Present Indicative of Ir and Vir | Portuguese (Portugal) Grammar

The verbs ir (to go) and vir (to come) are natural opposites -- one moves away, the other moves toward. Both are among the most common verbs in Portuguese and both are highly irregular, sharing no pattern with regular conjugations. Learning them as a pair helps reinforce the contrast and makes each one easier to remember.

Conjugation of ir

The present forms of ir bear no resemblance to the infinitive. Every form must be memorized individually.

Person	Form	English
eu	vou	I go
tu	vais	you go
ele / ela / você	vai	he/she goes; you go
nós	vamos	we go
(vós)	(ides)	(you all go)
eles / elas / vocês	vão	they go; you all go

Conjugation of vir

Like ir, the verb vir is highly irregular. Note the nasal sounds in venho and vêm -- they are characteristic of this verb.

Person	Form	English
eu	venho	I come
tu	vens	you come
ele / ela / você	vem	he/she comes; you come
nós	vimos	we come
(vós)	(vindes)	(you all come)
eles / elas / vocês	vêm	they come; you all come

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Watch the accents on vir carefully. Three words that sound and look almost identical have different meanings: vem (he/she comes -- no accent), vêm (they come -- circumflex accent), and veem (they see, from ver -- double e, no accent). The circumflex on vêm is the only thing that distinguishes "they come" from "he comes" in writing.

Uses of ir

Movement away from the speaker

The core meaning of ir is motion away from the speaker's current position.

Vou para casa.

I'm going home.

Vais ao supermercado?

Are you going to the supermarket?

Ir + a vs ir + para

This is an important distinction in European Portuguese. Ir a suggests a short visit or temporary trip, while ir para implies a longer stay, a move, or a more permanent destination.

Ir a (short visit)	Ir para (long stay / move)
Vou a Lisboa amanhã. (I'm going to Lisbon tomorrow -- a day trip.)	Vou para Lisboa em setembro. (I'm going to Lisbon in September -- moving there.)
Vamos ao cinema. (We're going to the cinema -- for a film.)	Vamos para o campo no verão. (We're going to the countryside for the summer.)

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When in doubt, use a for routine outings and para for relocations or extended stays. A native speaker going to work every day says Vou ao trabalho, not Vou para o trabalho -- unless they are leaving for good.

Periphrastic future: ir + infinitive

The construction ir + infinitive is the most common way to express the future in spoken European Portuguese. It works exactly like English "going to."

Vou estudar esta noite.

I'm going to study tonight.

Vamos comer fora amanhã.

We're going to eat out tomorrow.

This construction is so frequent that it often replaces the simple future tense (estudarei) in everyday speech. See Ir + Infinitive for a full treatment.

Uses of vir

Movement toward the speaker

The core meaning of vir is motion toward the speaker's current position, or toward a place the speaker identifies with.

Ele vem cá amanhã.

He's coming here tomorrow.

Vens à festa no sábado?

Are you coming to the party on Saturday?

Origin

In informal speech, vir is used to ask or state where someone comes from.

De onde vens?

Where do you come from?

Vir + infinitive (continuous nuance)

The construction vir a + infinitive can express an action that has been developing over time, similar to English "have been doing."

Venho a pensar nisso há dias.

I've been thinking about this for days.

Ir vs vir -- direction matters

The distinction is the same as English "go" vs "come": ir moves away from where the speaker is; vir moves toward where the speaker is. Consider these two phone conversations:

You are at home and a friend is at the office: Vens jantar a minha casa? (Are you coming to my house for dinner?) -- movement toward you.
You are at home and your friend invites you to a restaurant: Vou ter contigo ao restaurante. (I'll go meet you at the restaurant.) -- movement away from you.

If you swap the verbs, the meaning becomes confusing or incorrect.

Vamos! -- suggestion and invitation

The nós form of ir doubles as a powerful way to make suggestions and invitations, equivalent to English "let's."

Vamos!

Let's go!

Vamos lá!

Come on! / Let's do it!

Vamos followed by an infinitive proposes a shared action: Vamos comer! (Let's eat!), Vamos falar com ela (Let's talk to her). This is one of the most useful constructions in everyday Portuguese.

Common confusions

1. Vêm vs veem vs vem. The third person plural of vir is vêm (with circumflex). The third person plural of ver (to see) is veem (with double e). The third person singular of vir is vem (no accent). Mixing these up is a common spelling error even among native speakers.

2. Ir a vs ir para. Using para when the context implies a short trip sounds like you are moving there permanently. Vou para o dentista sounds odd -- use Vou ao dentista for a routine appointment.

3. Using vir when you mean ir. If you are at a restaurant and want to tell a friend to join you, use vir: Vem ao restaurante! (Come to the restaurant!). But if your friend is at the restaurant and you are heading there, use ir: Vou ao restaurante. (I'm going to the restaurant.) The speaker's position determines the verb.

4. Nós vimos -- vir or ver? The nós form of vir in the present is vimos (we come), which is identical to the nós form of ver in the pretérito perfeito -- vimos (we saw). Only context tells them apart: Vimos de Portugal (We come from Portugal) vs Vimos o filme (We saw the film).