Periphrastic Verb Constructions: Overview

A periphrastic construction expresses a single idea with two verbs: a helper verb that carries the person and tense, plus a main verb in the infinitive or gerund that carries the meaning. Vou comer (I'm going to eat), estou comendo (I'm eating), acabei de comer (I just ate) — these are the everyday workhorses of spoken Brazilian Portuguese. This page surveys the five core patterns and points you to the dedicated page for each.

Why Brazilian Portuguese loves periphrasis

Here is the single most useful insight for an English speaker: Brazilian Portuguese has drifted further toward periphrastic constructions than European Portuguese has, and far further than the textbook simple tenses suggest. In real speech, Brazilians routinely replace:

• the simple future (farei, I will do) with ir + infinitive (vou fazer);
• a plain present with the progressive when an action is in motion (estou fazendo);
• some subjunctive and infinitive patterns with helper-verb chains.

This means that if you master a handful of helper verbs, you can express future, ongoing, recent-past, and beginning/stopping actions without touching the harder synthetic tenses at all. English works the same way — "I'm going to eat" beats "I shall eat" in conversation — so the instinct transfers well.

1. Ir + infinitive — the everyday future

The verb ir (to go) conjugated in the present, followed by an infinitive, is the way to talk about the future in conversation.

The simple future (comerei, viajaremos) is grammatically correct but sounds formal or literary in Brazil; vou comer is what people actually say. See ir + infinitivo and the periphrastic future.

2. Estar + gerund — the progressive

Estar plus the gerund (-ando / -endo / -indo) expresses an action in progress — exactly like English "to be ...-ing."

This is the single most audible grammatical marker that separates Brazilian from European Portuguese. Brazil uses estar + gerúndio (estou comendo); Portugal uses estar a + infinitivo (estou a comer). To a Brazilian ear, estou a comer instantly sounds Portuguese-from-Portugal. See estar + gerúndio.

3. Estar para + infinitive — about to / on the verge

Estar para plus an infinitive means an action is imminent — you're on the point of doing it.

It can also express something long-intended but not yet done: Faz meses que estou para te ligar (I've been meaning to call you for months). See estar para + infinitivo.

4. Acabar de + infinitive — to have just done

Acabar de plus an infinitive is the "recent past" — the equivalent of English "to have just (done something)." Brazilian Portuguese uses this far more than the perfect tense for very recent events.

Note that the helper acabar is conjugated in the preterite (acabei, acabou) for "just did," even though the meaning touches the present. See acabar de + infinitivo.

5. Começar a / parar de / continuar — phase verbs

A family of helper verbs marks the phase of an action — its beginning, end, or continuation. Watch the linking word, because it is not always the same:

• começar a
  • infinitive — to start doing
• parar de
  • infinitive — to stop doing
• continuar
  • gerund (or a
    • infinitive) — to keep doing

The prepositions are not predictable from meaning — you must learn each one with its verb. Começar takes a, parar takes de, and continuar usually takes a bare gerund in Brazil. See começar a + infinitivo.

How these compare to English

English builds future, progressive, and recent-past the same periphrastic way: going to, be ...-ing, have just. So the architecture is familiar. The traps are in the details:

• the gerund itself must be formed correctly (comendo, not comiendo — see forming the gerund);
• the linking prepositions (a, de, para) have no English counterpart and must be memorized per verb;
• and the BR/PT split on the progressive (comendo vs. a comer) has no English parallel at all.

Common Mistakes

Key Takeaways

• Spoken Brazilian Portuguese leans heavily on periphrasis — often replacing the simple future and saturating speech with the progressive.
• The five core patterns: ir + inf. (future), estar + gerund (progressive), estar para + inf. (about to), acabar de + inf. (just did), and the phase verbs (começar a / parar de / continuar).
• The biggest BR vs. PT-PT marker is estar comendo (Brazil) vs. estar a comer (Portugal).
• Learn each helper verb together with its linking preposition — they are not predictable.