Periphrastic Verb Constructions: Overview | Portuguese (Portugal) Grammar

English has one workhorse for saying "in progress" — be + -ing. Portuguese has a whole toolkit. Estar a + infinitive for "right now," andar a + infinitive for "over a stretch of time," continuar a + infinitive for "still doing," pôr-se a + infinitive for "suddenly starting." Each adds a sharp, specific meaning that you simply can't get with a bare conjugated verb. These are the periphrastic constructions of Portuguese: auxiliary verb + preposition (or nothing) + infinitive (or, less commonly, gerund). Master the dozen or so core ones and you gain direct access to the aspectual precision of European Portuguese.

This page is an inventory and overview. For the details of each construction, follow the links to the dedicated pages where they exist.

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A periphrastic construction has three parts: an auxiliary verb (which conjugates), a linker (a preposition — or nothing, or a gerund marker), and a main verb (in the infinitive or the gerund). The auxiliary carries the tense and person; the linker + main verb carries the lexical meaning. Treat the whole thing as a single verbal unit.

The core inventory

Construction	Meaning	Example	Link type
ir + inf	immediate future / going to	vou fazer	bare infinitive
estar a + inf	progressive (right now)	estou a fazer	a + inf
andar a + inf	extended progressive (lately)	ando a fazer	a + inf
continuar a + inf	still doing	continuo a fazer	a + inf
começar a + inf	start doing	começo a fazer	a + inf
pôr-se a + inf	suddenly start doing	pus-me a fazer	a + inf (reflexive)
acabar de + inf	have just done	acabo de fazer	de + inf
ter de / que + inf	have to do (obligation)	tenho de fazer	de / que + inf
haver de + inf	intend to / will eventually	hei de fazer	de + inf
dever + inf	should / must (modal)	devo fazer	bare infinitive
estar prestes a + inf	be about to	estou prestes a fazer	a + inf
voltar a + inf	do again	volto a fazer	a + inf
ir + gerund	gradual progression	vou fazendo	gerund
vir + gerund	have been gradually doing	vem crescendo	gerund

These are the productive constructions — what any speaker of European Portuguese uses in natural conversation or writing. Learn them in this order: ir + inf and estar a + inf first (you'll use these in every conversation), then ter de + inf (daily obligation), then the rest as you meet them.

The linker is part of the meaning

The same auxiliary can combine with different linkers to give different meanings. Ir + infinitive is the near future; ir + gerund is gradual progression. Estar a + infinitive is the progressive; estar prestes a + infinitive is imminent future. The linker is not decoration — it is semantic.

Below, each construction gets a short treatment: what it means, a natural example, and a link to its dedicated page where one exists.

Future and futurity

ir + infinitive — "going to"

The most frequent way to talk about future actions in spoken Portuguese. Present tense of ir + bare infinitive. No preposition.

Vou ligar à minha mãe mais logo.

I'm going to call my mother later.

See the dedicated page on ir + infinitive for the full paradigm and usage.

estar prestes a + infinitive — "about to"

Marks imminent future — something is on the verge of happening.

O filme está prestes a começar, despacha-te!

The film is about to start, hurry up!

haver de + infinitive — intention or promise

Hei de fazer expresses intention, promise, or conviction that something will happen, often with emotional colouring. Slightly formal or literary flavour, but alive in everyday EP for emphatic statements.

Um dia hei de voltar àquela aldeia.

One day I'll go back to that village (I promise / am determined).

The conjugation of haver in this function is special: hei, hás, há, havemos, haveis/hão, hão (the 2pl haveis is archaic; hão is used for both 2pl and 3pl colloquially). Always followed by de.

Hás de me dizer como fizeste isso.

You'll have to tell me how you did that.

The progressive family — a + infinitive

European Portuguese marks ongoing actions with a chain of constructions built on a + infinitive. Each carries a different time profile.

estar a + infinitive — present progressive

The standard EP progressive. Use it for actions happening right now, or in an ongoing time frame around "now."

Estou a ler um livro do Saramago.

I'm reading a book by Saramago.

This is the signature construction of European Portuguese, sharply distinct from Brazilian Portuguese (which uses estar + gerund: estou lendo). See the dedicated page on estar a + infinitive.

andar a + infinitive — extended progressive

"I've been doing X lately" — the time frame is wider than estar a, stretching over recent days, weeks, or months. A persistent ongoing activity.

Ando a aprender português há seis meses.

I've been learning Portuguese for six months.

O João anda a trabalhar muito este ano.

João has been working a lot this year.

continuar a + infinitive — "still doing"

Says the action is continuing, has not stopped.

Continuo a pensar no que ela disse.

I'm still thinking about what she said.

Apesar dos anos, ele continua a trabalhar todos os dias.

Despite the years, he continues to work every day.

começar a + infinitive — "start doing"

Inchoative — marks the beginning of an action.

Começou a chover de repente.

It suddenly started raining.

Estou a começar a perceber a gramática portuguesa.

I'm starting to understand Portuguese grammar.

pôr-se a + infinitive — "suddenly start"

A reflexive construction that carries a sharper inchoative nuance than começar a — it implies the start was abrupt, often unexpected, sometimes with a touch of annoyance or surprise.

Pus-me a rir quando ele contou a história.

I burst out laughing when he told the story.

A criança pôs-se a chorar sem razão aparente.

The child suddenly started crying for no apparent reason.

The reflexive marker agrees with the person: pus-me (I), puseste-te (you sg), pôs-se (he/she), pusemo-nos (we), puseram-se (they). Watch the preterite form pôs-se with its circumflex.

voltar a + infinitive — "do again"

Repetition — something happens once more.

Voltei a ligar-lhe ontem.

I called her again yesterday.

Nunca mais voltei a ver aquele filme.

I never watched that film again.

Phase: completion and recency

acabar de + infinitive — "have just"

The "just" construction. Acabar de fazer = to have just done. The tense of acabar controls the time reference.

Acabo de sair da reunião.

I've just come out of the meeting.

Acabei de terminar o relatório.

I just finished the report. (preterite — slightly less immediate)

Quando chegaste, eu tinha acabado de sair.

When you arrived, I had just left.

acabar por + infinitive — "end up doing"

Distinct from acabar de! This construction means "to end up doing" — after a process of deliberation or delay, this is what happened.

Acabei por ficar em casa ontem à noite.

I ended up staying home last night.

Depois de tanto falar, acabaram por não fazer nada.

After all that talk, they ended up doing nothing.

The preposition is the only thing that differs — de vs por — but the meaning is completely different. Be careful.

Obligation and necessity

ter de + infinitive — "have to"

The workhorse for obligation. Ter de + infinitive expresses necessity that comes from outside the speaker (circumstance, rule) or from a strong internal need.

Tenho de ir ao banco antes das cinco.

I have to go to the bank before five.

Tens de provar este vinho, é excelente.

You have to try this wine, it's excellent.

ter que + infinitive — regional variant, same meaning

Ter que is increasingly common in spoken EP and, in most modern usage, is semantically identical to ter de. Traditional grammarians preferred ter de and reserved ter que for a slightly different construction meaning "have something to" (tenho que fazer = "I have things to do," where que is a relative pronoun). Today the two are largely interchangeable for obligation.

Tenho que acabar isto até amanhã.

I have to finish this by tomorrow.

Tenho muito que fazer hoje.

I have a lot to do today. (here 'que' is genuinely a relative, linking to the implied 'coisa/trabalho')

Use ter de in writing; either in speech.

dever + infinitive — "should / must"

Epistemic or deontic modal. Deve can mean "should" (moral/advisable) or "must" (inferential — this is the likely explanation).

Deves descansar mais.

You should rest more. (advisable)

Deve estar a chegar, já é quase meio-dia.

He must be arriving by now, it's almost noon. (inferential)

Aspectual gradience with the gerund

Most EP periphrastic constructions use the infinitive. But two important ones use the gerund (the -ndo form), marking gradual or progressive change.

ir + gerund — "gradually go on doing"

The auxiliary ir + gerund marks a gradual progression — things unfolding bit by bit over time. Distinct from ir + infinitive, which is the immediate future.

Vou fazendo o jantar enquanto tu pões a mesa.

I'll get on with making dinner while you set the table.

Com o tempo, fui aprendendo a viver sozinho.

Over time, I gradually learned to live alone.

The sense is "bit by bit, step by step" — progressive unfolding.

vir + gerund — "have been (gradually) doing"

The auxiliary vir + gerund marks an action that has been gradually building up to the present. "The trend has been..."

A população vem crescendo nos últimos dez anos.

The population has been growing over the last ten years.

Os preços vêm subindo desde Janeiro.

Prices have been rising since January.

Both ir + gerund and vir + gerund have a slightly formal or journalistic flavour; they are common in writing and reporting but less so in casual speech, where estar a + infinitive and andar a + infinitive carry most of the weight.

Summary table with timing profiles

Time relation	Construction	Gloss
immediate future	ir + inf	going to do
imminent future	estar prestes a + inf	about to do
committed intention	haver de + inf	will eventually do
obligation	ter de + inf	have to do
recommendation / inference	dever + inf	should / must do
starting	começar a + inf	start doing
abrupt start	pôr-se a + inf	suddenly start doing
in progress (now)	estar a + inf	am doing
in progress (lately)	andar a + inf	have been doing
still doing	continuar a + inf	continue to do
repetition	voltar a + inf	do again
gradual unfolding	ir + gerund	go on doing
gradual build-up	vir + gerund	have been (gradually) doing
just completed	acabar de + inf	have just done
ended up doing	acabar por + inf	ended up doing

Clitic pronouns with periphrastic verbs

With periphrastic constructions, clitic pronouns typically attach to the main infinitive, following EP clitic rules (enclisis by default, proclisis triggered by negation or certain adverbs).

Vou ligar-te amanhã.

I'll call you tomorrow. (enclitic to infinitive)

Não te vou ligar amanhã.

I won't call you tomorrow. (negation triggers proclisis to the auxiliary)

Tenho de lhe dizer a verdade.

I have to tell him the truth.

Common mistakes

❌ Estou lendo um livro.

Incorrect in European Portuguese — EP uses 'estar a + infinitive', not 'estar + gerund'. 'Estou lendo' is Brazilian Portuguese.

✅ Estou a ler um livro.

I'm reading a book. (European Portuguese progressive)

This is the single most important EP-vs-BP distinction learners need to master. Use estar a + infinitive in Portugal. Always.

❌ Acabei por sair do trabalho.

Ambiguous — means 'I ended up leaving work', not 'I've just left work'. If you mean 'I've just left', use 'acabo de sair'.

✅ Acabo de sair do trabalho.

I've just left work. (recency)

✅ Acabei por sair do trabalho mais cedo.

I ended up leaving work earlier. (outcome)

Acabar de and acabar por mean completely different things. Keep them straight.

❌ Tenho fazer isto até amanhã.

Incorrect — 'ter' in its obligation sense requires 'de' (or 'que') before the infinitive.

✅ Tenho de fazer isto até amanhã.

I have to do this by tomorrow.

Don't drop the de. Ter + bare infinitive is ungrammatical in this sense.

❌ Vou fazendo o jantar às oito.

Odd — 'ir + gerund' is gradual unfolding, not a scheduled event. For 'I'm going to make dinner at eight' use 'vou fazer'.

✅ Vou fazer o jantar às oito.

I'm going to make dinner at eight.

✅ Vou fazendo o jantar enquanto tu pões a mesa.

I'll gradually make dinner while you set the table.

The ir + gerund construction needs a context of gradualness or ongoing unfolding to make sense.

❌ Hei fazer isto amanhã.

Incorrect — 'haver' in this sense requires 'de' before the infinitive.

✅ Hei de fazer isto amanhã.

I'll do this tomorrow (I'm determined to).

Key takeaways

Periphrastic constructions are the main machinery for aspectual and modal precision in Portuguese — they say things a bare conjugated verb cannot.
The format is always: auxiliary + linker + main verb. The linker (a preposition, or nothing, or the gerund form) is semantically meaningful.
The core inventory to master first: ir + inf (future), estar a + inf (progressive), ter de + inf (obligation), acabar de + inf (recency), andar a + inf (extended progressive).
The progressive family — estar a, andar a, continuar a, começar a, pôr-se a, voltar a — all use the a + infinitive linker, each adding a different temporal nuance.
The gerund family is smaller but important: ir + gerund (gradual unfolding) and vir + gerund (gradual build-up to now). Formal register.
EP uses estar a + infinitive for the progressive, never estar + gerund. This is the sharpest dialect marker in the entire verbal system.
Watch the preposition: acabar de and acabar por have nothing to do with each other semantically. Ir + inf and ir + gerund are different constructions.
Clitic pronouns follow EP placement rules and can typically attach either to the auxiliary or to the main verb; negation and certain adverbs force proclisis.