The -er verbs form the second conjugation (segunda conjugação) — smaller than the -ar giant, but disproportionately important, because it houses many of the most frequent verbs in the entire language. It is also the most irregular class: ser, ter, fazer, poder, and querer are all -er verbs, and all of them are irregular. The regular pattern below is your baseline; the irregulars get their own pages because they break it.
A small class carrying heavy verbs
There are fewer -er verbs than -ar verbs, but the ones that exist tend to be everyday workhorses. Consider how often you'd reach for these:
- ser (to be) — irregular
- ter (to have) — irregular
- fazer (to do, to make) — irregular
- poder (can, to be able) — irregular
- querer (to want) — irregular
Because of this, you will meet many -er verbs as irregulars before you've internalized the regular pattern. Don't let that scare you off the regular template — it's clean, and plenty of common -er verbs follow it faithfully.
The regular endings, modeled on comer
We'll use comer (to eat) as the model. Drop the -er to get the stem com-, then add the endings. Here are the three first tenses: present, preterite, and imperfect.
| Subject | Presente | Pretérito perfeito | Pretérito imperfeito |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | como | comi | comia |
| tu (regional) | comes | comeste | comias |
| você / ele / ela | come | comeu | comia |
| nós | comemos | comemos | comíamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | comem | comeram | comiam |
So the regular -er endings are:
- Present: -o, -es, -e, -emos, -em
- Preterite: -i, -este, -eu, -emos, -eram
- Imperfect: -ia, -ias, -ia, -íamos, -iam
As with every Brazilian conjugation, vós (here comeis / comestes / comíeis) is archaic and simply not used.
Eu como salada quase todo dia no almoço.
I eat salad almost every day at lunch.
A gente comeu tanto no churrasco que nem jantou.
We ate so much at the barbecue that we didn't even have dinner.
Quando morava com meus pais, eu comia melhor.
When I lived with my parents, I ate better.
comer = present AND preterite in the nós form
Just like the -ar class, the -er class has a nós form that's identical in the present and the preterite: comemos is both "we eat" and "we ate." Bebemos is both "we drink" and "we drank." Context settles it.
Hoje a gente come fora; ontem comemos em casa.
Today we're eating out; yesterday we ate at home.
Geralmente bebemos água, mas ontem bebemos vinho.
We usually drink water, but yesterday we drank wine.
The big reveal: the -er imperfect equals the -ir imperfect
Here is the most important structural insight about the -er class. In the imperfect tense, -er and -ir verbs are conjugated identically — both take -ia, -ias, -ia, -íamos, -iam.
| Subject | comer (-er) | partir (-ir) |
|---|---|---|
| eu | comia | partia |
| você / ele / ela | comia | partia |
| nós | comíamos | partíamos |
| vocês / eles / elas | comiam | partiam |
This means the only tense that cleanly keeps -er and -ir apart is the present — and even there they differ in just two slots (comemos / partimos and the eu/3sg forms share endings). In the imperfect, preterite, and most other tenses, learning -er essentially teaches you -ir for free. The distinction between the two classes is far thinner than between either of them and the -ar class.
Naquela época, a gente partia de madrugada e comia na estrada.
Back then, we'd leave at dawn and eat on the road.
Both partia (-ir) and comia (-er) appear there with the same ending — that's the merger in action.
High-frequency regular -er verbs
These follow the comer pattern. (Notice they are everyday verbs but, unlike the giants ser/ter/fazer, they behave regularly.)
| Verb | Meaning | Note |
|---|---|---|
| comer | to eat | the model |
| beber | to drink | — |
| aprender | to learn | often aprender a + infinitive |
| escrever | to write | irregular past participle: escrito |
| vender | to sell | — |
| viver | to live (be alive, experience) | contrast with morar = to reside |
Estou aprendendo a dirigir, mas ainda fico nervoso.
I'm learning to drive, but I still get nervous.
Ela escreve para um jornal local.
She writes for a local newspaper.
Eles venderam o carro mês passado.
They sold the car last month.
A note on viver vs morar: both touch the English "to live," but they split the meaning. Morar is to reside somewhere (moro no Rio — I live in Rio); viver is to be alive or to experience life (ele viveu até os noventa — he lived to ninety; vivo bem — I live well). English collapses these; Brazilian Portuguese keeps them separate.
Meu avô viveu uma vida cheia de aventuras.
My grandfather lived a life full of adventures.
Watch out: many common -er verbs are irregular
The regular pattern above is real, but you must stay alert: a large share of high-frequency -er verbs are stem-changing or outright irregular, and they don't follow comer. A few you'll meet very early:
- fazer → eu faço (not fazo), preterite fiz
- poder → eu posso (not podo), preterite pude
- querer → eu quero, preterite quis
- ter → eu tenho, preterite tive
- ser → eu sou, preterite fui
Eu faço o jantar e você lava a louça, combinado?
I'll make dinner and you wash the dishes, deal?
Não posso sair hoje, tenho que terminar um trabalho.
I can't go out today, I have to finish an assignment.
These each get a dedicated page; the point here is simply: when an -er verb is common, check whether it's irregular before assuming it follows comer. See the present indicative irregulars summary.
Common mistakes
❌ Eu fazo o jantar todo dia.
Incorrect — fazer is irregular; the eu form is 'faço', not 'fazo'.
✅ Eu faço o jantar todo dia.
I make dinner every day.
❌ Nós comimos fora todo sábado. (meaning a present habit)
Incorrect for the present — 'comimos' is the preterite; the present nós form is 'comemos'.
✅ Nós comemos fora todo sábado.
We eat out every Saturday.
❌ Quando era criança, eu comii muito doce.
Incorrect — the -er imperfect is 'comia' (-ia), not the preterite-style 'comi(i)'.
✅ Quando era criança, eu comia muito doce.
When I was a kid, I ate a lot of sweets.
❌ Eu moro uma vida tranquila no interior.
Incorrect — for 'to live (a life)' use viver, not morar; morar is only 'to reside (at a place)'.
✅ Eu vivo uma vida tranquila no interior.
I live a quiet life in the countryside.
❌ A gente bebemos muito café aqui no escritório.
Incorrect — 'a gente' takes the 3sg form 'bebe'.
✅ A gente bebe muito café aqui no escritório.
We drink a lot of coffee here at the office.
Key takeaways
- -er is a smaller class than -ar, but holds many top-frequency verbs — and most of them (ser, ter, fazer, poder, querer) are irregular.
- Regular endings: present (-o, -es, -e, -emos, -em), preterite (-i, -este, -eu, -emos, -eram), imperfect (-ia, -ias, -ia, -íamos, -iam). Vós is dropped.
- Comemos is identical in present and preterite — context resolves it.
- The imperfect -ia endings are shared with -ir verbs: learning the -er imperfect teaches the -ir imperfect too. Only the present cleanly distinguishes the two classes.
- Verify whether a common -er verb is irregular before defaulting to the comer pattern.
Now practice Portuguese
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- The Three Conjugation Classes (-ar, -er, -ir)A1 — How Brazilian Portuguese sorts every verb into three classes by infinitive ending, and what that tells you about its conjugation.
- 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.
- Third Conjugation: -ir VerbsA1 — How to conjugate the third conjugation (-ir verbs) — the rarest class by count, yet home to many of the most-used verbs in Brazilian Portuguese.
- Present Indicative: Regular -er VerbsA1 — How to conjugate regular -er verbs in the Brazilian Portuguese present indicative — and why so many common -er verbs are irregular.
- Conjugation BasicsA1 — How Brazilian Portuguese verbs change shape to mark person, number, tense, and mood — and why pronouns are usually optional.