Mostrar (To Show) — Full Conjugation

Mostrar means to show — to display something so that someone else can see, understand, or notice it. It's a fully regular first-conjugation (-ar) verb, so its forms follow the same pattern as falar or morar. What makes mostrar worth its own page isn't morphology — it's syntax. The verb takes a direct object (the thing shown) and an indirect object (the person to whom it's shown), and the indirect object is marked with the preposition a. Getting the pronouns right — mostra-me, mostrou-lhe, mostram-nos — is where most learners need practice.

This page gives you every conjugated form of mostrar, plus its argument structure and the most common contrasts (especially mostrar vs. apresentar for people).

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Present indicative — presente do indicativo

Use this tense for current or habitual actions. Mostro-te o caminho = I'll show you the way.

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

Use this tense for past habits and background descriptions. O pai mostrava-nos as fotografias todas as noites = our father would show us the photos every night.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Use this tense for completed past actions. Mostrei-lhe o meu passaporte = I showed him my passport.

Note the acute accent on mostrámos (we showed) — a feature of European Portuguese that distinguishes the preterite from the present mostramos (we show).

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

A synthetic form used mainly in literary and formal writing.

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

The everyday way to say had shown.

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

Describes an action that has been happening repeatedly or continuously up to now.

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Conditional — condicional

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

Very common in real speech: mostra-me, mostre-me, mostrem-me = show me.

Affirmative:

Negative (identical to the present subjunctive with não):

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

Usage — argument structure

Mostrar is a ditransitive verb: it takes two objects.

• Direct object (what is shown): o livro, a casa, as fotografias, o caminho
• Indirect object (the person shown to), marked by a: ao João, à professora, aos pais

Full pattern: mostrar + thing + a + person.

• Mostrei o bilhete à funcionária. = I showed the ticket to the clerk.
• Ele mostra as fotografias ao avô sempre que o visita. = He shows his grandfather the photos every time he visits him.

When the indirect object is replaced by a pronoun, you get me, te, lhe, nos, vos, lhes:

• Mostra*-me o mapa.* = Show me the map.
• Ela mostrou*-lhe o relatório.* = She showed him/her the report.
• Já *nos mostraram a casa.* = They've already shown us the house.

Pronoun placement — proclisis vs. enclisis

In European Portuguese, clitic pronouns (me, te, lhe, se, nos, vos, lhes, o, a, os, as) normally follow the verb, attached by a hyphen (enclisis): mostra-me, mostrou-lhe, mostraram-nos.

But certain "triggers" pull the pronoun in front of the verb (proclisis), with no hyphen:

• Negation: Não *me mostra nada. (He doesn't show me anything.) — *not não mostra-me
• Question words: Quando *me mostras a carta?* (When will you show me the letter?)
• Subordinating conjunctions (que, se, porque, quando, embora...): Espero que *me mostres.*
• Adverbs like já, ainda, sempre, só: Já *me mostraram.*
• Indefinite subjects (alguém, ninguém, tudo, todos...): Ninguém *nos mostrou.*

In affirmative main clauses with no trigger, the default is enclisis: mostra-me, mostro-te, mostrou-lhe.

Mostrar-se — the reflexive use

Mostrar-se + adjective means to appear, to come across as, to prove to be. The subject shows itself to be a certain way.

• Ele mostrou-se muito generoso. = He proved to be very generous.
• A empresa mostra-se otimista quanto ao futuro. = The company is showing itself to be optimistic about the future.

This is a register-neutral construction, common in both speech and writing, though a touch more literary than the simple ele foi muito generoso.

Mostrar vs. apresentar

Both can involve "showing" someone or something, but they are not interchangeable.

• Mostrar = to show (visually display, make visible). Used with things, places, documents. You can mostrar a person only in the sense of pointing them out ("look, there she is") — not of introducing them.
• Apresentar = to introduce (a person to another person). This is what you use socially: Posso apresentar-te a minha irmã? (May I introduce my sister to you?).

A common transfer error from English: "let me show you my sister" — in Portuguese this must be apresentar, not mostrar, because the social act of introducing is a different verb.

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Mostrar is a fully regular -ar verb; its morphology gives you no surprises.
• The argument structure is mostrar + direct object + a + indirect object: mostrei o mapa ao João.
• Indirect-object pronouns me, te, lhe, nos, vos, lhes replace the a + person phrase.
• In EP, enclisis is the default (mostra-me) but triggers like não, question words, subordinating conjunctions, and certain adverbs pull the pronoun to the front (não me mostra).
• Use mostrar-se
  • adjective to mean "to come across as" or "to prove to be".
• Don't use mostrar to introduce a person — use apresentar.