To say that an ongoing action has stopped — that you quit smoking, that the rain has let up, that they no longer speak to each other — European Portuguese uses deixar de + infinitive. It is the mirror image of começar a + inf (start doing) and the opposite pole of continuar a + inf (still doing). Deixei de fumar = "I stopped smoking"; não deixei de fumar = "I didn't stop smoking" (I still do). But one double-negative twist waits for you: não deixar de + inf is also a fixed idiom meaning "don't forget to / be sure to," and that is one of the most common ways a native EP speaker gives a friendly instruction. This page handles the paradigm, the semantics, and that idiom — which is where even confident learners get tripped up.
The three slots
| Slot | What fills it | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| auxiliary | deixar, in some tense | conjugates for person, number, tense |
| linker | de (preposition) | never changes |
| main verb | bare infinitive | never changes form |
Unlike começar a, continuar a, or estar a, this periphrasis uses de as its linker — matching the shape of ter de + inf and acabar de + inf. The de is fixed; it never contracts.
Deixei de beber café há três meses.
I stopped drinking coffee three months ago.
Ela deixou de falar comigo depois da discussão.
She stopped talking to me after the argument.
The meaning: cessation, not renunciation
Deixar de + inf says an action that was happening has stopped. It names the end of an activity, the threshold where something that was going on ceases to go on. Two nuances travel with it:
- The action was happening before — otherwise there is nothing to stop.
- The speaker is usually focused on the end, not on the full span that came before.
That gives deixar de a slightly different feel from the English "to quit." Deixar de is fully neutral — it doesn't imply a hard-won decision or a moral victory. You can deixar de ver um programa (stop watching a show) because it got boring, or deixar de chover (the rain stops) because the weather changes. Anything that is underway can simply end, and deixar de marks that.
A chuva já deixou de cair, podemos sair.
The rain has stopped now, we can go out.
O telemóvel deixou de funcionar depois de cair à piscina.
The phone stopped working after it fell into the pool.
Paradigm across the key tenses
Deixar is a regular -ar verb — no orthographic quirks of its own. The linker de is invariant, and the main verb after it stays in the infinitive.
Present — "am stopping, do not do anymore"
| Subject | deixar (present) | Example with fumar |
|---|---|---|
| eu | deixo | deixo de fumar |
| tu | deixas | deixas de fumar |
| ele / ela / você | deixa | deixa de fumar |
| nós | deixamos | deixamos de fumar |
| eles / elas / vocês | deixam | deixam de fumar |
The present is less frequent than the preterite here — cessation is usually a discrete event — but it does occur, especially when the speaker is announcing a decision or describing a steady new habit.
A partir de hoje, deixo de comer carne.
Starting today, I'm giving up meat.
Não deixa de ser estranho que ele não tenha ligado.
It's still strange (it doesn't cease to be strange) that he hasn't called.
Preterite — "stopped, gave up"
This is the workhorse form. Cessation is almost always framed in the past.
| Subject | deixar (preterite) | Example with beber |
|---|---|---|
| eu | deixei | deixei de beber |
| tu | deixaste | deixaste de beber |
| ele / ela / você | deixou | deixou de beber |
| nós | deixámos | deixámos de beber |
| eles / elas / vocês | deixaram | deixaram de beber |
Deixei de fumar há cinco anos e não me arrependo.
I gave up smoking five years ago and I don't regret it.
Deixámos de ir ao ginásio quando mudámos de casa.
We stopped going to the gym when we moved house.
Imperfect — "was no longer doing / was giving up"
Naquela altura, ela já deixava de responder às minhas mensagens.
At that point she was already not replying to my messages anymore.
Deixávamos de nos ver sempre que ele viajava em trabalho.
We'd stop seeing each other whenever he travelled for work.
Future, conditional, subjunctive
Para o ano deixarei de pagar esse serviço — não vale o que custa.
Next year I'll cancel that service — it's not worth the price.
Se soubesse, deixaria de comprar ali há muito tempo.
If I'd known, I'd have stopped buying there long ago.
É importante que deixes de te preocupar com coisas que não podes controlar.
It's important that you stop worrying about things you can't control.
Deixar de vs parar de — nearly synonymous
Parar de + inf is a close relative that also means "stop doing." The two are largely interchangeable, but there is a subtle frequency and register difference.
- Deixar de — the standard, neutral verb for cessation. Covers everything: stopping a habit, a feeling, a process.
- Parar de — a little more physical or sudden. Very natural with bodily activities, noisy processes, or any action that has a clear stop button.
Para de falar, por favor.
Stop talking, please. (a sudden request to halt)
Deixa de falar dessa maneira.
Stop talking like that. (a request to change the pattern of behaviour)
O bebé parou de chorar assim que o peguei ao colo.
The baby stopped crying as soon as I picked him up.
Deixei de fumar.
I gave up smoking (as an ongoing habit).
If you are announcing the end of a habit, reach for deixar de. If you are asking for an immediate halt, either works, but parar de sounds more physical.
Deixar + infinitive vs deixar DE + infinitive — a critical pair
Without the preposition de, the verb deixar takes on a completely different meaning: to let, to allow. This is one of the classic beginner traps in EP.
- Deixar + infinitive (no preposition) — to let someone do something / to allow.
- Deixar de + infinitive — to stop doing something.
Deixa-me falar com ela primeiro.
Let me speak to her first. (allow me)
Deixa de falar com ela.
Stop speaking to her.
Os meus pais não me deixavam sair à noite.
My parents didn't let me go out at night.
Ele deixou de sair à noite quando começou a estudar Medicina.
He stopped going out at night when he started studying Medicine.
The single word de flips the meaning from permission to cessation. Drop it or add it by mistake and the sentence inverts.
The idiom: não deixar de + infinitive
This is the twist. Overlaying the basic "stop doing" meaning is a fixed idiomatic pattern that turns the double negative into a positive instruction or insistence.
Não deixes de + infinitive = "Be sure to / don't forget to / do not fail to."
Literally it is "don't stop doing," and it surfaces when the implied opposite — "stop doing" — is unreasonable enough that not stopping is equivalent to a positive command. In everyday EP this is one of the warmest, most characteristic ways to give a friendly instruction.
Não deixes de me escrever quando chegares.
Be sure to write to me when you arrive. / Don't forget to write when you get there.
Não deixem de provar o bacalhau à Brás — é a especialidade da casa.
Don't miss trying the bacalhau à Brás — it's the house speciality.
Se passares por Lisboa, não deixes de visitar o Mosteiro dos Jerónimos.
If you're passing through Lisbon, be sure to visit the Jerónimos Monastery.
Quando tiveres tempo, não deixes de ler este livro.
When you have time, do make sure to read this book.
The idiom is almost always in the subjunctive or the imperative, addressed to someone: a warm nudge toward a recommended action. An equivalent English phrase is "don't miss" or "do be sure to." The "do not fail to" register is closest in older English.
When does não deixar de keep its literal meaning?
Sometimes. In declarative statements about a third party, não deixar de + inf can still mean straightforward "did not stop doing." Context tells you which reading applies.
Apesar da chuva, não deixou de fazer o seu passeio diário.
Despite the rain, he didn't skip his daily walk.
Mesmo depois de reformado, ele não deixou de escrever todos os dias.
Even after retiring, he didn't stop writing every day.
These are literal readings: he did not cease doing X. The idiomatic "be sure to" reading shows up mainly in directives — commands, advice, subjunctive requests — aimed at the listener or at a third party whose behaviour is being recommended.
One more idiom: não deixa de ser — "it is still"
A related fixed phrase: não deixa de ser + adjective = "it is still, it remains." Literally "it doesn't cease to be." Used to concede that something keeps a quality despite everything.
Não deixa de ser curioso que ninguém tenha reparado.
It's still curious that no one noticed.
Ela tem razão, mas não deixa de ser injusto.
She's right, but it's still unfair.
This is a bit of elevated colloquial register — thoughtful, slightly essayistic. You will hear it in opinion columns and radio discussions all the time.
Negation of the basic meaning
In the non-idiomatic sense, não deixar de + inf is just the ordinary negation of the cessative:
Não deixei de trabalhar — só reduzi o horário.
I didn't stop working — I just cut my hours.
Nunca deixou de acreditar no filho, mesmo nos piores momentos.
She never stopped believing in her son, even in the worst moments.
Context disambiguates: with adult decisions about habits, não deixei de reads as straightforward "didn't stop"; with directives to a second person (não deixes de...), it reads as the "be sure to" idiom.
Object pronouns
Clitics attach to the infinitive by default.
Deixei de vê-lo assim que mudei de emprego.
I stopped seeing him as soon as I changed jobs.
Ela deixou de escrever-nos quando se mudou para Londres.
She stopped writing to us when she moved to London.
With a proclisis trigger the clitic jumps in front of deixar.
Não me deixes de avisar se mudares de ideias.
Be sure to let me know if you change your mind.
Nunca o deixei de admirar.
I never stopped admiring him.
Common mistakes
❌ Deixei fumar há cinco anos.
Missing the linker — deixar requires de before the infinitive for the cessative meaning.
✅ Deixei de fumar há cinco anos.
I gave up smoking five years ago.
Without de, deixei fumar would mean "I let (someone) smoke" — a completely different sentence.
❌ Deixei-me de fumar.
Ungrammatical — deixar de is not a reflexive verb. Drop the clitic.
✅ Deixei de fumar.
I stopped smoking.
❌ Não deixes de escrever-me — esqueço-me sempre.
Contradictory — 'não deixes de escrever-me' is an instruction to the listener to write, but 'esqueço-me' describes the speaker forgetting. If the speaker is the forgetful one, the addressee is wrong.
✅ Não deixes de me escrever — eu respondo sempre.
Be sure to write to me — I always reply.
❌ Deixou de chover ontem e amanhã vai chover outra vez.
Awkward — if the rain stopped yesterday, it's understood that right now it isn't raining. The sentence is grammatical but contextually redundant.
✅ Ontem deixou de chover ao fim da tarde.
Yesterday it stopped raining in the late afternoon.
❌ Não deixe de sair à noite, meu filho, que é perigoso.
Opposite of intended meaning — 'não deixe de sair' is the 'be sure to' idiom, so this tells the child to go out. For 'don't go out' use deixe de sair or não saia.
✅ Deixa de sair à noite, meu filho, que é perigoso.
Stop going out at night, son, it's dangerous.
This is the classic trap: the literal-vs-idiomatic split of não deixar de turns well-meaning commands inside out. When you want to tell someone to stop doing something, use the bare imperative of deixar de + inf (deixa de + inf) — not a double negative.
Key takeaways
- Form: conjugated deixar
- de (preposition) + bare infinitive.
- Meaning: cessation — an ongoing action stops. The mirror image of começar a + inf.
- Critical pair: deixar + inf (no preposition) = to let / allow; deixar de + inf = to stop. Do not confuse them.
- Double-negative idiom: não deixes de + inf / não deixem de + inf = "be sure to, don't forget to." Used for warm directives, especially with imperative or subjunctive.
- Related fixed phrase: não deixa de ser + adjective = "it is still, it remains."
- Relatives: parar de + inf is a near-synonym, a bit more sudden/physical. Continuar a + inf is the opposite (still doing); see continuar a + infinitive.
- Clitics: enclitic to the infinitive by default (deixar de vê-lo); proclitic to deixar with a trigger (não me deixes de avisar).
Related Topics
- Periphrastic Verb Constructions: OverviewA2 — A map of the productive verb + preposition + infinitive (and verb + gerund) constructions of European Portuguese — the compact machinery that adds aspect, phase, and modality to any verb.
- Continuar a + Infinitive (Still Doing)A2 — The continuative periphrasis continuar a + infinitive: how European Portuguese says 'still doing' or 'keep on doing', across tenses, with contrasts against voltar a and passar a.
- Começar a + Infinitive (Start Doing)A2 — The inchoative periphrasis começar a + infinitive: marking the beginning of an action in European Portuguese, with spelling notes on the ç/c switch and contrasts with pôr-se a and passar a.
- Acabar de + Infinitive (Immediate Past)A2 — How European Portuguese says 'I just did it' -- the acabar de + infinitive periphrasis, its tense variations, and the tricky ambiguity between 'just V-ed' and 'finished V-ing'
- Andar a + Infinitive (Extended Progressive)B1 — The habitual / extended progressive andar a + infinitive: how European Portuguese says 'have been doing lately' with iteration across recent time, and how it differs from estar a.