Medir (To Measure) — Full Conjugation

Medir means to measure — length, height, weight, temperature, time, and by extension words, effort, and consequences. It is a third-conjugation (-ir) verb with a small but characteristic irregularity: in the eu form of the present indicative and throughout the present subjunctive, the consonant d is replaced by ç. So you say meço (I measure), meças (that you measure), meçam (that they measure) — never medo or medas. This spelling change belongs to the same family as pedir (peço, peça) and ouvir (ouço, ouça): an older Latin consonant surviving in certain forms where the ending begins with -o or -a.

Outside these two places, medir behaves like any other regular -ir verb. The preterite is regular. The imperfect is regular. The future, conditional, and future subjunctive are regular. If you can conjugate partir, and you remember the ç in meço and meça, you can conjugate medir.

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Present indicative — presente do indicativo

The eu form is meço — the d is replaced by ç. Every other form keeps the d.

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

Completely regular.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Regular. No ç.

As with all regular -ir verbs, the nós form medimos is identical in the present and preterite; context disambiguates.

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

A literary tense. Everyday speech uses the compound form below.

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

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

Describes a repeated or continuous action up to now.

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Conditional — condicional (futuro do pretérito)

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

Built from the eu form meço → drop the -o → add -a endings. Every form carries the ç.

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

Regular.

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

Regular; built on the preterite stem medi-. Identical to the personal infinitive of this verb.

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 (subjunctive with não):

Note the contrast: affirmative tu mede (with a d, taken from the third-person present), but negative não meças and formal meça (with a ç, taken from the subjunctive).

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

Usage notes

Medir is a transitive verb in its core sense: you measure something. That something can be a physical dimension, a quantity, or something abstract.

• medir em metros / centímetros / quilos — to measure in metres / centimetres / kilos
• medir a tensão arterial — to measure blood pressure
• medir a temperatura — to take/measure the temperature
• medir a distância — to measure the distance
• medir as palavras — to choose one's words carefully (literally, to measure one's words)
• medir as consequências — to weigh the consequences
• medir forças com alguém — to match strength against someone, to go head to head
• medir por/pelo mesmo padrão — to measure by the same standard
• não medir esforços — to spare no effort (idiom, literally "not measure efforts")

Asking about someone's height

Portuguese uses medir for height in a way English does not. Instead of How tall is he? with ser, Portuguese says Quanto é que ele mede? — literally How much does he measure?

You can also use the object version: Ele tem um metro e setenta e cinco de altura, but medir is the natural choice when you want a direct question about height.

Choosing words carefully

The idiom medir as palavras is in regular use, especially in formal or tense contexts.

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Medir is a third-conjugation (-ir) verb whose only irregularity is the d → ç spelling change in the eu form of the present indicative (meço) and throughout the present subjunctive (meça, meças, meçamos, meçam).
• Everywhere else the verb is regular: the preterite (medi, mediste, mediu…), imperfect, future, conditional, and future subjunctive all use the stem med-.
• Portuguese asks about height with medir: Quanto mede? or Quanto é que mede? The English calque Quão alto é? is not natural.
• The past participle medido is regular and invariable with ter in compound tenses.
• The idioms medir as palavras, medir forças, and não medir esforços are common in both speech and writing. Treat them as fixed expressions.
• Remember the cedilla. Meço with ç, not meco with bare c — the difference is spelling, but also pronunciation.