Present Indicative of Ver | Portuguese (Portugal) Grammar

The verb ver (to see) is one of the most common verbs in Portuguese and one of the trickiest to spell correctly. The eu form inserts a -j- (vejo), the 3rd person singular carries a circumflex (vê), and the 3rd person plural has two e's with no accent (veem). That last form -- veem -- is the source of one of the most famous spelling pitfalls in the language, because it looks and sounds almost identical to vêm (they come, from vir).

Conjugation

Person	Form	English
eu	vejo	I see
tu	vês	you see
ele / ela / você	vê	he/she sees; you see
nós	vemos	we see
(vós)	(vedes)	(you all see)
eles / elas / vocês	veem	they see; you all see

The eu form vejo is the most irregular -- the -j- appears from nowhere and is unique to this verb. From tu onwards, the forms are built on the stem ve- with modified -er endings. Note that vê (3rd singular) carries a circumflex accent to distinguish it from the preposition de and to mark the open vowel. The vós form vedes is archaic and virtually never used in modern EP.

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The 3rd person plural veem has two e's and NO accent. Do not confuse it with vêm (they come, from vir), which has a circumflex. This distinction is covered in detail below -- it is one of the most common spelling errors in Portuguese.

Seeing and visual perception

The primary meaning of ver is physical sight -- perceiving something with your eyes.

Vejo o mar daqui.

I can see the sea from here.

Vês aquela casa na colina?

Do you see that house on the hill?

Note that Portuguese does not need an equivalent of "can" before ver when describing what is visible. Where English says "I can see the sea," Portuguese simply says Vejo o mar.

Watching TV and films

In European Portuguese, ver is the standard verb for watching television, films, and videos -- there is no need for a separate "watch" verb in these contexts.

Vejo televisão todas as noites.

I watch television every night.

Vemos um filme esta noite?

Shall we watch a film tonight?

Understanding and realizing

Like English "I see," the verb ver extends to mental perception -- understanding, realizing, or checking something.

Já vejo.

I see. (I understand now.)

Vês o que quero dizer?

Do you see what I mean?

Vou ver.

I'll check. / I'll see.

The imperative Vê se está tudo bem (See if everything is OK / Check that everything is fine) is extremely common in everyday EP.

Ver vs olhar vs assistir

These three verbs all relate to seeing, but they are not interchangeable. Each one captures a different type of visual engagement.

Verb	Meaning	Type	Example
ver	to see / to watch	passive perception or general watching	Vejo um pássaro. (I see a bird.)
olhar (para)	to look (at)	active, deliberate gaze	Olha para mim. (Look at me.)
assistir a	to watch / to attend	events, shows, games	Assistimos ao jogo. (We watched the game.)

In practice, ver covers most situations where English uses either "see" or "watch." Use olhar when the emphasis is on deliberately directing your gaze, and assistir a for attending or watching events, performances, and live broadcasts. Note that assistir requires the preposition a in European Portuguese.

Vejo televisão todos os dias, mas ontem assisti a um concerto ao vivo.

I watch TV every day, but yesterday I attended a live concert.

Vê-se / Veem-se -- impersonal constructions

The reflexive forms vê-se (singular) and veem-se (plural) create impersonal sentences meaning "one can see" or "you can see." This construction is very common in EP, especially when describing views and landscapes.

Daqui vê-se o rio.

From here you can see the river.

Veem-se as montanhas ao longe.

You can see the mountains in the distance.

The verb agrees with the thing being seen: vê-se when it is singular, veem-se when it is plural. This is the same impersonal se construction found with other verbs like diz-se.

Compounds of ver

Several common verbs are built on ver and follow exactly the same conjugation pattern. The most useful are rever (to review / to see again) and prever (to foresee / to predict).

Person	Ver	Rever	Prever
eu	vejo	revejo	prevejo
tu	vês	revês	prevês
ele / ela / você	vê	revê	prevê
nós	vemos	revemos	prevemos
eles / elas / vocês	veem	reveem	preveem

Once you know ver, you automatically know these compounds. The prefix changes, but the conjugation is identical.

Veem vs vêm -- the crucial distinction

This is one of the trickiest spelling points in Portuguese and deserves special attention. Three forms that look and sound almost identical belong to two different verbs:

veem (two e's, no accent) = they see, from ver
vêm (circumflex accent) = they come, from vir
vem (no accent) = he/she comes, from vir

Eles veem o mar da janela.

They see the sea from the window. (ver)

Eles vêm de longe.

They come from far away. (vir)

In European Portuguese speech, veem and vêm are pronounced very similarly -- both have a nasal quality that makes them hard to distinguish by ear alone. In writing, the difference matters. Even native speakers sometimes confuse them.

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A helpful memory trick: ver has an e in the infinitive, and the 3rd plural veem doubles that e. The verb vir has no e in the infinitive, and its 3rd plural vêm uses a circumflex accent instead of a double letter. Match the letter to the infinitive: ver --> veem, vir --> vêm.

Common mistakes

1. Writing veem with an accent. The 3rd person plural of ver is veem -- two e's, no accent. Writing veem is correct. Writing vêem is wrong. The circumflex belongs to vêm (from vir), not to veem (from ver).

2. Forgetting the circumflex on vê. The 3rd person singular is vê, with a circumflex. The accent is required to mark the vowel quality and distinguish the form.

3. Using olhar when ver is needed. "I see the mountains" is Vejo as montanhas, not Olho para as montanhas. Use ver for what you perceive; use olhar for where you deliberately direct your eyes.

4. Dropping the preposition with assistir. "We watch the game" is Assistimos ao jogo, not Assistimos o jogo. In EP, assistir requires the preposition a. Ver, by contrast, takes a direct object with no preposition.