosing the end letters (“er”) and by leaving it like that, without adding an “e” or anything else for that matter! This is why we end up with “diz” and “faz“. Interesting, hum?
All the other persons, as you can see, follow the same rules as the regular verbs.
Practice, practice, practice!
I know that irregular verbs can be really tricky to remember. But if every three days, or every week, you learn two of them, I think you will be able to tackle them.
I advise you to make a copy of these verbs I gave you today and to attach them to a wall or a door or anywhere you see fit, until you really know them. Besides this, try to use them as much as you can. Soon enough you will be using them like a pro!
Take a look at the exercises below and try to do them. In one of the exercises, I mix a bit of the regular verbs with the irregular, so be sure to check all my other posts about verbs and how to form them!
Remember: to do = fazer = to make
Just one last thing I want to tell you before moving on to the exercises. Be aware of the meaning of “FAZER”. As I mentioned before, this can mean “to do” or “to make” and at times it gets confusing for us, Portuguese speakers, to make that difference in English. In fact, in English you “make a funny face”, but you “do everything right”. In Portuguese, we would say “fazer uma careta” ou “fazer tudo bem”, using the same verb for both examples.
Ok, so now that you have seen and experienced so much with these verbs (or have you?), shall we try to make some exercises?
Irregular Verbs in Portuguese – Exercises with DIZER and FAZER
Completa com os verbos FAZER e DIZER
- Eu _________(dizer) olá.
- Ele _________(fazer) os trabalhos de casa.
- Nós _________(dizer) isso ao João.
- Eles às vezes _________(fazer) asneiras.
- Tu ________________(fazer) anos hoje.
Completa com os verbos regulares e irregulares. (If you need consult the post about the regular forms, click here).
- A Joana ___________ (comprar) os livros na livraria.
- Nós ______________ (beber) chá.
- Elas ______________(almoçar) na cantina da escola.
- A Maria ____________ (tocar) flauta.
- Eu _______________ (andar) na escola.
- Os professores ________(gostar) dos alunos.
- Vocês _______________ (fazer) uma experiência.
- Ela _________________ (atender) o telemóvel.
- Elas ________________ (dizer) que sim ao convite.
- O menino ____________(abrir) a porta.
If you want to know the answers for the questions above, please visit the material section here where you can find the solutions for these and other exercises about the verbs.
I hope you found this helpful and that you will take my advice into consideration. I really think it will help!
Let me know about your experience with learning the verbs in Portuguese on the comments section below. If you have any questions, do not be shy to ask! =)
Hope to see you around soon again!
Beijinhos,
Mia.
PS – If you want to know more about verbs, you can check the following articles:
Portuguese Verbs and Conjugations
Portuguese Verbs with Prepositions
Hello
Learning anew language can be difficult, I really enjoy reading about the verbs and how they work withing the language and conversation. Is this language your native tongue, or is this a second or third language for you?
The flow of your content is rich in teaching and wanting to teach a new language, making it easy to follow and understand.
Have you thought of making videos of lessons to learn the language?
The exercise area of your article validates the information you gave the reader. This solidifies everything, what a great way to tie your content together at the end.
Great Job!!
Hi! Thank you for your comment 🙂
I am glad that you enjoyed reading my post and that you find my content useful.
This is what I want! To answer your question, yes , Portuguese is my native language;)
I hope you come back to my website. I’m always updating it with new content so maybe you get interested in learning Portuguese? 😉 I hope so!
Beijinhos
Mia