Brincar means to play — but specifically play for fun, the way children play, the way you play around or joke with someone. It is a regular -ar verb in its endings, with one purely orthographic wrinkle: the c changes to qu before an e (brinquei, brinque) so that the hard /k/ sound is preserved. The bigger challenge for English speakers is not the spelling but the meaning, because English "play" splits into three different Portuguese verbs, and brincar is only one of them.
Meaning: brincar vs. jogar vs. tocar
English has one verb, play, for children playing, playing sports, and playing instruments. Portuguese forces you to choose:
- brincar — to play for fun / amusement, with no rules or scorekeeping; what kids do. Also to joke/kid around.
- jogar — to play a game or sport (with rules, opponents, a result): jogar futebol, jogar xadrez, jogar videogame.
- tocar — to play a musical instrument: tocar violão, tocar piano.
As crianças estão brincando no quintal.
The kids are playing in the backyard.
A gente vai jogar futebol no domingo.
We're going to play soccer on Sunday.
Ela toca violão desde os sete anos.
She has played guitar since she was seven.
"Brincar" = to joke / to kid
A hugely common everyday use of brincar is to joke or to kid around. The phrase "tô brincando" (estou brincando) is the standard Brazilian way to say "I'm (just) kidding."
Calma, eu tô brincando! Não fica bravo.
Relax, I'm just kidding! Don't get mad.
Ele vive brincando com todo mundo no escritório.
He's always joking around with everyone at the office.
Prepositions: brincar de, brincar com
Two prepositional patterns matter:
- brincar de + activity/role = to play (at being) something: brincar de pique-esconde (play hide-and-seek), brincar de boneca (play dolls), brincar de médico (play doctor).
- brincar com + person/object = to play with someone or something: brincar com o cachorro, brincar com os amigos.
A menininha adora brincar de pique-esconde com os primos.
The little girl loves playing hide-and-seek with her cousins.
Não brinca com fogo — é perigoso.
Don't play with fire — it's dangerous.
The c→qu spelling change
Brincar keeps a hard /k/ sound throughout. In Portuguese spelling, c before a/o/u is /k/, but c before e/i is /s/. So whenever an ending starts with e, the c must be written qu to keep the /k/. This affects exactly two tenses: the eu form of the pretérito perfeito (brinquei) and the entire present subjunctive / imperative (brinque, brinquem...). It is purely a spelling rule — the pronunciation never changes.
Conjugation
Presente do indicativo
| Pessoa | Forma |
|---|---|
| eu | brinco |
| tu / você | brinca |
| ele / ela | brinca |
| nós | brincamos |
| vocês | brincam |
| eles / elas | brincam |
Pretérito perfeito
| Pessoa | Forma |
|---|---|
| eu | brinquei (c→qu) |
| tu / você | brincou |
| ele / ela | brincou |
| nós | brincamos |
| vocês | brincaram |
| eles / elas | brincaram |
Pretérito imperfeito
| Pessoa | Forma |
|---|---|
| eu | brincava |
| tu / você | brincava |
| ele / ela | brincava |
| nós | brincávamos |
| vocês | brincavam |
| eles / elas | brincavam |
Futuro do presente
| Pessoa | Forma |
|---|---|
| eu | brincarei |
| tu / você | brincará |
| ele / ela | brincará |
| nós | brincaremos |
| vocês | brincarão |
| eles / elas | brincarão |
Futuro do pretérito (conditional)
| Pessoa | Forma |
|---|---|
| eu | brincaria |
| tu / você | brincaria |
| ele / ela | brincaria |
| nós | brincaríamos |
| vocês | brincariam |
| eles / elas | brincariam |
Presente do subjuntivo
| Pessoa | Forma |
|---|---|
| (que) eu | brinque (c→qu) |
| (que) tu / você | brinque |
| (que) ele / ela | brinque |
| (que) nós | brinquemos |
| (que) vocês | brinquem |
| (que) eles / elas | brinquem |
Imperfeito do subjuntivo
| Pessoa | Forma |
|---|---|
| (se) eu | brincasse |
| (se) tu / você | brincasse |
| (se) ele / ela | brincasse |
| (se) nós | brincássemos |
| (se) vocês | brincassem |
| (se) eles / elas | brincassem |
Futuro do subjuntivo
| Pessoa | Forma |
|---|---|
| (quando) eu | brincar |
| (quando) tu / você | brincares |
| (quando) ele / ela | brincar |
| (quando) nós | brincarmos |
| (quando) vocês | brincarem |
| (quando) eles / elas | brincarem |
Note: the future subjunctive of brincar keeps the c because its endings start with consonants or a, never e — so no spelling change here (brincar, not "brinquer").
Imperativo
| Pessoa | Afirmativo | Negativo |
|---|---|---|
| você | brinque | não brinque |
| nós | brinquemos | não brinquemos |
| vocês | brinquem | não brinquem |
Formas nominais (non-finite)
| Forma | Conjugação |
|---|---|
| Infinitivo impessoal | brincar |
| Infinitivo pessoal | brincar / brincares / brincar / brincarmos / brincarem / brincarem |
| Gerúndio | brincando |
| Particípio | brincado |
Usage in context
Quando eu era pequeno, brincava na rua o dia inteiro.
When I was little, I used to play in the street all day.
Espero que as crianças brinquem lá fora enquanto está sol.
I hope the kids play outside while it's sunny.
Ontem eu brinquei tanto com o meu sobrinho que fiquei exausto.
Yesterday I played with my nephew so much that I got exhausted.
Não brinca comigo, eu sei que você tá mentindo.
Don't mess with me, I know you're lying.
Para de brincar e vem fazer a lição.
Stop playing around and come do your homework.
False-friend / confusion notes
The danger here is not a false friend with English but interference from "play." English speakers reflexively map play onto a single Portuguese verb and end up saying brincar futebol (wrong) or brincar piano (wrong). Always re-route: sport → jogar, instrument → tocar.
Spanish speakers face a different trap: Spanish brincar means to hop/jump, which is not what Portuguese brincar means. In Portuguese, "to jump" is pular or saltar.
PT-PT contrast
The verb works identically in Portugal, including the c→qu spelling change. The progressive differs as usual: estar a brincar (PT) vs. estar brincando (BR). Note also that the common Brazilian filler "tô brincando" would be estou a brincar / estou a gozar in Portugal, where gozar (to tease) is more frequent for joking — and beware that in Brazil gozar has a vulgar sexual sense, so do not import it from European Portuguese as a casual word for "joke."
Common Mistakes
❌ Vamos brincar futebol depois da aula?
Incorrect — soccer is a game; use jogar.
✅ Vamos jogar futebol depois da aula?
Shall we play soccer after class?
❌ Eu brincei com meu cachorro no parque.
Incorrect spelling — the 1sg preterite needs c→qu: brinquei.
✅ Eu brinquei com meu cachorro no parque.
I played with my dog at the park.
❌ Espero que você brince... written as 'brinçe' or 'brince' with ç
Incorrect — it is 'brinque' with qu, never with ç.
✅ Espero que você brinque um pouco com a gente.
I hope you play with us for a bit.
❌ As crianças brincam com bonecas — meaning 'play hide-and-seek'
Incomplete — 'play AT an activity' needs brincar DE.
✅ As crianças brincam de pique-esconde.
The kids play hide-and-seek.
The spelling errors (brincei, brinçe) are the most frequent. Remember the logic: the /k/ sound must survive, so before any e the c becomes qu. There is no logical shortcut to memorizing which English "play" maps to which Portuguese verb — just drill the three-way split until it is automatic.
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Spelling-Change VerbsA2 — Verbs that change spelling — but not sound — to protect a consonant's pronunciation across the conjugation.
- Spelling Changes in -ar PreteriteA2 — Why ficar becomes fiquei and começar becomes comecei in the Brazilian preterite — the purely orthographic c/g/ç adjustments in the eu form of -ar verbs.
- JogarA1 — Full conjugation and usage reference for 'jogar' (to play a sport/game; to throw) — a regular -ar verb with a predictable g→gu spelling change before 'e'.
- First Conjugation: -ar VerbsA1 — The largest and most regular Brazilian Portuguese verb class — endings across the main tenses, high-frequency verbs, and the gostar de trap.
- Prepositions Required by VerbsB1 — Verb government in Brazilian Portuguese (regência verbal): which verbs demand de, a, em, com, or por before their object — gostar de, assistir a, pensar em, sonhar com — and how everyday speech bends the prescriptive rules.