Morar means to live in the sense of to reside — to have your home somewhere. It's one of the first verbs every learner needs, because "Where do you live?" / "I live in..." is among the first things you say to a new person. The good news: morar is a perfectly regular -ar verb with no surprises in its endings. The only thing to learn is the preposition it takes (em) and how it differs from viver.
A model regular -ar verb
Morar conjugates exactly like falar, estudar, or trabalhar. If you know the -ar endings, you know morar. There are no stem changes, no spelling tricks (the stem ends in -r, not in a sound that needs adjusting before e/i), and no irregular forms anywhere.
Present indicative (presente do indicativo)
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | moro |
| tu/você | mora |
| ele/ela | mora |
| nós | moramos |
| vocês | moram |
| eles/elas | moram |
Eu moro em São Paulo, no bairro da Vila Madalena.
I live in São Paulo, in the Vila Madalena neighborhood.
Onde você mora?
Where do you live?
A gente mora perto da praia, dá pra ir andando.
We live near the beach; you can walk there.
Preterite (pretérito perfeito)
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | morei |
| tu/você | morou |
| ele/ela | morou |
| nós | moramos |
| vocês | moraram |
| eles/elas | moraram |
Eu morei um ano em Portugal antes de voltar pro Brasil.
I lived a year in Portugal before coming back to Brazil.
Note that nós moramos is identical in present and preterite — context (and time words like hoje vs. no ano passado) tells them apart.
Imperfect (pretérito imperfeito)
This is the tense you use for I used to live — describing where you lived over an extended past period.
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | morava |
| tu/você | morava |
| ele/ela | morava |
| nós | morávamos |
| vocês | moravam |
| eles/elas | moravam |
Quando eu era criança, a gente morava numa casa com quintal enorme.
When I was a kid, we lived in a house with a huge backyard.
Future and conditional
| Pronoun | Futuro do presente | Futuro do pretérito (conditional) |
|---|---|---|
| eu | morarei | moraria |
| tu/você | morará | moraria |
| ele/ela | morará | moraria |
| nós | moraremos | moraríamos |
| vocês | morarão | morariam |
| eles/elas | morarão | morariam |
Eu moraria na praia se pudesse trabalhar de casa.
I'd live at the beach if I could work from home.
In speech, the future is almost always vou morar: "Ano que vem a gente vai morar no interior."
Subjunctive
| Pronoun | Presente do subjuntivo | Imperfeito do subjuntivo | Futuro do subjuntivo |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | more | morasse | morar |
| tu/você | more | morasse | morar |
| ele/ela | more | morasse | morar |
| nós | moremos | morássemos | morarmos |
| vocês | morem | morassem | morarem |
| eles/elas | morem | morassem | morarem |
Quando você morar sozinho, vai aprender a cozinhar rapidinho.
When you live on your own, you'll learn to cook real fast.
Espero que vocês morem num lugar tranquilo.
I hope you live somewhere peaceful.
Imperative
| Pronoun | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
| tu | mora | não mores |
| você | more | não more |
| nós | moremos | não moremos |
| vocês | morem | não morem |
Non-finite forms
| Form | Value |
|---|---|
| Infinitivo | morar |
| Infinitivo pessoal (nós) | morarmos |
| Infinitivo pessoal (vocês/eles) | morarem |
| Gerúndio | morando |
| Particípio | morado |
The preposition: always "em," never "a"
Morar takes em to mark location, and em contracts with the article that follows:
- morar em
- city/country: moro em Salvador, moro no Brasil (em + o = no).
- morar na
- feminine place: moro na Bahia, moro na Rua Augusta (em + a = na).
- morar com
- person: moro com meus pais (I live with my parents).
Ela mora no Rio, mas o namorado dela mora em Brasília.
She lives in Rio, but her boyfriend lives in Brasília.
English speakers transfer "live at an address" and "live on a street," but Portuguese uses em for all of these. There is no "*morar a."
Morar vs. viver
This is the distinction worth internalizing. Morar is narrow — it means to reside, to have your dwelling somewhere. Viver is broad — it means to be alive and to live (a life, an experience).
- Moro em Curitiba. — I reside in Curitiba. (where your home is)
- Vivo em Curitiba. — also possible, slightly more "I live my life here," but Brazilians overwhelmingly say moro for residence.
- Ele viveu noventa anos. — He lived ninety years. (You cannot use morar here — it's about lifespan.)
- Quero viver intensamente. — I want to live intensely. (an experience, never morar)
Meus avós moraram a vida inteira no mesmo sítio e viveram felizes.
My grandparents lived their whole lives on the same farm and lived happily.
Common Mistakes
❌ Eu moro a São Paulo.
Incorrect — morar takes 'em', not 'a'.
✅ Eu moro em São Paulo.
I live in São Paulo.
❌ Eu vivo na Rua das Flores, número 20.
Odd — for a residential address, Brazilians use 'morar'.
✅ Eu moro na Rua das Flores, número 20.
I live at 20 Flores Street.
❌ Moro em o Brasil.
Incorrect — em + o must contract to 'no'.
✅ Moro no Brasil.
I live in Brazil.
❌ Ele morou uma vida difícil.
Incorrect — for living a life/experience, use 'viver'.
✅ Ele viveu uma vida difícil.
He lived a hard life.
Master morar em plus the contractions (no, na, nos, nas), and keep viver for being alive — that covers virtually every real situation.
Now practice Portuguese
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- 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.
- ViverA2 — Conjugation and usage of viver — a regular -er verb meaning to live (be alive, live life), distinct from morar (to reside).
- FicarA1 — Full conjugation and usage reference for 'ficar' (to stay / to become / to be located) — a high-frequency -ar verb with a c→qu spelling change and remarkable polysemy.
- Preposition 'Em': In, On, AtA1 — How 'em' collapses English in/on/at into a single preposition for location and time — its obligatory contractions (no, na, nele, nisso) and the verbs that take it.
- MudarA2 — How to conjugate and use mudar in Brazilian Portuguese — a fully regular -ar verb — covering its three core senses (to change, to change one thing for another with 'mudar de', and to move house with 'mudar-se'), plus the preposition traps English speakers fall into.