Nascer means to be born. It is an -er verb that is regular in its endings, with exactly one wrinkle: a spelling change, not a sound change. The letter c is soft (an /s/ sound) before e and i, but it would harden to /k/ before o and a. To keep the soft sound, Portuguese swaps the c for ç before those vowels. So the first-person singular present is nasço (not nasco) and the entire present subjunctive uses ç: nasça, nasças, nasça, nasçamos, nasçam. Learn that one rule and the verb is yours.
The c→ç logic — why it's not really irregular
If you have met conhecer → conheço or parecer → pareço, this is the identical mechanism. The cedilla (cedilha) exists precisely so that a c can keep its soft /s/ value in front of a, o, u. Compare:
- nasce — the c sits before e, so it's already soft: written c.
- nasço — the ending is -o, which would harden the c; so we write ç to preserve /s/.
This means the sound is constant across the whole present tense — NAS-su, NAS-si, NAS-se — and only the spelling shifts. It is a pure orthographic adjustment, not a stem change you have to hear.
Meaning and the key Brazilian usage: birth in the preterite
Nascer describes the event of coming into the world. The crucial thing for English speakers is the tense and voice. English uses a passive construction: I was born. Portuguese uses nascer as an active, intransitive verb in the preterite: Nasci — literally I was-born / I came-to-be, with no auxiliary, no passive.
Nasci em 1990, em Belo Horizonte.
I was born in 1990, in Belo Horizonte.
Meu filho nasceu na semana passada — ainda não dormi direito.
My son was born last week — I still haven't slept properly.
Eles nasceram no mesmo dia, mas em anos diferentes.
They were born on the same day, but in different years.
Do not reach for ser + participle here. Fui nascido is not how anyone says I was born; it is the plain preterite nasci. This is one of the highest-frequency interference errors English speakers make, because the English wording (was born) practically begs for a passive.
Onde você nasceu?
Where were you born?
Figurative uses
Like English, nascer stretches to figurative birth — ideas, feelings, the sun rising, things originating.
O sol nasce cedo no verão por aqui.
The sun rises early in the summer around here.
Foi de uma conversa de bar que nasceu a ideia da empresa.
It was out of a bar conversation that the idea for the company was born.
The fixed expression nascer para (algo) means to be born to do something / to be a natural at it:
Essa menina nasceu para cantar.
That girl was born to sing.
Presente do indicativo
Watch the 1sg: nasço, with ç.
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | nasço |
| tu | nasces |
| você / ele / ela | nasce |
| nós | nascemos |
| vocês / eles / elas | nascem |
The present tense of nascer about oneself is rare in real life — you're born only once — so the most natural present uses are general statements (o sol nasce) or recurring events (nascem milhares de bebês por dia).
Todo dia nascem milhares de bebês no Brasil.
Thousands of babies are born in Brazil every day.
Pretérito perfeito
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | nasci |
| tu | nasceste |
| você / ele / ela | nasceu |
| nós | nascemos |
| vocês / eles / elas | nasceram |
This is the workhorse tense for nascer. Note there is no ç here — the endings all begin with -i, -e, so the c stays soft on its own.
A gente nasceu na mesma cidade, mas só se conheceu na faculdade.
We were born in the same city, but only met in college.
Pretérito imperfeito
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | nascia |
| tu | nascias |
| você / ele / ela | nascia |
| nós | nascíamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | nasciam |
The imperfect suits habitual or background birth scenes — back then, children were born at home.
Naquela época, quase todo mundo nascia em casa, com parteira.
Back then, almost everyone was born at home, with a midwife.
Futuro do presente & futuro do pretérito (conditional)
Built on the full infinitive nascer-.
| Pronoun | Futuro do presente | Futuro do pretérito |
|---|---|---|
| eu | nascerei | nasceria |
| tu | nascerás | nascerias |
| você / ele / ela | nascerá | nasceria |
| nós | nasceremos | nasceríamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | nascerão | nasceriam |
O bebê vai nascer em março, se tudo correr bem.
The baby will be born in March, if all goes well.
That last example uses the everyday periphrastic vai nascer; the synthetic nascerá is mostly (formal) or (literary).
Presente do subjuntivo
The whole paradigm uses ç because every ending starts with -a.
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | nasça |
| tu | nasças |
| você / ele / ela | nasça |
| nós | nasçamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | nasçam |
Tomara que ele nasça com saúde.
I really hope he's born healthy.
Imperfeito & futuro do subjuntivo
| Pronoun | Imperfeito do subjuntivo | Futuro do subjuntivo |
|---|---|---|
| eu | nascesse | nascer |
| tu | nascesses | nasceres |
| você / ele / ela | nascesse | nascer |
| nós | nascêssemos | nascermos |
| vocês / eles / elas | nascessem | nascerem |
Both of these are built on the c stem (endings in -e and -e/-er), so no cedilla appears here.
Se eu nascesse de novo, faria tudo igual.
If I were born again, I'd do everything the same.
Quando o bezerro nascer, a gente avisa.
When the calf is born, we'll let you know.
Imperativo
The imperative of nascer is largely theoretical — you can't really command someone to be born — but the forms follow the rule and appear in figurative or poetic contexts.
| Pronoun | Afirmativo | Negativo |
|---|---|---|
| tu | nasce | não nasças |
| você | nasça | não nasça |
| nós | nasçamos | não nasçamos |
| vocês | nasçam | não nasçam |
Non-finite forms
| Form | Result |
|---|---|
| Infinitivo | nascer |
| Infinitivo pessoal (eu / você / ele) | nascer |
| Infinitivo pessoal (nós) | nascermos |
| Infinitivo pessoal (vocês / eles) | nascerem |
| Gerúndio | nascendo |
| Particípio | nascido |
The participle nascido is fully regular and very common as an adjective: recém-nascido (newborn), um talento nascido para o palco (a talent born for the stage).
O recém-nascido dormiu a noite toda, milagrosamente.
The newborn slept the whole night, miraculously.
Common Mistakes
❌ Eu nasco em 1990.
Two errors: wrong spelling (should be nasço) and wrong tense — birth is a completed past event.
✅ Eu nasci em 1990.
I was born in 1990.
❌ Eu fui nascido no Rio.
Incorrect — Portuguese does not use a passive here; use the plain preterite nasci.
✅ Eu nasci no Rio.
I was born in Rio.
❌ Tomara que ele nasça com saúde — escrito 'nasca'.
Spelling error: before -a the soft c must be written ç, so it's nasça, not nasca.
✅ Tomara que ele nasça com saúde.
I hope he's born healthy.
❌ O sol nasça cedo no verão.
Wrong mood — a plain statement of fact takes the indicative nasce, not the subjunctive nasça.
✅ O sol nasce cedo no verão.
The sun rises early in the summer.
❌ Quando o bebê nascerá, a gente avisa.
After 'quando' for a future event, Portuguese uses the future subjunctive nascer, not the future indicative.
✅ Quando o bebê nascer, a gente avisa.
When the baby is born, we'll let you know.
Key Takeaways
- Nascer is a regular -er verb with a single spelling change: c → ç before -o and -a.
- The ç appears in exactly two places: 1sg present nasço and the entire present subjunctive nasça / nasças / nasça / nasçamos / nasçam.
- I was born is the active preterite nasci — never a passive with ser.
- The participle is the regular nascido; recém-nascido = newborn.
- After quando
- future, use the future subjunctive nascer, not the indicative.
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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.
- Second Conjugation: -er VerbsA1 — The Brazilian Portuguese -er class — regular endings modeled on comer, why so many -er verbs are irregular, and how the imperfect merges -er with -ir.
- The Cedilla (Ç)A1 — The cedilla makes 'c' sound like [s] before a, o, u — never before e or i, and never at the start of a word. How it shows up in -ção/-ança endings and why it drops in conjugation (começar → comece).
- MorrerA2 — How to conjugate and use 'morrer' (to die) in Brazilian Portuguese, including its irregular participle 'morto' and idioms like 'morrer de rir'.