Abrir (To Open) — Full Conjugation

Abrir is one of the first verbs every learner of Portuguese meets: it appears on café doors, shop windows, and every form you fill out ("Horário: 9h às 19h — aberto todos os dias"). It means to open — a door, a window, an account, a business, a discussion, a bottle. The good news is that abrir is a regular third-conjugation (-ir) verb in every conjugated form. The only irregularity is its past participle, aberto, which is used in both compound tenses (tenho aberto) and passive/resulting-state constructions (está aberto, foi aberto).

This page gives you every conjugated form of abrir, organized tense by tense. Use it as a reference when you need to check a form, and as a template for how other individual-verb pages are structured.

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Present indicative — presente do indicativo

Use this tense for current actions, habits, and general truths. Abro a janela = I open the window / I am opening the window.

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

Use this tense for past habits, background descriptions, and actions in progress in the past. A loja abria às nove = the shop used to open at nine.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Use this tense for completed past actions. Abri a carta = I opened the letter.

Note: the nós form abrimos is identical in the present and preterite for -ir verbs. Context tells you which is meant.

Pluperfect indicative, simple — pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples

The simple pluperfect is a synthetic form (one word) used mainly in literary and formal writing. In speech, Portuguese uses the compound pluperfect (see below).

The third-person plural abriram is identical to the preterite; again, context disambiguates.

Pluperfect indicative, compound — pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto

The compound pluperfect is the everyday way to say had opened. Formed with the imperfect of ter plus the past participle aberto.

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

Despite the name, this tense does not translate as English present perfect. It describes an action that has been happening repeatedly or continuously up to now. Tenho aberto muitas contas = I have been opening a lot of accounts (lately).

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Use this tense for future actions. In everyday speech, Portuguese often prefers ir + infinitive (vou abrir) over this synthetic future, but you will encounter the synthetic form in writing and formal speech.

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Describes an action that will have been completed by some future moment. Formed with the future of ter plus aberto.

Conditional — condicional (futuro do pretérito)

Expresses hypothetical actions or polite requests. Abriria a porta se pudesse = I would open the door if I could.

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Describes hypothetical past actions: would have opened. Formed with the conditional of ter plus aberto.

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

Used in subordinate clauses after verbs of wish, doubt, emotion, or command. Espero que abras a janela = I hope you open the window.

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

Used for hypothetical or contrary-to-fact situations, and in subordinate clauses triggered by a past-tense main clause. Se eu abrisse a porta... = if I were to open the door...

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

A living tense in Portuguese (unlike in Spanish, where it is archaic). Used in clauses about future possibilities, especially after se (if), quando (when), and enquanto (while). Quando abrires a carta, diz-me. = When you open the letter, let me know.

Note: the future subjunctive of regular verbs is identical in form to the personal infinitive (see below). Context distinguishes them.

Present perfect subjunctive — pretérito perfeito do conjuntivo

Used when a completed action in the past is felt from a perspective that calls for subjunctive mood. Espero que tenhas aberto a carta. = I hope you have opened the letter.

Pluperfect subjunctive — pretérito mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo

Used for contrary-to-fact past situations: had opened, in subjunctive contexts. Se tivesse aberto a janela... = if I had opened the window...

Future perfect subjunctive — futuro perfeito do conjuntivo

Used for hypothetical future-completed actions: will have opened. Quando tiveres aberto a carta, avisa-me. = When you have opened the letter, let me know.

Imperative — imperativo

Used for commands. The affirmative has forms for tu, você, nós, and vocês. The negative uses the present subjunctive with não. There is no imperative form for eu.

Affirmative:

Negative (identical to the present subjunctive with não):

Notice that the tu affirmative is abre, but the tu negative switches to não abras (subjunctive). This is a feature of Portuguese imperatives in general, not something special about abrir.

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

A Portuguese feature with no English equivalent: an infinitive that carries person endings. Used after prepositions (para, sem, antes de, depois de) and in certain subordinate clauses when the infinitive's subject is clear.

For regular verbs, the personal infinitive forms are identical to the future subjunctive. For irregular verbs, they differ — but since abrir is regular in its conjugated forms, the two tenses share this table.

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

A less frequent but useful form: a personal infinitive with ter as auxiliary, expressing a completed action. Depois de termos aberto a caixa... = after we had opened the box...

Notes on the irregular past participle

Aberto is the only form of the past participle of abrir. There is no regular abrido. This makes abrir slightly unusual: most Portuguese verbs with irregular participles also keep a regular form for compound tenses (see double participle list). With abrir, you use aberto everywhere.

Like any other past participle used adjectivally, aberto agrees in gender and number when used with ser, estar, or as a pure adjective: aberto, aberta, abertos, abertas.

Common uses

Abrir is used in a wide range of idiomatic expressions beyond the literal "to open a door":

• abrir uma conta — to open an account (bank, email, etc.)
• abrir caminho — to pave the way
• abrir os olhos (a alguém) — to open someone's eyes (to a truth)
• abrir a boca — to speak up; to yawn
• abrir o apetite — to whet the appetite
• abrir o jogo — to come clean, to tell the truth
• abrir mão de — to give up, to renounce
• abrir uma exceção — to make an exception
• abrir-se com alguém — to open up to someone emotionally

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Abrir is a regular third-conjugation (-ir) verb in every conjugated form. Only the past participle is irregular.
• The past participle is aberto — and this is the only form. There is no regular abrido.
• Aberto agrees in gender and number when used with ser, estar, or as an adjective: aberto, aberta, abertos, abertas.
• The tu affirmative imperative is abre, but the negative switches to subjunctive: não abras.
• Idiomatic uses (abrir uma conta, abrir caminho, abrir-se com) are very productive. Learn them as fixed expressions.
• The future subjunctive is a living tense in Portuguese; use abrir / abrires / abrir / abrirmos / abrirem after se, quando, and enquanto for future possibilities.