Descobrir (To Discover) — Full Conjugation

Descobrir means to discover — in every sense English has: to find something hidden (descobri as chaves atrás do sofá), to learn a fact for the first time (descobri que ele mentiu), to invent or make known (descobrir a cura), or to uncover something literally (descobrir o rosto). It is built from des- (un-) plus cobrir (to cover), and it keeps the same morphological behavior as cobrir: a stem change o → u in certain forms, plus a truly irregular past participle descoberto — not descobrido.

Descobrir is therefore a small teaching case for two Portuguese patterns simultaneously: (1) the o → u alternation that affects several common -ir verbs (cobrir, dormir, engolir, subir, tossir), and (2) irregular past participles built with -erto / -erto, the same pattern that gives aberto (abrir), coberto (cobrir), descoberto (descobrir). Learning descobrir well teaches you two rules at once.

Header

Present indicative — presente do indicativo

The eu form has u: descubro. All other forms keep o.

The same pattern applies to cobrir (cubro, cobres, cobre, cobrimos, cobrem), dormir (durmo, dormes, dorme, dormimos, dormem), and a handful of others. Once you learn one, you know all of them.

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

No stem change here — imperfect endings start with -i, so the stem stays o.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Completely regular — endings start with -i, stem stays o. This is the tense you will use most often: discovery tends to be a moment.

As with all regular -ir verbs, the nós present and preterite are identical: descobrimos.

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

Literary only. In speech, use the compound.

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

Had discovered. Imperfect of ter plus descoberto (not descobrido — see below).

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

Repeated / continuous action up to now. Tenho descoberto coisas interessantes neste livro = I've been discovering interesting things in this book.

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Formal. Speech prefers vou descobrir, vais descobrir.

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Conditional — condicional

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

Built from the eu form descubro, dropping -o, adding subjunctive endings. So every form has u.

This is the heart of the o → u pattern: because the subjunctive is built from the eu form, and the eu form has u, the entire present subjunctive carries u.

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

No stem change. Endings start with -i, stem stays o.

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

No stem change. Quando descobrires a verdade, vais ficar em choque = when you find out the truth, you're going to be shocked.

Present perfect subjunctive — pretérito perfeito do conjuntivo

Pluperfect subjunctive — pretérito mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo

Future perfect subjunctive — futuro perfeito do conjuntivo

Imperative — imperativo

The tu affirmative comes from the present indicative (descobre). Everything else comes from the present subjunctive, so it carries u.

Affirmative:

Negative:

Note the contrast between descobre! (tu, affirmative — keep o) and não descubras! (tu, negative — switch to u).

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

Identical in form to the future subjunctive.

The past participle: descoberto

Descobrir has a single, irregular past participle: descoberto. There is no regular descobrido. It is used everywhere — with ter in compound tenses and with ser / estar in passive and resulting-state constructions.

Descoberto agrees in gender and number when it is used with ser, estar, or as a pure adjective: descoberto, descoberta, descobertos, descobertas. It also has an adjectival meaning of its own: uncovered, exposed, bareheaded — um terreno descoberto (open ground), ao ar livre e descoberto (out in the open).

The pattern cobrir / coberto, abrir / aberto, escrever / escrito, ver / visto, fazer / feito, dizer / dito, pôr / posto is a closed set of irregular participles that learners should know as a list — see Irregular Past Participles Reference.

Usage notes — what descobrir means and how to use it

descobrir + object — discover / find (a hidden thing)

descobrir que + indicative — find out that X

The complement clause goes in the indicative, because descobrir que reports a factual discovery.

descobrir + wh-clause — find out who/what/when/where/why

descobrir-se (reflexive) — to uncover oneself, to reveal oneself

Physical sense: to pull off covers. Can also mean "to take off one's hat" in older texts (descobrir-se perante alguém). Metaphorically: to let yourself be seen.

Fixed expressions

• descobrir a pólvora — to discover the wheel (literally "to discover gunpowder") — said ironically when someone announces something obvious.
• descobrir o santo a que se reza (or similar) — to find out what someone is up to.
• tempo descoberto / céu descoberto — clear sky (weather).
• à descoberta — on a journey of discovery. Partir à descoberta de = to set off to discover.

Related vocabulary

• descoberta (f.) — discovery
• descobrimento (m.) — discovery, especially historical voyages of discovery (os Descobrimentos = the Portuguese Age of Discovery, 15th–16th c.)
• descobridor / descobridora — discoverer, explorer
• descoberto / descoberta — as adjective: uncovered, exposed, open
• (a) descoberto — as adverbial: openly, in the open

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Descobrir follows the o → u stem-change pattern shared with cobrir, dormir, engolir, tossir and a few others.
• The u appears in the eu present indicative (descubro) and the entire present subjunctive (descubra, descubras, descubra, descubramos, descubram) — along with the subjunctive-derived imperative forms.
• Every other tense keeps o, because every other tense's endings start with -e- or -i-.
• The past participle is descoberto, not descobrido. This is the only form; it is used everywhere.
• Descoberto agrees in gender and number when used with ser, estar, or as an adjective: descoberto, descoberta, descobertos, descobertas.
• Descobrir que takes the indicative — you are reporting a factual discovery, not a wish.
• Related words: descoberta (discovery), descobrimento (especially: Portuguese Age of Discovery), descobridor (explorer, discoverer).