Ir | Portuguese (Brazil) Grammar

Ir ("to go") is one of the most frequent verbs in the entire language, and one of the most irregular. Its conjugation is suppletive — the forms come from three unrelated Latin verbs welded together — so there is no stem to learn, only forms to memorize. The reward is enormous: ir is the engine of the everyday Brazilian future (vou comer = "I'm going to eat"), so once you own it you can talk about the future without touching the formal -rei future at all. This page gives you the complete, verified paradigm, with special care around the forms learners most often get wrong: vou, fui, vá, for, indo.

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The biggest payoff first: ir + infinitive is how Brazilians actually express the future. Vou viajar amanhã ("I'm going to travel tomorrow") is far more natural in speech than the bookish Viajarei amanhã. Master the present tense of ir (vou, vai, vamos, vão) and you can put any verb into the future.

Why ir is "suppletive"

Most verbs keep one recognizable root. Ir does not. Its forms descend from three different Latin verbs: īre (gives the infinitive ir, gerúndio indo, future irei), vādere (gives the present vou/vai/vamos/vão), and esse/fui (gives the preterite fui/foi/fomos/foram, which it shares with ser). That is why the present looks nothing like the infinitive, and why "I went" and "I was" are spelled the same. There is no shortcut here — you must memorize these as raw forms. The good news is that they are so common you will drill them automatically just by speaking.

Indicative tenses

Presente do indicativo

Pronoun	Form
eu	vou
tu / você	vai
ele / ela	vai
nós	vamos
vocês	vão
eles / elas	vão

Eu vou no mercado agora, precisa de alguma coisa?

I'm going to the store now, do you need anything?

A gente vai pra praia no domingo se não chover.

We're going to the beach on Sunday if it doesn't rain.

Pretérito perfeito (shared with ser)

These forms are identical to the preterite of ser ("to be"). Context — never the verb form — tells you which is meant.

Pronoun	Form
eu	fui
tu / você	foi
ele / ela	foi
nós	fomos
vocês	foram
eles / elas	foram

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Yes — fui means both "I went" and "I was," and foi means both "he/she went" and "he/she was." There is no spelling difference; context disambiguates. Fui ao médico = "I went to the doctor"; Fui aluno dele = "I was his student." If a destination or direction follows, it's ir; if a description or identity follows, it's ser.

Ontem eu fui no dentista e quase desmaiei de medo.

Yesterday I went to the dentist and almost fainted from fear. (fui = went)

Nós fomos de carro porque o ônibus tinha acabado.

We went by car because the buses had stopped running.

Pretérito imperfeito

Pronoun	Form
eu	ia
tu / você	ia
ele / ela	ia
nós	íamos
vocês	iam
eles / elas	iam

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The imperfect ia + infinitive is the "was going to" of plans that didn't happen: Eu ia te ligar, mas esqueci ("I was going to call you, but I forgot"). It's also the spoken conditional: instead of the formal iria, Brazilians say ia — Se eu pudesse, eu ia ("If I could, I'd go").

Futuro do presente

Pronoun	Form
eu	irei
tu / você	irá
ele / ela	irá
nós	iremos
vocês	irão
eles / elas	irão

Futuro do pretérito (conditional)

Pronoun	Form
eu	iria
tu / você	iria
ele / ela	iria
nós	iríamos
vocês	iriam
eles / elas	iriam

Eu iria com vocês, mas tô de plantão no hospital esse fim de semana.

I would go with you, but I'm on call at the hospital this weekend.

Subjunctive tenses

Presente do subjuntivo

Pronoun	Form
que eu	vá
que tu / você	vá
que ele / ela	vá
que nós	vamos
que vocês	vão
que eles / elas	vão

Quero que você vá ao médico antes que isso piore.

I want you to go to the doctor before this gets worse.

Imperfeito do subjuntivo

Pronoun	Form
se eu	fosse
se tu / você	fosse
se ele / ela	fosse
se nós	fôssemos
se vocês	fossem
se eles / elas	fossem

These too are shared with ser: se eu fosse = "if I went" or "if I were."

Se eu fosse você, eu pegaria o voo mais cedo.

If I were you, I'd take the earlier flight. (fosse = were, from ser)

Futuro do subjuntivo

Pronoun	Form
quando eu	for
quando tu / você	for
quando ele / ela	for
quando nós	formos
quando vocês	forem
quando eles / elas	forem

Also shared with ser. The future subjunctive is alive and obligatory after quando, se, enquanto pointing at the future.

Quando você for ao banco, aproveita e paga essa conta.

When you go to the bank, take the chance to pay this bill. (for = go)

Imperative

Pronoun	Affirmative	Negative
você	vá	não vá
nós	vamos	não vamos
vocês	vão	não vão

Vá com calma na estrada, tá chovendo muito.

Take it easy on the road, it's raining hard.

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Vamos! is the all-purpose "Let's go! / Come on!" and in fast speech contracts to vambora or bora (from vamos embora) — pure spoken BR: Bora! = "Let's go!" The bare Vai! means "Go! / Go on!" and as encouragement "You got this!"

Non-finite forms

Form	Conjugation
Infinitivo impessoal	ir
Infinitivo pessoal (eu / você / ele)	ir
Infinitivo pessoal (nós)	irmos
Infinitivo pessoal (vocês / eles)	irem
Gerúndio	indo
Particípio	ido

The big four uses

1. ir + infinitive = the spoken future

The most important construction in spoken BR. Conjugate ir in the present and stack a bare infinitive: vou comer, vai chover, vamos ver. This is how Brazilians normally talk about the future — the synthetic -rei future sounds formal and is mostly written.

Acho que vai chover à tarde, leva o guarda-chuva.

I think it's going to rain in the afternoon, take the umbrella.

2. ir a / para / em — destination

All three express going somewhere, with nuance. ir a is the textbook "go to" (a brief visit); ir para suggests going to stay; and colloquial BR very commonly uses ir em / no / na for everyday destinations — vou no mercado ("I'm going to the store"). Prescriptively ir a is "correct," but ir em is the spoken norm and you will hear it constantly.

Vou para a casa da minha mãe e fico lá o fim de semana inteiro.

I'm going to my mom's place and staying there the whole weekend. (para = going to stay)

3. ir embora — to leave / go away

A fixed phrase: ir embora means "to leave (a place)," not just "go." Vou embora = "I'm leaving." Often clipped to Vou indo ("I'm heading off").

Já é tarde, acho melhor a gente ir embora.

It's late already, I think we'd better get going.

Common Mistakes

❌ Eu vai ao cinema.

Incorrect — 'eu' takes 'vou'; 'vai' is for ele/ela/você.

✅ Eu vou ao cinema.

I'm going to the movies.

❌ Quero que você vai ao médico.

Incorrect — after 'quero que' use the subjunctive 'vá', not 'vai'.

✅ Quero que você vá ao médico.

I want you to go to the doctor.

❌ Quando você vai ao banco, paga a conta.

Incorrect — future 'when' takes the future subjunctive 'for': quando você for.

✅ Quando você for ao banco, paga a conta.

When you go to the bank, pay the bill.

❌ Vou a comer agora.

Incorrect — 'ir + infinitive' takes no preposition (that's the European 'ir a'); BR: vou comer.

✅ Vou comer agora.

I'm going to eat now.

❌ Estou yendo embora.

Incorrect — the gerúndio of ir is 'indo' (Spanish interference): Estou indo embora.

✅ Estou indo embora.

I'm leaving / heading off.

Key Takeaways

Ir is suppletive: present vou/vai/vamos/vão, preterite fui/foi/fomos/foram (shared with ser), gerúndio indo.
ir + infinitive (vou comer) is the everyday spoken future — learn this first.
Preterite and imperfect subjunctive forms are identical to ser; context decides the meaning.
Subjunctives: present vá / vamos / vão, future for / formos / forem — both very common after quando and quero que.
Spoken BR favors ir em/no/na for destinations (vou no mercado), uses ia for the conditional, and clips vamos embora to bora.

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