Ir (To Go) — Full Conjugation

Ir — "to go" — is among the first verbs a learner meets and among the most irregular in the language. It is also the engine of everyday future tense in Portuguese: ir + infinitive (vou falar = I'm going to speak) is the default way most people talk about the future in casual speech. You cannot function in Portuguese without ir.

The verb's irregularity has a remarkable origin: ir is suppletive, meaning its forms come from two different Latin verbs spliced together. The present tense (vou, vais, vai, vamos, ides, vão) descends from Latin vadere (to go, to walk). The preterite (fui, foste, foi...) and subjunctives (fosse, for) descend from esse (to be) — which is why the preterite of ir is identical to the preterite of ser. The infinitive and the imperfect come from ire (to go). This three-way splicing makes ir look chaotic, but each piece is regular within itself.

Header

Present indicative — presente do indicativo

The present of ir comes from Latin vadere. Nothing here is derivable from the infinitive ir; you must memorize it.

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

This tense does come from the stem of ir (ire) plus regular -er/-ir imperfect endings. Notice the í with an acute accent in the nós and vós forms.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

The preterite of ir and ser is identical. This is the one table every learner remembers first.

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

Also shared with ser. Literary register.

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

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Built regularly from the infinitive ir plus future endings.

There is a playful paradox here: the most common way to express the future of ir in speech is not irei but vou ir — the verb ir used as its own auxiliary. Amanhã vou ir ao cinema (Tomorrow I'm going to go to the cinema) is completely normal.

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Conditional — condicional (futuro do pretérito)

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

Notice the acute accents on vá and vás — these must be written. Without the accent, va would be ambiguous or wrong. Note also that the nós form vamos is identical to the present indicative.

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

Identical to the imperfect subjunctive of ser.

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

Identical to the future subjunctive of ser.

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 (identical to the present subjunctive with não):

The affirmative tu form vai and the exhortation vamos! ("let's go!") are everywhere in spoken Portuguese.

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

Ir a vs. ir para: a fine distinction

One of the classic difficulties of Portuguese for English speakers (who just say "go to") is choosing between ir a and ir para — both translate as "go to," but they are not interchangeable.

Ir a + place = short, specific, round-trip visit

Use ir a for destinations you will visit briefly and return from. The focus is the visit itself, not the move.

Ir para + place = longer stay, direction, destination in an open-ended sense

Use ir para when the destination is where you are going to be for a substantial period — moving, relocating, heading home for the evening.

The intuition: a = visit and return; para = go and stay. Native speakers feel this distinction strongly, and mixing them produces sentences that sound odd even when grammatical.

Ir + infinitive = immediate future

The single most frequent construction with ir is ir + infinitive, which expresses the near future or a scheduled future in casual speech. It is the Portuguese equivalent of English "going to."

In everyday European Portuguese, ir + infinitive is far more common than the synthetic future (falarei, partirei). Reserve the synthetic future for writing, formal speech, and rhetorical emphasis.

Other core uses

Ir-se embora = to leave, to go away

The reflexive ir-se embora is the idiomatic verb for leaving a place. The clitic se is essential.

Ir de + transport = to go by

Use ir de + means of transport (no article): ir de carro, de comboio, de autocarro, de avião, de barco, de bicicleta, a pé (on foot — with a, not de).

Ir bem / ir mal = to go well / badly

Used of affairs, health, and situations:

Vamos! — let's go!

The nós present (vamos) doubles as the hortative form "let's" — either literally "let's go" or more generally "let's (do something)."

Ir vs. andar — motion vs. habitual locomotion

Ir is occasional motion toward a destination. Andar (to walk, to go about) covers habitual movement without a fixed endpoint.

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Ir is a suppletive verb: its forms come from three different Latin verbs. Memorize the three blocks: present (vou, vais, vai, vamos, ides, vão), preterite (fui, foste, foi, fomos, fostes, foram — shared with ser), and imperfect (ia, ias, ia, íamos, íeis, iam).
• The imperfect subjunctive (fosse) and future subjunctive (for) are identical to those of ser. Context distinguishes the two verbs.
• Ir a = go to (and come back / short visit); ir para = go to (and stay / relocate). This distinction is felt by every native speaker.
• Ir + infinitive is the dominant way to express future in everyday speech (vou falar rather than falarei).
• Ir-se embora (reflexive) = to leave. The clitic se is required.
• After quando, se, enquanto referring to the future, use the future subjunctive: quando fores, se formos, enquanto forem.
• Ir de + transport for means of travel: de carro, de comboio, de avião — but a pé for walking.