Perder (To Lose) — Full Conjugation

Perder is the verb you will reach for whenever something slips through your fingers: perder as chaves (lose your keys), perder o comboio (miss the train), perder peso (lose weight), perder a paciência (lose your patience), perder-se (get lost). It looks like an ordinary second-conjugation (-er) verb, and in fourteen of its fifteen simple tenses it behaves exactly like one. But in one specific slot — the first-person singular of the present indicative, and all six forms of the present subjunctive that derive from it — perder springs an irregularity: the d of the stem shifts to c before -o and -a endings. You write perco (not perdo) and perca, percas, perca, percamos, percam (not perda...).

This page lays out every conjugated form, flags the d → c alternation clearly, and gives you the everyday idioms you need to use perder naturally in European Portuguese.

Header

Present indicative — presente do indicativo

The only irregular form here is perco in the first-person singular. Everywhere else, the stem is the regular perd-.

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

Fully regular. Used for habits, ongoing past states, and background description: Perdia sempre as chaves = I was always losing my keys.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Fully regular — the d stays. Perdi o autocarro = I missed the bus.

Note: perdemos is identical in the present and the preterite. Context — usually a time expression — tells you which is meant.

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

A synthetic, literary tense. In everyday speech, Portuguese prefers the compound pluperfect below.

The third-person plural perderam coincides with the preterite; context disambiguates.

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

The natural way to say had lost. Formed with the imperfect of ter plus perdido.

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

Despite the name, this does not translate as the English present perfect. It describes an action repeated or ongoing over a recent stretch of time. Tenho perdido muito tempo com isto = I have been wasting a lot of time on this (lately).

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Fully regular. In everyday speech, ir + infinitive (vou perder) is more common than this synthetic form, which is reserved for writing and formal registers.

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Describes what will have happened by some future moment. Formed with the future of ter plus perdido.

Conditional — condicional (futuro do pretérito)

Hypothetical actions and polite softening. Perderia a cabeça se isso acontecesse = I would lose my mind if that happened.

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Would have lost. Formed with the conditional of ter plus perdido.

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

This is where the d → c shift spreads to every person. The subjunctive is built off the 1sg present (perco), so the c runs through the whole paradigm.

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

Fully regular — the d is back. Used in hypothetical past contexts and after past-tense triggers. Se perdesse o emprego... = if I were to lose my job...

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

A living tense in European Portuguese, used after se, quando, enquanto. The stem is the regular perd-.

Present perfect subjunctive — pretérito perfeito do conjuntivo

Used when a completed past action is viewed from a subjunctive-triggering perspective. Receio que ele tenha perdido as chaves. = I'm afraid he has lost the keys.

Pluperfect subjunctive — pretérito mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo

Counterfactual past. Se tivesse perdido o comboio... = if I had missed the train...

Future perfect subjunctive — futuro perfeito do conjuntivo

Hypothetical future-completed action. Quando tiveres perdido essa mania... = when you have lost that habit...

Imperative — imperativo

Because the negative imperative borrows from the present subjunctive, the d → c shift shows up again in every negative form.

Affirmative:

Negative (identical to the present subjunctive with não):

Affirmative tu keeps the regular perde; negative tu switches to não percas.

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

Identical in form to the future subjunctive.

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

Why d → c? The spelling story

Portuguese spelling preserves a Latin alternation. In Latin, perdere had a first-person perdō, but in the history of Portuguese a generalized phonetic assimilation (and the analogy of verbs like poder → posso) left a cluster of -er verbs in which the d of the stem was replaced by c before back vowels (o, a). The result: perco / perca is a spelling convention that marks the /k/ sound that would otherwise require writing perço — which Portuguese orthography does not use. Learners sometimes describe this as "d becomes c," and that is how the rule works in practice, even if the historical story is more tangled.

The same logic applies to the small family of -er verbs derived from perder or from similar Latin roots — remorder, morder, roer, valer behave differently, so do not generalize too far. For perder specifically, just remember: perco, perca, and the six forms that inherit from perca.

Common uses and idioms

• perder o comboio / o autocarro / o voo — to miss the train / bus / flight
• perder tempo — to waste time
• perder peso — to lose weight
• perder a cabeça — to lose one's temper
• perder a paciência — to lose patience
• perder as estribeiras — to lose one's cool (lit. "to lose the stirrups")
• perder de vista — to lose sight of
• perder-se — to get lost (reflexive)
• perder por (quatro a dois) — to lose (4–2), in sports
• perder a cabeça por alguém — to fall head over heels for someone
• não tens nada a perder — you've got nothing to lose

Perder vs deixar (for English "miss")

English "miss" covers ground that Portuguese splits between perder and other verbs. Get the distinction right:

• perder — miss a scheduled departure (train, bus, flight) or an opportunity you could not reach in time: perdi o comboio das oito (I missed the 8 o'clock train).
• ter saudades de — miss someone or something emotionally: tenho saudades de ti (I miss you). This is never translated with perder.
• faltar a — miss a class, a meeting, an appointment (fail to show up): faltei à reunião (I missed the meeting).
• deixar escapar — miss a detail, let something slip by: deixaste escapar a piada (you missed the joke).

If a learner says Perco-te trying to express "I miss you," a Portuguese speaker will hear "I'm losing you" — the wrong meaning entirely.

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Perder is regular everywhere except where the ending starts with -o or -a: 1sg present (perco) and the whole present subjunctive (perca, percas, perca, percamos, percam).
• This same c-stem appears in every negative imperative form and in the você/nós/vocês affirmative imperatives.
• The past participle is the regular perdido.
• In sports, relationships, and everyday life, perder pairs with dozens of idioms: perder tempo, perder a cabeça, perder as estribeiras, perder de vista, perder-se.
• Do not use perder for missing someone emotionally — that is ter saudades de.
• Do not confuse the verb form perca with the noun perda (a loss). Both exist; both are spelled differently.