All languagesPortuguese › Lesson 9

Conjugating -er and -ir verbs

comer, beber, viver, escrever, abrir, partir, dormir.

After -ar verbs (lesson 7), the other two regular groups are -er and -ir. Their endings are almost identical — they only differ in the nós form (-emos vs -imos). Today: comer, beber, viver, escrever (-er); abrir, partir, dormir (-ir).

The -er group

Take comer (to eat). Stem: com-. Endings: eu como, tu comes, ele come / ela come / você come, nós comemos, eles comem / elas comem / vocês comem. The chant: -o, -es, -e, -emos, -em.

The -ir group

Take abrir (to open). Stem: abr-. Endings: eu abro, tu abres, ele abre / ela abre / você abre, nós abrimos, eles abrem / elas abrem / vocês abrem. The chant: -o, -es, -e, -imos, -em. Identical to -er except in the nós form.

Side by side: -ar vs -er vs -ir

eu: falo (-ar), como (-er), abro (-ir). tu: falas, comes, abres. ele: fala, come, abre. nós: falamos, comemos, abrimos — only place where -er and -ir part ways. eles: falam, comem, abrem. So the only forms you really need to keep separate across all three groups are the eu form (always -o) and the nós form.

More -er and -ir verbs

beber (to drink) → bebo, bebes, bebe, bebemos, bebem. viver (to live) → vivo, vives, vive, vivemos, vivem. escrever (to write) → escrevo, escreves, escreve, escrevemos, escrevem. partir (to leave / depart) → parto, partes, parte, partimos, partem. dormir (to sleep) is regular in most forms but the eu form drops a vowel: durmo, dormes, dorme, dormimos, dormem — a small wrinkle, common in -ir verbs.

viver vs morar

Both translate as 'to live', but they cover different turf. morar = to reside, to have your address somewhere. viver = to live (in the broader sense — to be alive, to lead a life). Moro em Lisboa = I live (am based) in Lisbon. Vivo bem = I'm living well / I have a good life. Vivo em Portugal also works for residency, especially in Brazilian Portuguese where viver is more common in this sense.

Examples

Eu como pão.
I eat bread.
comercomo.
Tu bebes água.
You drink water.
beberbebes (tu form). Brazilian: Você bebe água.
Ela vive em Madrid.
She lives in Madrid.
vivervive.
Nós escrevemos uma carta.
We write a letter.
escreverescrevemos (-emos).
Nós abrimos a porta.
We open the door.
abrirabrimos (-imos). The single letter that distinguishes -er from -ir.
Eles partem amanhã.
They leave tomorrow.
partirpartem.
Eu durmo bem.
I sleep well.
dormir has a small irregularity: the eu form is durmo, not dormo.

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