Morar (To Live/Reside) — Full Conjugation

Morar is one of the first verbs a learner of Portuguese uses about themselves: the question "Onde é que moras?" (where do you live?) comes up the very first time you meet someone. It means to live in the sense of to reside — the place where you have your home. Morar is a fully regular first-conjugation (-ar) verb, which makes it an excellent model for the whole class: once you can conjugate morar, you can conjugate hundreds of other -ar verbs the same way.

This page gives you every conjugated form of morar, organized tense by tense, plus the prepositions and common phrases you need to use it correctly.

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Present indicative — presente do indicativo

Use this tense to say where someone currently lives. Moro em Coimbra = I live in Coimbra.

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

Use this tense for where someone used to live, or to describe an ongoing state of residence in the past. Morava em Lisboa quando era pequeno = I used to live in Lisbon when I was little.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Use this tense for a completed period of living somewhere. Morei em Berlim dois anos = I lived in Berlin for two years.

Note the acute accent on morámos. In European Portuguese, the first-person plural preterite of -ar verbs is written with an accent (morámos = we lived), which distinguishes it from the present moramos (we live). Brazilian Portuguese dropped this accent after the 1990 Orthographic Agreement, but in Portugal the distinction is still written.

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

The simple pluperfect is a synthetic form used mainly in literary and formal writing. In speech, Portuguese uses the compound pluperfect.

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

The compound pluperfect is the everyday way to say had lived. Formed with the imperfect of ter plus the past participle morado.

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

This tense describes a state or action that has been happening continuously or repeatedly up to now. Tenho morado em casa dos meus pais = I've been living at my parents' house (these last months).

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Use this tense for future residence. In everyday speech, Portuguese often prefers ir + infinitive (vou morar) over this synthetic future, but you will encounter the synthetic form in writing.

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Describes an action that will have been completed by some future moment.

Conditional — condicional (futuro do pretérito)

Expresses hypothetical situations and polite statements. Moraria no campo se pudesse = I would live in the countryside if I could.

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Describes hypothetical past situations: would have lived.

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

Used in subordinate clauses after verbs of wish, doubt, or emotion. Quero que mores aqui = I want you to live here.

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

Used for hypothetical or contrary-to-fact situations, and in subordinate clauses triggered by a past-tense main clause. Se morasse em Lisboa, ia ao teatro todas as semanas = if I lived in Lisbon, I'd go to the theatre every week.

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

A living tense in European Portuguese. Used after se (if), quando (when), and enquanto (while) to refer to future possibilities. Quando morares em Lisboa, vais perceber = when you live in Lisbon, you'll understand.

Present perfect subjunctive — pretérito perfeito do conjuntivo

Used when a completed action is felt from a subjunctive perspective. Espero que tenhas morado bem em Paris = I hope you've lived well in Paris.

Pluperfect subjunctive — pretérito mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo

Used for contrary-to-fact past situations: had lived. Se tivesse morado lá, teria aprendido a língua = if I had lived there, I would have learnt the language.

Future perfect subjunctive — futuro perfeito do conjuntivo

Used for hypothetical future-completed situations.

Imperative — imperativo

Morar is rarely used in commands in real speech — people don't usually order other people to live somewhere — but the forms exist.

Affirmative:

Negative (identical to the present subjunctive with não):

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

Used after prepositions and in certain subordinate clauses when the infinitive's subject is clear. É melhor morarmos perto do trabalho = it's better for us to live near work.

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

Usage — prepositions and structure

Morar takes the preposition em (in) to mark the place of residence. Em contracts with the definite article when an article is used:

• em
  • no article → em: moro *em Lisboa, em Paris, em Portugal*
• em
  • o → no: moro *no Porto, no Brasil, no campo*
• em
  • a → na: moro *na Alemanha, na Rua da Boavista, na cidade*
• em
  • os → nos: moro *nos Estados Unidos*
• em
  • as → nas: moro *nas Caldas da Rainha*

You can also use morar em casa de (to live at someone's house): moro em casa dos meus pais = I live at my parents' house.

Morar vs. viver

Both verbs can translate as to live, but they cover different ground.

• Morar = to reside, to have one's home somewhere. Always about a physical place. Moro em Coimbra (I live in Coimbra).
• Viver = to live, in the broader sense. It covers residence too, but also being alive, passing through life, and living with someone. Vivi uma vida feliz (I lived a happy life). Viveu até aos 95 anos (he lived until 95). Vivem juntos há dez anos (they've been living together — as a couple — for ten years).

For the simple question where do you live?, both Onde moras? and Onde vives? are heard in Portugal, with Onde moras? being slightly more concrete and Onde vives? slightly more general. Either will sound natural.

For idiomatic or existential uses, only viver works: vale a pena viver (life is worth living) — you cannot say vale a pena morar with that meaning.

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Morar is a fully regular -ar verb. It means to live in the sense of to reside — the place where you have your home.
• The preposition is em: moro em Lisboa. With an article, em contracts: no Porto, na Rua X, nos Estados Unidos.
• Note the accent on the 1pl preterite morámos (we lived) — this distinguishes it in writing from the present moramos (we live) in European Portuguese.
• Use viver instead of morar when talking about life in the broader sense: being alive, living through experiences, or living together as a couple.
• Ask "Onde é que moras?" when meeting someone new — it's the standard opener after como te chamas? and de onde és?.