Portuguese Verb Conjugation - Overview

Overview

Portuguese verbs have the following properties.

1. Two numbers—singular, plural

2. Three persons—first, second, third

3. Three aspects—perfective, imperfective, progressive*

4. Two voices—active, passive*

5. Six morphological forms for tenses, aspects, and/or moods — present, preterite, imperfect, pluperfect, future, and conditional.

6. Three (or four) moods—indicative, subjunctive, imperative (and conditional, according to some authors)

Classes with an asterisk are entirely periphrastic. The passive voice can be constructed in two different ways. The pluperfect and the future of the indicative mood, as well as the conditional form, are often replaced with other verbal constructions or verbal periphrases in the spoken language.