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  In Portuguese, verbs are essential to structure a sentence. They can easily change a sentence’s meaning, so they require special care and awareness. Knowing the 50 most useful verbs in Portuguese will help you create sentences and express ideas faster and more effectively. If you’re like one of my students who start making weird faces at the mere sight of a conjugation, or hearing “phrasal verb” makes you hyper-alert, here is the perfect blog post for you. In this post, I’ve compiled a list of the 50 most useful verbs in European Portuguese, divided into categories, along with real-life examples for each one. This is part of the Portuguese grammar crash course that teaches you all the European Portuguese grammatical rules you need to start speaking ASAP.

Verbs used to form tenses:

Some verbs are used to form tenses. They should be the first ones you learn.  1. Ser (to be)
In Portuguese, ser is a verb related to permanent situations or things that are very different to change.
Eu sou estudante. 
I am a student.
2. Estar (to be) 
Ele está cansado.
He is tired.
Estar a + Infinitivo  Estar followed by the preposition a and a verb in its infinitive form (meaning non-conjugated), expressed the idea that something is happening, the equivalent to the English continuous tense. 
Não posso atender as tuas chamadas, estou a trabalhar. 
I can't answer your calls, I'm working.
What is the difference between Ser and Estar in Portuguese?
Worry not, I’ve already answered that for you right here!  3. Ter (to have) 
Tens um carro? 
Do you have a car?
Ter is also used to create composed tenses (tempos compostos). 
Tenho estado cansada ultimamente. Preciso de férias.
I've been tired lately. I need holidays.
4. Fazer (to do, to make) 
Ele faz pão todos os dias. 
He makes bread every day.
5. Ir (to go) 
Nós vamos à praia amanhã, queres vir?
We're going to the beach tomorrow, do you want to come?
6. Vir (to come) 
Ela vem jantar connosco. 
She's coming to have dinner with us.
 
  7. Haver (there be/to have) The third form of haver, há, is the Portuguese equivalent of the English there is/are. 
Há comida em casa, não vamos comer fora hoje.
There is food at home, we're not going out to eat today.
Haver de is similar to the English shall. It expresses that we have to do something in the near future, but there is no clear plan to when it will happen, only that it has to. 
Hei de ir ver os meus pais, já não vou a casa deles há muito tempo.
I will have to go see my parents, I haven't gone to their house in a long time.

Verbs used to express ability and necessity:

8. Saber (to know) 
Eu sei falar francês. 
I can speak French.
9. Querer (to want) 
Ela quer um café. 
She wants a coffee.
10. Poder (to be able to, can):  
Eu posso ajudar-te. 
I can help you.
11. Precisar (to need):  
Eu preciso de ajuda. 
I need help.
 

Verbs used for actions:

12. Gostar (to like) 
Eu gosto de música. E tu?
I like music. How about you?
13. Ouvir (to hear, to listen) 
Eu ouço música todos os dias. 
I listen to music every day.
14. Ver (to see) 
Eu vejo o mar da minha janela. 
I can see the sea from my window.
15. Dar (to give) 
Dou um presente ao meu irmão todos os anos pelo aniversário dele. 
I'm giving my brother a present every year for this birthday.
16. Receber (to receive) 
Eu recebo muitos e-mails por dia. É bem cansativo! 
I receive many emails per day. It's really tiring!
17. Trabalhar (to work) 
Eu trabalho no escritório. E o senhor?
I work in an office. How about you, sir?
18. Estudar (to study) 
A minha irmã estuda psicologia na Universidade de Lisboa. 
My sister is studying psychology at Lisbon University.
19. Comer (to eat) 
Eu como sopa ao jantar. 
I eat soup for dinner.
20. Beber (to drink) 
Cá em Portugal, muita gente bebe vinho ao jantar. 
Here in Portugal, many people drink wine at dinner.
21. Dormir (to sleep):  
Tu dormes bem à noite, ou não?
Do you sleep well at night or not?
22. Acordar (to wake up) 
Eu acordo cedo todos os dias. 
I wake up early every day.
23. Viajar (to travel) 
Graças a este trabalho, viajo muito.
Thanks to this job, I get to travel a lot.
24. Ligar (to call):  
Eu ligo ao meu pai todos os dias. 
I call my dad every day.
25. Mandar (to send):  
Mandei um e-mail ao meu chefe mas ele ainda não respondeu.
I sent an email to my boss but he hasn't replied yet.
26. Ler (to read) 
O meu filho lê um livro por semana. 
My son reads one book per week.
27. Escrever (to write) 
Eu escrevo no meu diário todas as noites. Faz-me bem!
I write in my diary every night. It's good for me!
28. Conhecer (to know, to meet) 
Eu conheço o João desde a infância. 
I've known João since childhood.
     
   

Verbs used for emotions:

29. Amar (to love)  
Eu amo a minha família.
I love my family.
30. Odiar (to hate) 
Eu odeio pessoas falsas. 
I hate fake people.
31. Sentir (to feel) 
Eu sinto muito a falta dela. 
I miss her a lot.
32. Alegrar-se (to be happy) 
Alegramo-nos com a sua visita. 
We're happy about your visit.
33. Chorar (to cry) 
Eu choro quando vejo um filme triste. Especialmente filmes com cães!
I cry when I watch a sad movie. Especially movies with dogs!
34. Rir (to laugh) 
Nós rimos muito juntos. 
We laugh a lot together.
35. Surpreender (to surprise) 
 Eu quero surpreender a minha namorada no aniversário dela. O que posso fazer?
I want to surprise my girlfriend on her birthday. What can I do?
36. Preocupar-se (to worry) 
Preocupas-te com o futuro?
Do you worry about the future?
37. Relaxar (to relax) 
O que eu gosto mais de fazer é relaxar na praia. 
What I most like to do is relaxing by the beach.
 

Verbs used for communication:

38. Perguntar (to ask) 
Eu pergunto sempre aos meus amigos como estão. 
I always ask my friends how they are.
39. Responder (to answer) 
Ele respondeu ao meu e-mail rapidamente. 
He answered my email quickly.
40. Explicar (to explain) 
Deixa-me explicar-te como se faz.
Let me explain to you how to do it.
41. Comunicar (to communicate) 
Nós precisamos de comunicar melhor no trabalho. 
We need to communicate better at work.
42. Conversar (to talk) 
Ele gosta de conversar com pessoas diferentes. Eu sou mais introvertida.
He likes to talk to different people. I'm more introverted.
43. Discutir (to discuss) 
Discutimos sobre política ontem à noite. Quase que lutávamos.
We discussed politics last night. We almost fought!
44. Informar (to inform) 
É bom informar os seus pais sobre as suas decisões. 
It's good to inform your parents about your decisions.
45. Apresentar (to introduce) 
O João vai apresentar-me aos amigos dele, estou nervosa. 
João is going to introduce me to his friends, I'm nervous.
46. Aconselhar (to advise) 
Aconselho-te a estudar mais. 
I advise you to study more.
47. Falar (to speak)  
Ela fala várias línguas. Tenho muita inveja!
She speaks several languages. I'm really jealous!
48. Escutar (to listen) Escutar is different from ouvir in that it expresses a deeper listening, listening and registering rather than simply hear the sound.  
Eu escuto os conselhos do meu avô. 
I listen to my grandfather's advice.
It can also mean eavesdropping, depending on the context. 
Não escutes às portas, isso é feio!
Don't eavesdrop, that's bad (and ugly)!
49. Ler os lábios (to lip-read) 
Eu aprendi a ler lábios por causa da minha deficiência auditiva. 
I learned to lip-read because of my hearing impairment.
50. Falar ao telefone (to talk on the phone) 
Se detestar falar ao telefone, este trabalho não é para si. 
If you hate speaking on the phone, this job is not for you.
     
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    I hope this list of verbs will be helpful for anyone learning European Portuguese. This is the first step to improve your spoken and written Portuguese.  If you liked it, here are a few things you can do to support me: * Leave a comment below with the most useful verbs in this list * Share this post with a friend or Pin it on Pinterest * Sign up to my newsletter below so you don’t miss any discounts or freebies * Book a class with me and get $10 off to achieve your Portuguese learning goals (just scroll down a bit to see my profile, if you can’t see it, click in the image below but make sure to sign up with the link above first to get your discount)    
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