Viajar means to travel. It is a completely regular -ar verb — the largest and most predictable conjugation class in Portuguese — so once you have one regular -ar verb under your belt (falar, morar, gostar), viajar follows the exact same pattern with no surprises. The real learning here is in the prepositions: para / a for where you travel, and de for how you get there.
How viajar fits the regular -ar pattern
A regular -ar verb is built from a stem (viaj-), a theme vowel (a), and a person/tense ending. The theme vowel a is the marker of the whole class and shows up in viajamos and viajaríamos. Unlike English, which needs a subject pronoun before every verb, Portuguese packs the subject into the ending: viajo alone means "I travel."
One spelling point worth noting: the stem ends in -j, which keeps its soft "zh" sound in front of every vowel, so there are no spelling changes at all across the paradigm (unlike -car/-gar/-çar verbs, which swap letters to protect their sound). Viajar is as smooth as it gets.
Presente do indicativo
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | viajo |
| tu | viajas |
| você / ele / ela | viaja |
| nós | viajamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | viajam |
Eu viajo a trabalho quase todo mês.
I travel for work almost every month.
A gente viaja muito pouco, não dá tempo.
We travel very little, there's no time.
Pretérito perfeito
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | viajei |
| tu | viajaste |
| você / ele / ela | viajou |
| nós | viajamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | viajaram |
As with all -ar verbs, the nós form viajamos is identical in present and preterite — context decides. The first-person preterite viajei ends in -ei (the -ar signature), not -i, so don't write "viaji."
No ano passado eu viajei para Portugal pela primeira vez.
Last year I traveled to Portugal for the first time.
Eles viajaram de carro até o litoral.
They drove to the coast.
Pretérito imperfeito
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | viajava |
| tu | viajavas |
| você / ele / ela | viajava |
| nós | viajávamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | viajavam |
The -ar imperfect uses -ava endings. Use it for repeated or ongoing past actions: "used to travel," "was traveling."
Quando eu era criança, a gente viajava para a praia todo verão.
When I was a kid, we used to travel to the beach every summer.
Futuro do presente & futuro do pretérito (conditional)
Both are built on the full infinitive viajar-.
| Pronoun | Futuro do presente | Futuro do pretérito |
|---|---|---|
| eu | viajarei | viajaria |
| tu | viajarás | viajarias |
| você / ele / ela | viajará | viajaria |
| nós | viajaremos | viajaríamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | viajarão | viajariam |
In everyday Brazilian speech the simple future is almost always replaced by ir + infinitive: vou viajar rather than viajarei. (informal) Note that vou viajar is also how you say "I'm going on a trip" in general.
Mês que vem eu vou viajar para o Nordeste.
Next month I'm going to travel to the Northeast.
Eu viajaria o mundo inteiro se tivesse dinheiro.
I'd travel the whole world if I had money.
Presente do subjuntivo
-ar verbs switch to -e endings in the present subjunctive (the "opposite vowel" rule).
| Pronoun | Form |
|---|---|
| eu | viaje |
| tu | viajes |
| você / ele / ela | viaje |
| nós | viajemos |
| vocês / eles / elas | viajem |
Espero que vocês viajem com segurança.
I hope you travel safely.
Imperfeito & futuro do subjuntivo
| Pronoun | Imperfeito do subjuntivo | Futuro do subjuntivo |
|---|---|---|
| eu | viajasse | viajar |
| tu | viajasses | viajares |
| você / ele / ela | viajasse | viajar |
| nós | viajássemos | viajarmos |
| vocês / eles / elas | viajassem | viajarem |
The future subjunctive (after se, quando, assim que referring to the future) is the form Brazilians actually use constantly — "when I travel," "if you travel."
Quando eu viajar, te mando fotos todo dia.
When I travel, I'll send you photos every day.
Se vocês viajassem mais, conheceriam outras culturas.
If you traveled more, you'd get to know other cultures.
Imperativo
| Pronoun | Afirmativo | Negativo |
|---|---|---|
| tu | viaja | não viajes |
| você | viaje | não viaje |
| nós | viajemos | não viajemos |
| vocês | viajem | não viajem |
Viaja mais, você merece umas férias!
Travel more, you deserve a vacation!
Non-finite forms
| Form | Result |
|---|---|
| Infinitivo | viajar |
| Infinitivo pessoal (eu / você / ele) | viajar |
| Infinitivo pessoal (nós) | viajarmos |
| Infinitivo pessoal (vocês / eles) | viajarem |
| Gerúndio | viajando |
| Particípio | viajado |
Prepositions: para / a (destination) and de (means)
This is the practical core of viajar. Two preposition systems combine:
- viajar para / a + place — to travel to a destination. In Brazil, para dominates everyday speech; a is more formal or literary and often implies a shorter or round-trip stay.
- viajar de + transport — to travel by a means of transport: de avião (by plane), de carro (by car), de ônibus (by bus), de navio (by ship). The one exception is a pé (on foot), which keeps a, not de.
English uses "by" for the means ("by plane"); Portuguese uses de — a frequent transfer error. And English speakers often say "travel in Brazil" when they mean "travel to Brazil"; Portuguese keeps para (direction) distinct from em/no (location).
A gente vai viajar para a Bahia de avião e voltar de carro.
We're going to travel to Bahia by plane and come back by car.
Ele viajou a Brasília a serviço e voltou no mesmo dia.
He traveled to Brasília on business and came back the same day.
Meaning and a register note
The core meaning is straightforward: to travel, to take a trip. A couple of useful extensions:
- viajar na maionese — to space out, to talk nonsense, to let your imagination run wild (very informal idiom). (informal)
- viajar alone can mean "to be tripping / spacing out" in casual speech, similar to English "you're tripping."
Para de viajar, isso nunca vai acontecer.
Stop dreaming, that's never going to happen.
Adoro viajar sozinha, é quando penso melhor.
I love traveling alone, it's when I think best.
Common Mistakes
❌ Vou viajar por avião.
Incorrect — means of transport takes 'de', not 'por'.
✅ Vou viajar de avião.
I'm going to travel by plane.
❌ Ontem eu viaji para o Rio.
Incorrect — the -ar 1st-person preterite ends in -ei: viajei.
✅ Ontem eu viajei para o Rio.
Yesterday I traveled to Rio.
❌ Eles viajaron de ônibus.
Incorrect — that's Spanish; Portuguese 3rd-person plural preterite is viajaram.
✅ Eles viajaram de ônibus.
They traveled by bus.
❌ Espero que você viaja bem.
Incorrect — after 'espero que' you need the subjunctive viaje.
✅ Espero que você viaje bem.
I hope you have a good trip.
❌ Estou viajar pelo Brasil.
Incorrect — the progressive uses the gerund, not the infinitive.
✅ Estou viajando pelo Brasil.
I'm traveling around Brazil.
Key Takeaways
- Viajar is a fully regular -ar verb with no spelling changes — the -j stem is stable.
- Destination = para / a; means of transport = de (de avião, de carro), with a pé the lone exception.
- The 1st-person preterite is viajei (not "viaji"); 3rd-person plural is viajaram (not "viajaron").
- Watch the present/preterite overlap in viajamos.
- "Viajar na maionese" is a fun, very informal idiom for spacing out.
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