Esperar (To Wait / Hope / Expect) — Full Conjugation

Esperar is a verb you will use every day in Portugal — but it does the work of three English verbs: to wait, to hope, and to expect. These three meanings are not separate idioms; they are one Portuguese verb whose interpretation depends entirely on context and on what follows the verb. This is the classic polysemy that catches learners off guard: espero que ele venha can mean I hope he comes, and espero o autocarro means I'm waiting for the bus. They are the same verb.

Esperar is a regular -ar verb in every form. The difficulty is not conjugation but usage — and in particular, the fact that esperar que triggers the subjunctive in its hope and expect meanings.

Header

Present indicative — presente do indicativo

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

Background past — someone was waiting. Esperava há uma hora quando chegaste = I had been waiting for an hour when you arrived.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Completed past. Note esperámos with acute accent — European Portuguese standard, distinguishing it from the present form.

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

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

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

Repeated/continuous waiting or hoping up to now. Tenho esperado por uma resposta há semanas = I've been waiting for a reply for weeks.

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Conditional — condicional (futuro do pretérito)

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

Present perfect subjunctive — pretérito perfeito do conjuntivo

Pluperfect subjunctive — pretérito mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo

Future perfect subjunctive — futuro perfeito do conjuntivo

Imperative — imperativo

Affirmative:

Negative:

A note on espera! — it is one of the most common one-word utterances in spoken Portuguese. Espera = wait, hang on, hold on. It is the everyday equivalent of English wait a sec.

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

The three meanings of esperar

1. Wait — esperar (por) + object

For to wait (for someone/something), European Portuguese uses esperar por with a person or thing, though the preposition is sometimes dropped with a direct-object noun:

• esperar por alguém / por algo — to wait for someone / something (most common in EP)
• esperar alguém / algo — also grammatical; the preposition por can be omitted especially before a definite object

2. Hope — esperar que + subjunctive

When esperar means to hope, it is followed by que plus a subjunctive clause. This is because hoping is expressing a wish for something that is not yet a fact — the defining territory of the subjunctive:

When the subject of hope and the subject of the subordinate action are the same person, use an infinitive, not a que-clause:

3. Expect — esperar que + subjunctive (or indicative in some registers)

When esperar means to expect (to anticipate something), it is typically still followed by the subjunctive, because expectation also deals with not-yet-actual events. Some grammars note that when the expectation is felt as near-certainty (almost reporting a fact), the indicative is possible — but in standard usage the subjunctive is safer:

For expected as a past participle meaning anticipated, predicted, use esperado/a:

Usage summary table

The fixed phrase estar à espera (de) — literally to be in the waiting (of) — is extremely common in EP. It means to be waiting, to be expecting, and is often more natural than estar a esperar for prolonged or anticipatory contexts:

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Esperar is a regular -ar verb that covers wait, hope, and expect — context decides which.
• Wait for in EP is usually esperar por
  • object. Esperar por ti is more native than esperar-te.
• Hope / expect with a different subject triggers the subjunctive: espero que venhas, esperava que viesses.
• Same-subject hope uses an infinitive: espero chegar cedo, not *espero que chegue cedo (with the same subject).
• The fixed phrase estar à espera de is often the most natural EP way to say to be waiting for / expecting.
• The preterite nós form is esperámos (acute accent) in EP, distinguishing it from the present esperamos.