Escrever (To Write) — Full Conjugation

Escrever — to write — is one of the first verbs a learner meets, and it is regular in every conjugated tense. What sets it apart is its irregular past participle: escrito, not escrevido. This one irregular form runs through every compound tense (tenho escrito, tinha escrito, foi escrito) and through every derived verb. Once you know escrito, you know descrito (described), prescrito (prescribed), inscrito (enrolled), transcrito (transcribed), subscrito (subscribed/signed), and reescrito (rewritten). The prefix changes; the irregular -scrito stays.

This page gives you every conjugated form of escrever, explains the participle family, and covers the prepositions that follow the verb.

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Present indicative — presente do indicativo

Regular -er endings. Escrevo = I write / I am writing.

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

Past habits and descriptions. Em pequeno escrevia cartas aos meus primos = as a child I used to write letters to my cousins.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Completed past actions. Escrevi um e-mail esta manhã = I wrote an email this morning.

Note: the nós form escrevemos is identical in present and preterite for -er verbs — same pattern as -ir verbs. Context disambiguates.

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

Synthetic pluperfect — literary register. Escrevera = had written.

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

The everyday had written: imperfect of ter plus escrito.

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

Repeated or continuous action up to now. Tenho escrito muito ultimamente = I've been writing a lot lately.

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Formal/written future. Everyday speech often prefers vou escrever.

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Will have written — future of ter plus escrito.

Conditional — condicional (futuro do pretérito)

Hypothetical and polite. Escreveria um livro se tivesse tempo = I would write a book if I had time.

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Would have written — conditional of ter plus escrito.

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

After verbs of wish, doubt, emotion, command. Espero que escrevas com calma = I hope you write carefully.

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

Contrary-to-fact or past subordinate clauses. Se escrevesse mais devagar, leria melhor = if you wrote more slowly, it would be easier to read.

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

A living tense in Portuguese. Quando escreveres a resposta, manda-ma = when you write the reply, send it to me.

Present perfect subjunctive — pretérito perfeito do conjuntivo

May have written. Espero que tenhas escrito a carta = I hope you've written the letter.

Pluperfect subjunctive — pretérito mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo

Contrary-to-fact past. Se tivesse escrito mais cedo... = if I had written earlier...

Future perfect subjunctive — futuro perfeito do conjuntivo

Will have written, hypothetical. Quando tiveres escrito o capítulo, manda-mo = when you have written the chapter, send it to me.

Imperative — imperativo

Affirmative:

Negative (subjunctive with não):

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

The irregular participle escrito and its family

Escrito is the only past participle of escrever. The regular escrevido does not exist. This irregular form descends from Latin scriptum — the same root that gives English script, scribe, and inscription.

The irregularity propagates to every verb derived from escrever:

Like any past participle used adjectivally, escrito agrees in gender and number when used with ser, estar, or as a pure adjective: escrito, escrita, escritos, escritas.

Usage notes

escrever a + person (to write to someone)

The addressee is introduced by a, mirrored by the clitic lhe / lhes:

escrever a + medium (how it's written)

Portuguese uses a for several writing mediums where English uses different prepositions:

• a mão — by hand
• a máquina — on a typewriter (slightly old-fashioned)
• a lápis / a caneta / a tinta — in pencil / in pen / in ink
• a esferográfica — in ballpoint

For a computer, use no computador (on the computer), not a.

escrever em + language

The language written in is introduced by em:

escrever sobre / acerca de (about)

To say write about something, use sobre (most common) or acerca de (slightly more formal):

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Escrever is a regular -er verb in every conjugated form. The only irregularity is the past participle.
• The past participle is escrito — the regular escrevido does not exist.
• Escrito agrees in gender and number: escrito, escrita, escritos, escritas.
• Every derived verb inherits the irregular pattern: descrito, prescrito, inscrito, transcrito, subscrito, reescrito, circunscrito.
• The recipient of a letter takes the preposition a: escrever a alguém → escrever-lhe.
• Writing mediums take a: a mão, a caneta, a lápis (but no computador).
• The tu affirmative imperative is escreve; the negative switches to subjunctive não escrevas.