Viajar (To Travel) — Full Conjugation

Viajar means to travel — to take a trip, to go from one place to another, typically over a meaningful distance. It is one of the most useful A2 verbs for real life: plane tickets, train journeys, business trips, weekends away. The good news is that viajar is completely regular in its conjugated forms. The -j- stays as -j- throughout every tense, including before endings that start with -a or -o. This is because Portuguese uses j (not g) for this sound before a, o, u — so no orthographic alternation is needed.

This page gives you every conjugated form of viajar, together with usage notes on the prepositions it takes and the everyday phrases it appears in.

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Present indicative — presente do indicativo

Use this tense for current actions, habits, and general truths. Viajo muito por trabalho = I travel a lot for work.

Note that the eu form is viajo — no -g- and no -u- are needed, because j already represents the right sound before o in Portuguese spelling.

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

Used for past habits, background descriptions, and ongoing actions in the past. Nesse tempo viajávamos de comboio = back then we used to travel by train.

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Used for completed past actions. Viajei para o Porto no fim-de-semana passado = I travelled to Porto last weekend.

Note the acute accent on viajámos (first-person plural preterite) in European Portuguese. This accent is what distinguishes the preterite viajámos (we travelled) from the present viajamos (we travel) in writing. In Brazilian Portuguese the accent is not used, and the two forms are spelled identically.

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

The synthetic (one-word) pluperfect. It is used mainly in literary and formal writing; in speech, Portuguese prefers the compound pluperfect (see below).

The third-person plural viajaram is identical to the preterite; context disambiguates.

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

The everyday way to say had travelled. Formed with the imperfect of ter plus the past participle viajado.

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

Describes an action that has been happening repeatedly or continuously up to now. It does not match English present perfect. Tenho viajado muito este ano = I have been travelling a lot this year.

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Used for future actions. In everyday speech, Portuguese often prefers ir + infinitive (vou viajar) over this synthetic future, but the synthetic form appears in writing, news, and formal speech.

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Describes an action that will have been completed by some future point. Formed with the future of ter plus viajado.

Conditional — condicional (futuro do pretérito)

Expresses hypothetical actions or polite wishes. Viajaria mais se tivesse tempo = I would travel more if I had time.

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Describes hypothetical past actions: would have travelled. Formed with the conditional of ter plus viajado.

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

Used in subordinate clauses after verbs of wish, doubt, emotion, or command. Espero que viajes em segurança = I hope you travel safely.

The present subjunctive endings for -ar verbs are built on -e. Again, j stays as j — no spelling change is needed, because j is used before e in Portuguese too. Note that viajem (3rd-person plural subjunctive) is a verb form, not the noun viagem (trip).

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

Used for hypothetical or contrary-to-fact situations. Se viajasse mais, seria mais feliz = if I travelled more, I'd be happier.

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

A living tense in European Portuguese (unlike in Spanish, where it is archaic). Used after se, quando, enquanto, and similar conjunctions for future possibilities. Quando viajares para Lisboa, avisa-me = when you travel to Lisbon, let me know.

For regular verbs like viajar, the future subjunctive is identical in form to the personal infinitive — context distinguishes them.

Present perfect subjunctive — pretérito perfeito do conjuntivo

Used when a completed action is felt from a perspective that triggers subjunctive mood. Espero que tenhas viajado bem = I hope you had a good trip.

Pluperfect subjunctive — pretérito mais-que-perfeito do conjuntivo

Used for contrary-to-fact past situations. Se tivesse viajado com ele, teria visto o acidente = if I had travelled with him, I would have seen the accident.

Future perfect subjunctive — futuro perfeito do conjuntivo

Used for hypothetical future-completed actions. Quando tiveres viajado por toda a Europa, dizes-me qual foi o teu país favorito = when you've travelled through all of Europe, tell me which country was your favourite.

Imperative — imperativo

Used for commands. The affirmative has forms for tu, você, nós, and vocês. The negative uses the present subjunctive with não.

Affirmative:

Negative (identical to the present subjunctive with não):

Personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal

Used after prepositions (para, sem, antes de, depois de) and in certain subordinate clauses when the infinitive has its own subject.

Compound personal infinitive — infinitivo pessoal composto

A personal infinitive with ter as auxiliary, expressing a completed action in a non-finite clause. Depois de termos viajado toda a noite, chegámos exaustos = after we had travelled all night, we arrived exhausted.

Usage and prepositions

Viajar is intransitive in most uses. The prepositions you pair with it carry most of the meaning:

• viajar para + destination — to travel to a place (destination-focused): viajar para o Algarve
• viajar a + destination — less common in everyday EP than para, but used especially for short or business trips: viajar a Londres em trabalho (to travel to London on business)
• viajar de + transport — to travel by some means: viajar de avião, de comboio, de carro, de autocarro, de barco, a pé (note: a pé with a, not de)
• viajar por + region/route — to travel through / around: viajar pela Europa (to travel around Europe), viajar pela costa (to travel along the coast)
• viajar com + companion — to travel with someone: viajar com a família
• viajar em + month/season — to travel in a month/season: viajar em Agosto
• viajar + adverb — viajar sozinho (alone), viajar muito, viajar pouco

Do not use viajar transitively to mean "travel a distance" — you cannot say viajei Lisboa. Use either fui a (completed trip) or viajei para / visitei.

Related noun: viagem

The noun viagem (feminine, with g) means trip, journey. Plural: viagens. Common collocations:

• fazer uma viagem — to take a trip (the default way to describe having a trip)
• uma boa viagem! — have a good trip! (said on parting)
• agência de viagens — travel agency
• seguro de viagem — travel insurance
• companheiro de viagem — travelling companion
• viagem de ida / viagem de ida e volta — one-way / return trip
• diário de viagem — travel journal

Portuguese often uses fazer uma viagem where English would just say "to travel":

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Viajar is a completely regular first-conjugation (-ar) verb with no orthographic alternation. The -j- stays as -j- in every tense.
• Remember the j / g split: the verb is viajar / viajo / viaje; the noun is viagem. Don't write viajem when you mean the noun.
• The EP preterite viajámos takes an acute accent to distinguish it from the present viajamos. Brazilian Portuguese drops this accent.
• The prepositions matter: viajar para (to a destination), viajar de (by a means of transport), viajar por / pela (through / around), viajar com (with someone). And always a pé — never de pé.
• Portuguese often prefers the noun construction fazer uma viagem where English would simply say "to travel".