Brazilian Portuguese/Lesson 5

Conjugating -ER verbs

In this lesson we will be looking at conjugating -ER verbs. We've already looked at how to conjugate -AR verbs, and the principle is exactly the same for -ER verbs, except the endings that you use to conjugate them are slightly different.

The two verbs related to food and drink (today's topic) that we are using today are -ER verbs, so I'll use those, comer (to eat) and beber (to drink) as an example.

Subject	Ending
eu (I)	-o
você (you)	-e
ele/ela (he/she)	-e
nós (we)	-emos
vocês (you)	-em
eles/elas (they)	-em

• Take the verb infinitive, in this case comer
• Remove the -ER at the end of the verb
• And finally add one of these endings depending on the subject

Examples

Eu como um bolo = I eat a cake

Você come muito = You eat a lot

Nos não bebemos o álcool = We don't drink alcohol

Eles bebem suco = They drink juice

Other -ER verbs include aprender (to learn), correr (to run), ler (to read), vender (to sell) and viver (to live).

Talking about likes and dislikes

To make sure you don't inadvertently order something you don't like, we'll quickly run over how to express likes and dislikes in Portuguese using the verb gostar (to like).

You use gostar as you would any other -AR verb, except for one thing. You must add the word "de" (of) after the verb, which means that when you say you like something, you are actually saying "I like of it"

As with any verb, you can make it negative by placing the word "não" (not) between the subject and the verb. You can also add an infinitive after "de" to say what particular things you like to do.

EXAMPLES

Eu gosto de chocolate = I like chocolate

Nos gostamos de tocar o piano = We like playing the piano

Ela não gusta seu emprego = She doesn't like her job