Tirar (To Take Off/Remove) — Full Conjugation

Tirar is a workhorse -ar verb whose core meaning is to take out, to remove, to take off. The range is wide: you tirar clothes (take off), dishes from the oven (take out), money from an ATM (withdraw), conclusions from evidence (draw), photographs (take), a university degree (get), a day off (take). In many situations where English uses take + particle (take out, take off, take away), Portuguese uses tirar.

Tirar is fully regular — a first-conjugation (-ar) verb with no stem changes, no spelling quirks, no irregular participle. Learn the -ar paradigm once and tirar falls into it perfectly. Note the 1st-plural preterite: in European Portuguese, it is tirámos with an acute accent on the á, distinguishing it from the present tiramos (no accent). This is a general EP pattern for all regular -ar verbs; Brazilian Portuguese writes both the same (tiramos/tiramos) after the 1990 spelling reform, but the EP convention preserves the accent.

Header

Present indicative — presente do indicativo

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

Note the accent on tirávamos / tiráveis — the stress falls on the antepenult and must be marked.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

The nós form tirámos carries an acute accent on the á in European Portuguese; this distinguishes it from the present tiramos. Brazilian Portuguese does not maintain this accent in post-1990 spelling.

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

Literary; in speech, use the compound tinha tirado.

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

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

Recurring or continuing action up to now. Tenho tirado muitas fotografias deste ano = I've been taking a lot of photos this year.

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Conditional — condicional

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

For regular -ar verbs, the subjunctive endings are -e, -es, -e, -emos, -eis, -em (the "opposite vowel" rule — -ar verbs take -e endings, -er/-ir verbs take -a endings).

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

Affirmative:

Negative:

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

Usage patterns

Tirar is productive in a remarkable number of expressions. The most common:

• tirar + direct object: to take off, to remove. Tira o casaco e entra. (Take off your coat and come in.) Tira as mãos daí! (Get your hands off that!)
• tirar a roupa: to take off one's clothes; to undress. As crianças tiraram a roupa para ir tomar banho. (The children undressed to go take a bath.)
• tirar uma fotografia / uma foto: to take a photograph. Tirei uma foto ao Castelo de São Jorge ao pôr do sol. (I took a photo of the São Jorge Castle at sunset.) Note the preposition a: you take a photo ao (or do) something, not directly the thing.
• tirar um curso: to take / do a degree or course. Tirei o curso de Direito na Universidade de Coimbra. (I did my Law degree at the University of Coimbra.) This is a classic EP idiom — Brazilians are more likely to say fazer um curso.
• tirar a carta / a carta de condução: to get one's driver's license. Tirei a carta aos dezoito anos. (I got my driver's license at eighteen.)
• tirar dinheiro: to withdraw money. Preciso de tirar dinheiro do multibanco. (I need to take money out of the ATM.) In informal EP speech, sacar is also used for withdrawing cash.
• tirar férias: to take a vacation / time off. Vamos tirar férias em Agosto. (We're going to take holidays in August.)
• tirar dúvidas: to clear up doubts / to ask for clarification. Tens alguma dúvida que queiras tirar? (Do you have any questions you want to clear up?)
• tirar a mesa: to clear the table. Depois do jantar, tiramos a mesa juntos. (After dinner, we clear the table together.)
• tirar conclusões: to draw conclusions. Não tires conclusões precipitadas. (Don't jump to conclusions.)
• tirar partido de: to take advantage of, to make the most of. Tirámos partido do bom tempo para ir à praia. (We took advantage of the good weather to go to the beach.)
• tirar a limpo: to get to the bottom of (a matter). Vamos tirar isto a limpo de uma vez por todas. (Let's get to the bottom of this once and for all.)

Tirar vs sacar vs levar

Learners often confuse these three. A quick guide:

• tirar: neutral, all-purpose "take out, remove." Tira o livro da estante.
• sacar: informal EP "whip out / grab / yank out," especially with money (sacar dinheiro = withdraw cash, colloquial) or phones (sacou o telemóvel). Rougher or more sudden in nuance. In Brazilian Portuguese, sacar also means "to understand" (saquei = I got it), but that sense is not used in EP.
• levar: "to take (with you), to carry away." The opposite nuance: tirar implies removal from somewhere; levar implies taking along to somewhere else. Tira o lixo = Take out the trash (remove it from here). Leva o lixo = Take the trash (with you, e.g. downstairs).

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Tirar is a fully regular first-conjugation (-ar) verb. No stem changes, no irregular participle, no spelling quirks.
• In European Portuguese, the 1st-plural preterite tirámos carries an acute accent to distinguish it from the present tiramos. This accent is obligatory in EP spelling.
• Core meanings: to take out, to remove, to take off. Extended senses: take a photo (tirar uma foto), earn a degree (tirar um curso), withdraw money (tirar dinheiro), take vacation (tirar férias), clear doubts (tirar dúvidas), draw conclusions (tirar conclusões).
• Don't confuse tirar (remove) with levar (take along). Tirar o lixo = take the trash out of the bin; levar o lixo = take the trash (with you, e.g., downstairs).
• Sacar is an informal EP alternative to tirar specifically for money withdrawals and sudden grabbings; it does not mean "to understand" in EP as it does in Brazilian Portuguese.
• The past participle tirado is regular and shows up in all compound tenses: tenho tirado, tinha tirado, terei tirado.