Trazer means to bring — to carry something toward the speaker or the place where the speaker is. It is one of the most irregular verbs in the language, and it earns that reputation across nearly every tense: the present has a hidden -g- (trago), the preterite hides an -x- that sounds like /s/ (trouxe), and the future drops a whole syllable (trarei). On top of the conjugation, trazer carries a deictic meaning — direction relative to the speaker — that English encodes the same way ("bring" vs. "take") but Portuguese splits into trazer vs. levar. This page walks through every stem and the all-important contrast with levar.
Three stems, not one
Most verbs build every tense off a single recognizable root. Trazer does not. Keep these three in mind:
- Present stem: trag- / traz- (trago, traz, trazemos, trazem)
- Past stem: troux- (trouxe, trouxe, trouxemos, trouxeram) — the x here is pronounced /s/, so trouxe sounds like "TROH-seh"
- Future/conditional stem: trar- (trarei, trará, traria) — the middle syllable simply disappears
Presente do indicativo
Note the -g- that appears only in the eu form, and that the você/ele form is the bare stem traz with no ending.
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | trago |
| tu | trazes |
| você / ele / ela | traz |
| nós | trazemos |
| vocês / eles / elas | trazem |
Eu sempre trago um guarda-chuva, mesmo quando faz sol.
I always bring an umbrella, even when it's sunny.
O garçom já traz a conta?
Is the waiter bringing the check already?
Pretérito perfeito
The whole tense is built on troux-. Crucially, the eu and você/ele forms are identical: both are trouxe. The x is pronounced /s/.
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | trouxe |
| tu | trouxeste |
| você / ele / ela | trouxe |
| nós | trouxemos |
| vocês / eles / elas | trouxeram |
Eu trouxe um vinho para o jantar, espero que goste.
I brought a wine for dinner, I hope you like it.
Eles trouxeram o filho recém-nascido para conhecer a vovó.
They brought their newborn son to meet grandma.
Pretérito imperfeito
The imperfect, unusually, is regular — built on the present stem traz- with normal -er imperfect endings (-ia). This is the one easy tense.
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | trazia |
| tu | trazias |
| você / ele / ela | trazia |
| nós | trazíamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | traziam |
Toda sexta o pai trazia doce para as crianças.
Every Friday the father would bring sweets for the kids.
Futuro do presente & futuro do pretérito (conditional)
Both are built on the contracted stem trar- (the -ze- of the infinitive disappears). This is one of the most surprising forms — students who guess "trazerei" are always wrong.
| Pronoun | Futuro do presente | Futuro do pretérito |
|---|---|---|
| eu | trarei | traria |
| tu | trarás | trarias |
| você / ele / ela | trará | traria |
| nós | traremos | traríamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | trarão | trariam |
In speech, the simple future yields to vou trazer; the contracted trarei belongs mostly to formal and written registers. (formal/literary)
Amanhã eu trago os documentos assinados.
Tomorrow I'll bring the signed documents.
A nova lei trará mudanças importantes para o setor.
The new law will bring important changes to the sector.
Eu traria mais comida, mas não cabia na mala.
I'd bring more food, but it didn't fit in the suitcase.
Presente do subjuntivo
The subjunctive borrows the eu-present stem with its -g-: trag-. So the whole subjunctive is built on trag-.
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | traga |
| tu | tragas |
| você / ele / ela | traga |
| nós | tragamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | tragam |
Quero que você traga o notebook para a reunião.
I want you to bring the laptop to the meeting.
Talvez eles tragam novidades na próxima visita.
Maybe they'll bring news on the next visit.
Imperfeito & futuro do subjuntivo
Both are built on the past stem troux-. The future subjunctive forms collide with the preterite in the eu/você slot but are distinguished by use.
| Pronoun | Imperfeito do subjuntivo | Futuro do subjuntivo |
|---|---|---|
| eu | trouxesse | trouxer |
| tu | trouxesses | trouxeres |
| você / ele / ela | trouxesse | trouxer |
| nós | trouxéssemos | trouxermos |
| vocês / eles / elas | trouxessem | trouxerem |
Se você trouxesse o violão, a gente cantaria a noite toda.
If you brought the guitar, we'd sing all night.
Quando você trouxer o carro, a gente resolve isso.
When you bring the car, we'll sort this out.
Imperativo
The affirmative você/vocês/nós forms come from the subjunctive (traga, tragam, tragamos); only the affirmative tu (traze / colloquial traz) comes from the indicative. The negative is entirely subjunctive.
| Pronoun | Afirmativo | Negativo |
|---|---|---|
| tu | traze (traz) | não tragas |
| você | traga | não traga |
| nós | tragamos | não tragamos |
| vocês | tragam | não tragam |
In everyday Brazilian speech the command is almost always traz (the short colloquial form) or the subjunctive traga: Traz um copo d'água pra mim! (informal)
Traga o seu currículo impresso, por favor.
Bring your printed résumé, please.
Non-finite forms
The infinitive and the personal infinitive are regular; the gerund and participle are regular too — built on the present stem traz-.
| Form | Result |
|---|---|
| Infinitivo | trazer |
| Infinitivo pessoal (eu / você / ele) | trazer |
| Infinitivo pessoal (nós) | trazermos |
| Infinitivo pessoal (vocês / eles) | trazerem |
| Gerúndio | trazendo |
| Particípio | trazido |
Eles ligaram avisando que estavam trazendo as bebidas.
They called to say they were bringing the drinks.
Trazer vs. levar: the deictic split
English distinguishes bring (movement toward the speaker / hearer) from take (movement away). Portuguese makes exactly the same cut, and reaching for the wrong one is among the most common errors learners make: trazer = bring (toward here), levar = take (away from here).
If the object is moving toward where you are — or toward the person you're speaking to — use trazer. If it is moving away to somewhere else, use levar.
Pode trazer o controle remoto aqui pra mim?
Can you bring the remote control here to me?
Vou levar essas roupas para a lavanderia.
I'm going to take these clothes to the laundromat.
The mirror logic matters for invitations and visits. When you arrive at someone's place, you bring (trazer); when you depart for somewhere else, you take (levar):
O que você quer que eu traga para a festa?
What do you want me to bring to the party?
Common Mistakes
❌ Eu trazo o material amanhã.
Incorrect — the eu-present takes -g-: trago, not trazo.
✅ Eu trago o material amanhã.
I'll bring the material tomorrow.
❌ Ontem eu trazi um presente.
Incorrect — the preterite is irregular: trouxe, not trazi.
✅ Ontem eu trouxe um presente.
Yesterday I brought a present.
❌ Amanhã eu trazerei os documentos.
Incorrect — the future drops a syllable: trarei (trar- stem).
✅ Amanhã eu trarei os documentos.
Tomorrow I'll bring the documents.
❌ Quero que você traz o bolo.
Incorrect — after quero que you need the subjunctive traga.
✅ Quero que você traga o bolo.
I want you to bring the cake.
❌ Vou trazer o lixo lá fora.
Incorrect — the trash moves away from you, so it's levar, not trazer.
✅ Vou levar o lixo lá fora.
I'm going to take the trash outside.
Key Takeaways
- Trazer has three stems: trag-/traz- (present), troux- (past, x = /s/), trar- (future/conditional).
- Memorize the anchors: trago (I bring), trouxe (I/he brought), trarei (I'll bring), traga (subjunctive), trouxer (future subjunctive).
- The imperfect (trazia), gerund (trazendo), and participle (trazido) are the regular, easy forms.
- trazer = bring (toward the speaker); levar = take (away). Test with "come" vs. "go."
- In speech, vou trazer almost always replaces the formal future trarei.
Now practice Portuguese
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Present Indicative of TrazerA2 — How to conjugate trazer (to bring) in the present indicative, the -g- eu form (trago), and the deictic rule that keeps trazer apart from levar (to take).
- LevarA1 — Full conjugation and usage of levar (to take/carry away), the deictic opposite of trazer and a key verb for time expressions.
- 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.
- TomarA1 — How to conjugate and use tomar in Brazilian Portuguese — a regular -ar verb that is the everyday word for drinking beverages, taking medicine, taking transport, taking a shower, and making decisions.
- TirarA2 — How to conjugate and use tirar in Brazilian Portuguese — a regular -ar verb whose many meanings (take out, take a photo, get a grade, take off, take a vacation) all share one core idea: extraction.