Voltar (To Return) — Full Conjugation

Voltar means to return — to go back, to come back, to turn back. It is an A2 verb you meet early and use constantly: volto já (I'll be right back), voltei a casa tarde (I got back home late). Voltar is a completely regular first-conjugation (-ar) verb, but its real complexity is not morphological — it is semantic. Portuguese has two superficially similar constructions — voltar a + infinitive and voltar para + place — that mean very different things, and English speakers mix them up constantly.

This page gives you every conjugated form of voltar, together with a careful treatment of its prepositions and the famous voltar a + infinitive periphrasis.

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Present indicative — presente do indicativo

Imperfect indicative — pretérito imperfeito

Preterite indicative — pretérito perfeito simples

Note the acute accent on voltámos (1st-person plural preterite) in European Portuguese — this accent distinguishes voltámos (we returned) from voltamos (we return). Brazilian Portuguese drops the accent.

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

Formal/literary only.

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

Present perfect — pretérito perfeito composto

Tenho voltado lá muitas vezes = I've been going back there a lot.

Simple future — futuro do indicativo simples

Future perfect — futuro perfeito

Conditional — condicional

Conditional perfect — condicional composto

Present subjunctive — presente do conjuntivo

Espero que voltes em breve = I hope you come back soon.

Imperfect subjunctive — imperfeito do conjuntivo

Future subjunctive — futuro do conjuntivo

Quando voltares, traz-me o livro = when you come back, bring me the book.

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

Usage: voltar a vs voltar para

This is the crux of the verb. These two constructions are not synonyms, and treating them as such produces fluent-looking Portuguese that means the wrong thing.

voltar para + place — to go back TO a place

Voltar para describes the physical return to a place. The preposition para marks the destination of the movement.

You can also hear voltar a + place occasionally in this sense (especially with cities/regions: voltar a Lisboa), but voltar para is the default and always safe.

voltar a + infinitive — to do (something) again

This is a completely different construction. It is a periphrastic aspectual — voltar a + infinitive means "to do the infinitive-verb again". It does not mean "to return to doing" in the sense of "to resume".

This is one of the most productive constructions in Portuguese, and a key sign of near-native fluency. English usually expresses this with the adverb "again", but Portuguese prefers voltar a + infinitive.

voltar a + noun — to return to a state or activity

Used before a noun, voltar a can mean "to return to" (a state, an activity, a relationship):

(Note the contraction a + a = à.)

voltar-se — to turn around (physically)

The reflexive form voltar-se means to physically turn oneself around, to face a different direction.

Do not confuse voltar-se (turn around, physical) with voltar (come/go back, directional). A person who se volta stays in the same place and rotates; a person who volta moves back to a previous location.

Other useful constructions

• voltar atrás (em algo) — to go back on something, to retract: Voltou atrás na decisão.
• não há volta a dar — there's nothing to be done about it (idiom using the noun volta)
• dar uma volta — to take a walk / go for a stroll (noun volta meaning "turn")
• dar a volta a (algo) — to get around / circumvent something: Dei a volta ao problema.
• volta e meia — every now and then (literally "a turn and a half"): Volta e meia aparece por cá.

Example sentences in context

Common mistakes

Key takeaways

• Voltar is a fully regular first-conjugation (-ar) verb. The EP preterite voltámos takes an accent to distinguish it from the present.
• Voltar para + place = to go/come back to a place (directional).
• Voltar a + infinitive = to do something again (aspectual). This is not "to return to doing" — it is straightforward repetition.
• Voltar-se (reflexive) = to physically turn around. Different from directional voltar.
• In European Portuguese, reflexive voltar-se takes enclisis in affirmative main clauses: voltei-me, not me voltei.
• Productive idioms: voltar atrás, dar uma volta, dar a volta a, volta e meia.