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>>Verbs > Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs have one or more forms that do not follow the expected endings given in all of the charts in the verbs section. There is not a single tense and mood in Portuguese that does not have its share of irregular verbs.

Many irregular verbs have drastically different forms. The verb fazer to do in the preterit is one example of a verb that changes markedly: eu fiz, tu fizeste, ele fez, nós fizemos, vós fizestes, eles fizeram. With few exceptions, you will still be able to identify the verb with relatively little trouble, since the irregular forms are not completely different from the expected regular forms.

A subset of "irregular" verbs is the so-called stem changing (or radical changing) verbs. These verbs alter the pronunciation of one vowel in a handful of forms in the present indicative and the present subjunctive (and, consequently, the imperative, which shares most of its forms with the present subjunctive).

Here are the three vowel changes and three sample verbs (notice that they are all -ir infinitives):

(o changes to u) dormir to sleep
present indicative: durmo, dormes, dorme, dormimos, dormis, dormem
present subjunctive: durma, durmas, durma, durmamos, durmais, durmam

(e changes to i) servir to serve
present indicative: sirvo, serves, serve, servimos, servis, servem
present subjunctive: sirva, sirvas, sirva, sirvamos, sirvais, sirvam

(e changes to i) subir to go up, to rise, to ascend
present indicative: subo, sobes, sobe, subimos, subis, sobem
(subir is not irregular in the present subjunctive, since that subjunctive stem always matches the "I" form of the present indicative (in this case, the expected subo))

There is a second set of "irregular" vowel-changing verbs, but these are much more difficult to handle. They are verbs whose stem vowel changes its pronunciation but not its spelling. That vowel is always a stressed e or o.

In the following examples, the bold forms have an e or o pronounced more like the one in let or sock. The others have an e or o like the one in they or go:

jogar to play
present indicative: jogo, jogas, joga, jogamos, jogais, jogam
present subjunctive: jogue, jogues, jogue, joguemos, jogueis, joguem

levar to wear, to carry
present indicative: levo, levas, leva, levamos, levais, levam
present subjunctive: leve, leves, leve, levemos, leveis, levem

servir to serve
present indicative: sirvo, serves, serve, servimos, servis, servem