Present Tense: -ir Verbs

Dialog — Studying for an Exam

Two friends, Paulo and Jorge, chat about studying, exams, and their new professor.

Portuguese	English
Oi, Jorge! O que é que você está fazendo?	Hi, George! What are you doing?
Você nunca descansa?	Don’t you ever rest?
Eu estou estudando. Tenho exame amanhã.	I’m studying. I have a test tomorrow.
O que é que há com aquele novo professor Ferreira?	What is it with that new professor Ferreira?
Ele está sempre dando provas.	He’s always giving tests.
Eu sei lá! Mas ele é bom, viu?	How should I know! But he’s good, you know?
É mesmo.	He sure is.
Olhe, mudando de assunto, amanhã a gente vem no seu carro, não é?	Say, changing the subject, tomorrow we come in your car, right?
É, é minha vez.	Yes, it’s my turn.
E lembre que eu sempre saio cedo.	And remember that I always leave early.

---

Notes on Grammar

Part I — Nasal Vowel Linking

When a word ending in a nasal vowel is followed by a word beginning with a vowel, care must be taken not to insert an unwanted m sound.

Correct	Meaning	Incorrect Interpretation
com o carro	with the car	como o carro (like the car)
falam espanhol	they speak Spanish	— (sounds unnatural with m)

The nasal quality transitions directly to the following vowel without a consonant m between them.

---

Part II — Present Tense of -ir Verbs

Regular -ir verbs in the present tense have these forms:

	abrir (to open)
eu	abro
ele/ela	abre
nós	abrimos
eles/elas	abrem

The -imos ending of the we-form is a reliable clue that a verb is -ir type.

Some -ir verbs have irregular I-forms:

Verb	I-form	He-form	We-form	They-form
sair (to leave)	saio	sai	saímos	saem
cair (to fall)	caio	cai	caímos	caem
sentir (to feel)	sinto	sente	sentimos	sentem

The verb sentir is usually reflexive when describing how one feels:

Portuguese	English
Como é que o senhor se sente hoje?	How do you feel today?
Eu me sinto bem.	I feel well.
Ele se sente cansado.	He feels tired.

---

Part III — The -ndo Form (Gerund)

The -ndo ending on a verb corresponds to English “-ing.” It is formed by removing the final -r of the neutral form, nasalizing the vowel, and adding -do.

Neutral Form	-ndo Form	English
falar	falando	speaking
chegar	chegando	arriving
trabalhar	trabalhando	working
estudar	estudando	studying
preparar	preparando	preparing
almoçar	almoçando	having lunch
comer	comendo	eating
beber	bebendo	drinking
escrever	escrevendo	writing
ler	lendo	reading
dirigir	dirigindo	driving
abrir	abrindo	opening
sair	saindo	leaving
dormir	dormindo	sleeping
cair	caindo	falling
repetir	repetindo	repeating

---

Part IV — The Present Progressive

The -ndo form is commonly preceded by a form of estar to create the present progressive, describing actions in progress now.

Portuguese	English
Eu estou trabalhando.	I am working.
Ele está saindo.	He is leaving.
Nós estamos bebendo.	We are drinking.
Eles estão estudando.	They are studying.

Important: The present progressive with estar can only describe actions occurring in the present — never future actions. Portuguese does not use estar + -ndo for future plans the way English uses “be + -ing.”

English	Portuguese
He’s sleeping. (now)	Ele está dormindo. ✓
He’s sleeping at Dave’s tomorrow. (future)	Ele vai dormir na casa do Dave amanhã. ✓
	Ele está dormindo na casa do Dave amanhã. ✗

---

Practice Drills (Selected)

Drill — Translation: Present Progressive

Put these into Portuguese:

1. He’s eating lunch. → Ele está almoçando.
2. He’s making a phone call. → Ele está dando um telefonema.
3. He’s falling! → Ele está caindo!
4. He’s working. → Ele está trabalhando.
5. He’s writing a letter. → Ele está escrevendo uma carta.
6. I’m returning. → Eu estou voltando.
7. I’m receiving lots of news. → Eu estou recebendo muitas notícias.
8. I’m living in Rio. → Eu estou morando no Rio.
9. I’m studying. → Eu estou estudando.
10. I’m starting. → Eu estou começando.

---

Key Vocabulary Summary

Portuguese	English
abro / abre / abrimos / abrem	I open / he opens / we open / they open
saio / sai / saímos / saem	I leave / he leaves / we leave / they leave
caio / cai / caímos / caem	I fall / he falls / we fall / they fall
sinto / sente / sentimos / sentem	I feel / he feels / we feel / they feel
fazendo	doing, making
estudando	studying
dormindo	sleeping
dirigindo	driving
o exame	test, exam
a prova	test
descansar	to rest
nunca	never
sempre	always
aquele / aquela	that (over there)
novo / nova	new
mesmo	indeed, really
olhe	look, say
mudar de assunto	to change the subject
a vez	turn, time
lembrar	to remember
vir / vem	to come / he comes
Eu sei lá!	How should I know!
viu?	you know? (informal)