Regular verbs in the presente do conjuntivo follow one rule with surprisingly few exceptions. If you can find the eu form of the present indicative and swap one vowel, you can conjugate the subjunctive of essentially every regular verb in Portuguese. This page lays out the paradigms cleanly, shows the orthographic tweaks you will meet along the way, and drills you on sentences in which each form actually appears.
The three-step recipe
To build the present subjunctive of any regular verb:
- Take the present indicative eu form: falo, como, parto.
- Drop the -o: fal-, com-, part-.
- Add the subjunctive endings for the class.
Because the endings themselves flip the characteristic vowel, this one recipe produces the opposite-vowel pattern that defines the whole mood.
The endings
| Subject | -ar endings | -er / -ir endings |
|---|---|---|
| eu | -e | -a |
| tu | -es | -as |
| ele / ela / você | -e | -a |
| nós | -emos | -amos |
| eles / elas / vocês | -em | -am |
The -er and -ir endings are identical. That already cuts your memory load in half: you are learning two sets of endings, not three.
falar (to speak) — an -ar verb
| Subject | Present Subjunctive |
|---|---|
| eu | fale |
| tu | fales |
| ele / ela / você | fale |
| nós | falemos |
| eles / elas / vocês | falem |
Stem: fal- (from falo, minus -o). Endings: -e, -es, -e, -emos, -em.
O professor quer que os alunos falem só em inglês nesta aula.
The teacher wants the students to speak only in English in this class.
É estranho que ela não fale nunca do pai.
It's strange that she never speaks about her father.
comer (to eat) — an -er verb
| Subject | Present Subjunctive |
|---|---|
| eu | coma |
| tu | comas |
| ele / ela / você | coma |
| nós | comamos |
| eles / elas / vocês | comam |
Stem: com- (from como, minus -o). Endings: -a, -as, -a, -amos, -am.
A avó insiste que comamos mais um bocadinho.
Grandma insists we eat a little bit more.
Não é saudável que comas tão tarde.
It's not healthy for you to eat so late.
Talvez comam fora esta noite.
Maybe they'll eat out tonight.
partir (to leave / to depart) — an -ir verb
| Subject | Present Subjunctive |
|---|---|
| eu | parta |
| tu | partas |
| ele / ela / você | parta |
| nós | partamos |
| eles / elas / vocês | partam |
Stem: part- (from parto, minus -o). Endings identical to -er verbs.
É melhor que partas já, senão vais apanhar trânsito.
You'd better leave now, otherwise you'll hit traffic.
Ela prefere que partamos juntos para o aeroporto.
She prefers that we leave for the airport together.
Embora partam cedo, só chegam lá à noite.
Even though they leave early, they only get there in the evening.
Why the recipe works even for small irregularities
Some verbs are only mildly irregular in the indicative — a single consonant shift in the eu form, nothing more. Because the subjunctive is built from that eu stem, these verbs still behave "regularly" once you start from the right place.
Take dormir (to sleep). Its eu indicative is durmo, with a u-vowel shift. That irregularity carries over automatically: the subjunctive stem is durm-.
| Subject | Present Subjunctive |
|---|---|
| eu | durma |
| tu | durmas |
| ele / ela / você | durma |
| nós | durmamos |
| eles / elas / vocês | durmam |
Espero que durmas bem esta noite.
I hope you sleep well tonight.
The same applies to subir → subo → suba, cobrir → cubro → cubra, mentir → minto → minta, seguir → sigo → siga, conseguir → consigo → consiga, pedir → peço → peça, and many others. You do not learn a new subjunctive irregularity; you pay the indicative irregularity once, in the eu slot, and you are done.
Orthographic changes: keeping pronunciation stable
Portuguese spelling is phonetically consistent. When the ending of a verb shifts from a front vowel (e, i) to a back vowel (a, o) or vice versa, the spelling of a preceding consonant sometimes has to change to preserve the pronunciation. This is a spelling issue, not a grammatical one — the verb is still regular in terms of its behavior.
There are three classes to watch.
Verbs in -car → c becomes qu before e
The letter c spells a /k/ sound only before a, o, u. Before e, c would sound like /s/. So when the ending starts with e (as the -ar subjunctive endings do), c shifts to qu to keep the /k/.
Example: ficar (to stay, to be) → eu fico → stem fiqu-:
| Subject | Present Subjunctive |
|---|---|
| eu | fique |
| tu | fiques |
| ele / ela / você | fique |
| nós | fiquemos |
| eles / elas / vocês | fiquem |
É melhor que fiques em casa, está um frio de rachar lá fora.
You'd better stay home, it's freezing out there.
Não quero que eles fiquem chateados comigo.
I don't want them to be upset with me.
Other common -car verbs that follow this pattern: explicar (explique), tocar (toque), marcar (marque), buscar (busque), praticar (pratique), brincar (brinque), indicar (indique), dedicar (dedique), sacar (saque).
Verbs in -gar → g becomes gu before e
The letter g spells /ɡ/ only before a, o, u. Before e, g would sound like /ʒ/ (the English "zh" in pleasure). So g shifts to gu to keep the hard /ɡ/.
Example: chegar (to arrive) → eu chego → stem chegu-:
| Subject | Present Subjunctive |
|---|---|
| eu | chegue |
| tu | chegues |
| ele / ela / você | chegue |
| nós | cheguemos |
| eles / elas / vocês | cheguem |
Espero que cheguem bem ao Porto.
I hope you (all) get to Porto safely.
Talvez eu chegue um pouco atrasado à reunião.
Maybe I'll arrive a little late to the meeting.
Other common -gar verbs: pagar (pague), entregar (entregue), jogar (jogue), ligar (ligue), apagar (apague), negar (negue), rogar (rogue), castigar (castigue), obrigar (obrigue), pregar (pregue).
Verbs in -çar → ç becomes c before e
The letter ç only appears before a, o, u (to spell /s/ where c alone would be /k/). Before e or i, plain c already spells /s/, so the ç drops its cedilla and becomes a plain c.
Example: começar (to start) → eu começo → stem comec-:
| Subject | Present Subjunctive |
|---|---|
| eu | comece |
| tu | comeces |
| ele / ela / você | comece |
| nós | comecemos |
| eles / elas / vocês | comecem |
Prefiro que comecemos a reunião às nove em ponto.
I prefer that we start the meeting at nine sharp.
É urgente que o tratamento comece já hoje.
It's urgent that the treatment start today.
Other common -çar verbs: abraçar (abrace), alcançar (alcance), avançar (avance), ameaçar (ameace), dançar (dance), laçar (lace), forçar (force), esforçar (esforce).
Verbs in -guar and -quar (less common, but worth noting)
These verbs — fewer in number — need a diaeresis? No: the 1990 Orthographic Agreement actually removed the diaeresis from Portuguese. Verbs like averiguar (to verify) and adequar (to adapt) are conjugated without it in modern orthography: averigue, averigues, averigue, averiguemos, averiguem / adeque, adeques, adeque, adequemos, adequem. In older texts you may see averigüe with the diaeresis, but the modern spelling drops it entirely.
Verbs in -cer and -ger → c becomes ç, g becomes j before a
The mirror case for -er verbs: when a subjunctive ending starts with a, a soft c would turn hard, and a soft g would also turn hard. To keep the soft pronunciation, c becomes ç and g becomes j.
- conhecer (to know) → eu conheço → stem conheç- → conheça, conheças, conheça, conheçamos, conheçam
- esquecer (to forget) → esqueço → esqueça, esqueças, esqueça, esqueçamos, esqueçam
- descer (to go down) → desço → desça, desças, desça, desçamos, desçam
- proteger (to protect) → protejo → proteja, protejas, proteja, protejamos, protejam
- escolher (to choose) → escolho → escolha, escolhas, escolha, escolhamos, escolham
- dirigir (to drive / to direct) → dirijo → dirija, dirijas, dirija, dirijamos, dirijam
Prefiro que ela escolha o restaurante — conhece melhor a zona.
I'd rather she choose the restaurant — she knows the area better.
Que Deus te proteja!
God protect you!
Talvez eu conheça essa pessoa — como se chama?
I might know that person — what's their name?
Again: these are spelling fixes, not irregularities. The verb is still regular; the letter shift is automatic once you know the phonetic rule.
Sample real-world sentences
Below are ten sentences that a native Portuguese speaker could say today, each using a regular present subjunctive form. Focus on the italicized verb form.
Se calhar falemos disso amanhã com mais calma.
Maybe let's talk about it tomorrow more calmly. (falemos = subjunctive used as 1st-person plural command)
Oxalá o comboio chegue a horas — não quero perder a conferência.
Hope the train arrives on time — I don't want to miss the conference.
Ela só fica contente quando comemos toda a sopa.
She only gets happy when we eat all the soup.
Vou dar-te a minha morada, caso precises de contactar-me.
I'll give you my address, in case you need to contact me.
É pena que não nos paguem antes do Natal.
It's a shame they don't pay us before Christmas.
Prefiro que o João toque a guitarra — tem mais prática.
I'd rather João play the guitar — he's got more practice.
Espero que o bebé durma a sesta hoje, senão fica insuportável.
I hope the baby takes a nap today, otherwise he gets unbearable.
Talvez escolhamos aquele hotel na Ericeira — dizem que é bom.
Maybe we'll choose that hotel in Ericeira — they say it's good.
Não me parece bem que fiquem sozinhos em casa à noite.
I don't think it's right for them to stay home alone at night.
É importante que pratiquemos todos os dias, nem que seja dez minutos.
It's important we practice every day, even if only ten minutes.
Comparison with Spanish
If you know Spanish, the Portuguese subjunctive will feel familiar — same opposite-vowel principle, same position after que. But a few differences deserve attention:
- The two systems use the same opposite-vowel principle — Spanish hablar → hable, comer → coma, matching Portuguese falar → fale, comer → coma. The nós forms (falemos, comamos) coincide in both languages because they inherit from the same Latin pattern.
- Portuguese uses the same subjunctive endings for -er and -ir verbs. Spanish does too, but note that the vós form (cognate of Spanish vosotros) is archaic in European Portuguese; the plural "you" is expressed via vocês with the -em/-am ending (shared with the 3rd-person plural).
- The 1990 Orthographic Agreement removed the diaeresis from Portuguese, so averigüe → averigue. Spanish still uses the diaeresis in averigüe.
Common Mistakes
❌ Espero que tu falas com ele.
Incorrect — *falas* is present indicative; after *esperar que*, the subjunctive *fales* is required.
✅ Espero que tu fales com ele.
I hope you speak with him.
The indicative falas and the subjunctive fales differ by one vowel, and English-speaking learners routinely reach for the indicative because it is closer to what English does.
❌ Quero que tu comes comigo.
Incorrect — *comes* is indicative; the subjunctive *comas* is needed.
✅ Quero que tu comas comigo.
I want you to eat with me.
Same vowel-flip problem with -er verbs: indicative comes → subjunctive comas.
❌ É melhor que eu chego cedo.
Incorrect — after *é melhor que*, the subjunctive is required.
✅ É melhor que eu chegue cedo.
I'd better arrive early.
Also note the spelling: chego → chegue (g → gu before e) to keep the hard /ɡ/ sound.
❌ Talvez eu pratico amanhã.
Incorrect — *talvez* before the verb needs subjunctive.
✅ Talvez eu pratique amanhã.
Maybe I'll practice tomorrow.
And again: praticar → pratique, with c → qu to preserve /k/.
❌ Prefiro que ela conhece a minha mãe primeiro.
Incorrect — after *preferir que*, the subjunctive is required.
✅ Prefiro que ela conheça a minha mãe primeiro.
I prefer that she meet my mother first.
Here two things combine: the subjunctive is required, and the spelling shifts c → ç before a.
❌ Não me esqueca de nada.
Incorrect spelling — the *c* before *a* must carry a cedilla to preserve /s/.
✅ Não me esqueça de nada.
Don't forget anything.
Dropping the cedilla on esqueça (or any similar ç-ending verb) turns the consonant into a /k/ sound — an actual pronunciation error, not just a typo.
Key takeaways
- One recipe: eu form of the indicative, drop -o, add endings.
- -ar verbs take -e endings; -er and -ir verbs take -a endings. The vowel flip is the whole system.
- Orthographic shifts (c→qu, g→gu, ç→c, c→ç, g→j) are phonetic, not grammatical. The verb is still regular.
- "Regular enough": verbs with only an eu-form irregularity (like durmo, peço, subo) still behave regularly in the subjunctive once you start from that stem.
Once these regular forms are second nature, move on to the irregular forms — the short list of verbs that defy the eu-stem recipe and must be memorized.
Related Topics
- Present Subjunctive OverviewB1 — How the presente do conjuntivo is formed, why it exists, and the five big families of situations that trigger it.
- Irregular Present SubjunctiveB1 — The fifteen or so verbs whose present subjunctive cannot be built from the eu-form stem, organized by frequency with full paradigms.
- Subjunctive of Wishes and DesiresB1 — Why querer que, esperar que, desejar que, and similar wish-verbs trigger the present subjunctive, plus the crucial same-subject rule that sends you to an infinitive instead.
- Subjunctive of EmotionsB1 — Why ter medo que, gostar que, ficar contente que, lamentar que, and other emotion-triggers take the present subjunctive — even when the event they describe is actually real.
- Spelling-Change VerbsA2 — Verbs that adjust spelling to preserve pronunciation (e.g., ficar→fiquei)
- Imperative OverviewA2 — Giving commands and instructions in European Portuguese