Let’s talk about an important topic: Portuguese auxiliary verbs! In a verb phrase (locução verbal), an auxiliary verb comes before the main verb. Essentially, its job is to “help” the main verb.
Most Common Portuguese Auxiliary Verbs
Here are a few of the most common verbos auxiliaresauxiliary verbs , which you will probably recognize:
terto have serto be (permanent) estarto be (temporary) ficarto become, to stay poderto be able to (may, can)
Here are just a few examples of how someone might start a sentence with an auxiliary verb:
Estou a...I am... (doing)
Vou...I will..., I'm going...
Tenho de...I have to...
Posso...I can..., I may...
Costumo...I usually...
Acabei de...I just...
Devo...I must...
Devia...I should...
Continuo a...I still..., I keep...
The main verb that follows is (almost) always either in the infinitive form, as in:
Eu posso ajudarI can help
…or in the past participle form, as in:
Este livro foi escrito por mimThis book was written by me
Shortcuts!
So, why are auxiliary verbs important? They let you express a wider variety of information about the verbs they are paired with, which greatly expands your communicative potential.
This is particularly helpful for beginners who are overwhelmed with memorizing conjugations for hundreds of verbs in many different verb tenses. As a shortcut, if you at least know how to conjugate common auxiliary verbs in Portuguese, you can simply pair them with a verb in its infinitive form. Now you can talk about actions starting, ending, in the future, continuing, being possible, etc., with much more limited conjugation needed.
Of course you’ll want to learn the other verbs/tenses eventually, but if your goal is to start communicating faster, auxiliary verbs are a great way to start saying more, with less. 🙂
5 Main Use Cases for Auxiliary Verbs in European Portuguese:
- compound tenses (ter + past participle)
- passive voice (ser + past participle)
- temporal – to talk about a future action (ir or haver de + infinitive)
- aspectual – to convey information about time structure (auxiliary + a/de + infinitive)
- modal – to express different levels of possibility (auxiliary + infinitive)
Below, we’ll give you an overview of how to use auxiliary verbs in each of these 5 situations. However, our primary focus right now is on the last 3, which involve using auxiliary verbs with the infinitive (i.e. the temporal, aspectual, and modal uses).
Let’s get started!
Compound Tenses
As a quick introduction: compound tenses are usually formed by combining the auxiliary verb ter with the past participle of the main verb. For example:
Eu tenho feito exercício todos os diasI've been exercising every day, I have done exercise every day
See how using these 2 verbs together affects the tense of the action?
This gets more complicated, so you’ll learn more about Compound Tenses in a later unit.
Passive Voice
In passive sentences, the verb ser precedes the past participle of the main verb.
O jantar foi feito pela minha mãeThe dinner was made by my mother
This is a very simplified explanation of the passive voice, but again, we’ll cover it more in depth in a later unit. 😉
Temporal Auxiliary Verbs
The verb ir followed by the infinitive conveys the idea of an action taking place in the future. You may remember this from the Informal Future unit!
Eu vou fazer o almoçoI'll make lunch, I'm going to make lunch
This can also be done with haver de.
A minha mãe há de me ligarMy mother will call me
With the verb ir, we’re referring to the near future. With the verbal phrase haver de, we’re referring to the future in general.
Aspectual Auxiliary Verbs
The ‘aspect’ relates to the time structure of an action, or how it unfolds in relation to time. For example: Is/was it just starting? Ending? Still ongoing? Already completed?
You may have heard grammar terms like perfect, imperfect, or pluperfect to describe aspect. In Portuguese, we have perfeito, imperfeito, and mais-que-perfeito. And we also have aspectual auxiliary verbs! Simply put, they tell us how the action relates to time.
O planeta está a aquecerThe planet is heating up
In this example, using the auxiliary verb (estar) tells us that the action (aquecer) is ongoing / in progress. (Just as you may remember from the Present Continuous Unit!).
The aspectual auxiliary verbs can be divided into inchoactive, durative, or terminative verbs. These terms make it sound complicated, but all it means is that particular verbs can tell you about the beginning, progression, or conclusion of an action:
- Beginning – Inchoactive/inceptive verbs express the idea of the effective beginning of an action. The main one is começarto start , but there are a few others, such as recomeçarto restart , passarto pass, come to pass, start , desatarto start , etc.
Comecei a comer menos carneI started eating less meat
- Progression – Durative verbs convey the idea of duration or progression. They are estarto be (doing) , continuarto continue , ficarto stay , andarto move , irto go , virto come .
Continuo a achar que é uma péssima ideiaI still think it’s a very bad idea, I continue to think it's a very bad idea
- Conclusion – Terminative verbs emphasize the idea of the end of an action: deixarto cease and acabarto finish .
Acabei de ver um filmeI just watched a film, I (just) finished watching a film
Take another look at the examples above and you’ll notice that for the first two types, the preposition a is always used to connect them to the infinitive. With the third type, it’s the preposition de instead.
Note: It’s possible for these verbs to be followed by the gerúndio as well, but this is not common in European Portuguese.
Modal Auxiliary Verbs
The main modal auxiliary verbs are:
What does ‘modal’ mean, you ask? Well, modality, in a grammatical context, is basically the presence of subjectivity. You could think of it as the ‘attitude’ of the speaker. Modal verbs provide more information about the main verb, such as the possibility, intention, desire, probability, or obligation involved in doing that action.
More specifically, the verb poder expresses possibility:
Podes vir comigoYou(sing.,inf.) can come with me
The verb dever usually expresses a probability, but it can also be used formally as a softer way of expressing an obligation (mostly in present or future tenses):
O meu namorado deve chegar hojeMy boyfriend should arrive today
Os alunos devem entregar o relatório amanhãStudents must turn in the report tomorrow
In the imperfect or conditional, the verb is also often used to give advice:
Devias sair mais de casaYou(sing.,inf.) should get out of the house more
Lastly, ter de or ter que are used to express a strong necessity:
Tem que ir às compras hojeYou(sing.,formal) have to go shopping today
The verb haver followed by the preposition de can also express modality values, such as desire or advice/obligation. For example:
Um dia, hei de ser ricoOne day, I will be rich
Hei de ir a Lisboa um dia destesI will go to Lisbon one of these days
Havias de sair mais vezes de casaYou(sing.,inf.) should get out of the house more often
What About Negative Phrases?
Most of the time when you make a phrase negative, you just put the adverb não before the verb. The same holds true when there’s an auxiliary verb: não comes before the entire verb phrase. For example:
- Tu não vais jogarYou will not play
- O Mário não anda a praticar portuguêsMario isn’t practicing Portuguese (lately) …Shame on you, Mário.
There are a few exceptions. Unlike the other auxiliary verbs, modal verbs sometimes allow us to place não either before the auxiliary verb or in between the auxiliary and main verbs. This is particularly true with the verb poder, as shown below. It’s important to note, however, that these two examples do not mean the same thing. The placement of the adverb não changes the meaning:
Another great explanation. The combination of nerdy academia with usual forms and spoken examples is tremendous. This app kicks all others out of the park.
Thank you so much for this kind comment!
What is the difference in meaning between the sentence “58% dos inquiridos a referir que não conseguem” and the sentence “58% dos inquiridos referir que não conseguem”? So what does “a” mean here? or between “um terço dos inquiridos empregados a alegar que são incapazes” and “um terço dos inquiridos empregados alegar que são incapazes”
The sentences you’ve listed all seem incomplete. We’d normally have them as part of longer sentences, where their respective clauses would start with the word com or some other connecting word:
– …com 58% dos inquiridos a referir que não conseguem
– …com um terço dos inquiridos empregados a alegar que são incapazes
We always need the preposition a here, but it doesn’t have any specific meaning per se. It works together with the subsequent infinitive as an alternative to our form of the gerund/present participle (-ing forms, in English). That is, “a referir” is interchangeable with “referindo” (referring), and “a alegar” is interchangeable with “alegando” (alleging). So, we can only drop the preposition if we replace the infinitive with the gerund.
I’m slightly confused about “ter de” and ” ter que.” Are they interchangeable, or are there certain verbs that are paired with ter de vs. ter que. In example in the lesson it uses “Tem que ir às compras hoje.” Would it be wrong if someone said “Tem de ir…”?
For the most part, “ter de” and “ter que” are used interchangeably nowadays. Your example works well with either.
Here’s a forum thread where we further explain the potential differences between the two forms: Ter de vs. ter que | Practice Portuguese Forum
Why is it not ‘sair da casa’? De+a. (You should get out of the house more)
Good question. It’s idiomatic for us to use ‘casa’ without any definite articles (i.e. em casa, de casa…) when we refer to someone’s home, as was the implied intention here. ‘Sair da casa’ is also grammatically correct, but doesn’t sound as natural. At best, we’d say “sair da tua casa” 🙂
In the exercise, there is a phrase “ir lá almoçar”. Does the infinitive at the end indicate the purpose of “ir”? E.g. can I say “vir cá jantar”?
Yes, in both “ir lá almoçar” and “vir cá jantar”, and in other similar verb phrases, the infinitive verb is the main verb and clarifies what you’re going to do 🙂
Can you please explain the difference between “haver+de” vs. “dever+infinitive” vs. “ter+de+infinitive” vs. “tens+que+infinitive”? I am very unclear which one to use in different situations. Thank you!
Olá! All of it is explained halfway through this article, in the subsection “Modal Auxiliary Verbs”. “Haver de” can be used to express a strong desire or expectation (will, shall) or an advice (should). “Dever” is also used to give advice or indicate a probability (should). “Ter de” or “ter que”, which can typically be considered interchangeable nowadays, express a strong need or command (have to, must).
Obrigado Joseph. I did re-read that section, but for example “Os alunos devem entregar o relatório amanhã”… why in “devem” situation instead of “têm que”? I would think dever would indicate “should”, whereas ter que would indicate “must”, which is the translation given. Could you also use “hão de” there? Thanks in advance!
Right! That’s an additional use of ‘dever’ – in formal language, it’s a softer form of expressing a command or obligation than ‘ter de/ter que’, which can be perceived as harsh in a formal setting. So, it translates as ‘must’ rather than ‘should’. We’ll clarify this better in the article, thanks. This use is not shared with ‘haver de’ – you can use it, but the sense will be slightly different, more towards describing an expected event than giving a command.
muito obrigado!!
In the lesson we have the phrase “Começo a achar que isto não foi boa ideia”, and also “Continuo a achar que é uma péssima ideia” — why is there an article (“uma” péssima ideia) in the latter but not the former?
Olá. This has more to do with common usage patterns than grammatical correctness. In this type of sentence, it’s quite common to omit the indefinite article before the adjectives “bom/boa” and “mau/má”, but less so before other adjectives. In any case, it’s also possible to add the article before “boa” or to omit it before “péssima” 🙂
Is this unit simply a deeper, more technical dive into the infinitive, how to use it, its structure etc? Ie an extension of Verbos No Infinitivo 1&2?
This Unit focuses on auxiliary verbs. I would say it’s more like a complement to the verbs in the infinitive Units because one way auxiliary verbs are used is to pair them with verbs in the infinitive.
This is especially helpful for beginners, because even without knowing how to conjugate lots of verbs in every tense yet, if you know some auxiliary verbs well, you can still express a decent variety of ideas. For example:
Posso ajudar (possibility)
Tenho de ajudar (obligation)
Vou ajudar (future)
Estou a ajudar (happening right now)
Acabei de ajudar (recent past)
etc…
But auxiliary verbs can also be used with past participles to form compound tenses, for example, so it’s not only about using them with verbs in the infinitive.
Hi Molly – thank you for answer this. Makes things clearer now.
Aspectual Auxiliary Verbs
Distinction here is Important / useful because knowing whether they are inchoactive, durative, or terminative helps determine which preposition is used after? Or is there another reason why this is important?
Yes, I’d say the key takeaway is the influence on the choice of preposition. You don’t need to worry much about the formal nomenclature – you can think of it as additional, nice-to-know information (for those who appreciate this level of detail).
Thank you, Joseph. Final observation is, “is this Unit simply a deeper & more technical dive into the infinitive than “Verbs in the Infinitive 1 & 2”? Or is it different?”