Verb Lessons: Imperative Verbs in Portuguese

Portuguese Imperative Verbs

Imperative verbs are commands. Imperatives are a strange beast in Portuguese. An imperative is a way of forming a verb to add emphasis. It is used for commands and orders, instructions (for example in recipes) and to sell products in advertising or in speech to stress what you want somebody else to do or understand. In other words, it’s what you think is “imperative” for other people to act on.

If you never studied English grammar, I’m sure you’ve never stopped to think about them before. This is because in English imperative verbs take the same form as normal verbs, there is no distinction. When we say: “they read the instructions” and “read the instructions!” even though the word “read” has different meanings and stress, it physically stays the same.

Forming Imperative Verbs In Brazilian Portuguese:

In Portuguese, to form the imperative, you change the endings of verbs like this: with -ar verbs, drop the -ar and put an -e on the end, and with  -er or -ir verbs, drop the -er/-ir ending and end the verb with an -a. So, in the imperative…

-ar verbs –> end in -e

-er or -ir verbs –> end in -a

Examples:

olhe! – look! (from the verb olhar)
pare! – stop! (from the verb parar)
sente! – sit! (from the verb sentar) “sente-se!” – “sit down!”
coma! – eat! (from the verb comer)

aproveite! – enjoy! or “take advantage!” (of a good situation) (from the verb aproveitar)
relaxe! – relax! (from the verb relaxar)
aprenda! – learn! (from the verb aprender)
sonhe! – dream! (from the verb sonhar) “sonhe grande” – “dream big”

*You will notice that stop signs in Brazil say “PARE” – the imperative of the verb parar – to stop.

Irregular Imperatives

The imperative of ser (to be) is seja. For example: “seja bem-vindos” – literally: “be welcomed,” means “welcome!”

The imperative of estar (to be) is esteja. For example: “esteja aqui as 5 horas” – “be here at 5 o’clock.”

The imperative of vim (to come) is venha. For example: “venha cá” – Come here

The imperative of ir (to go) is vá. For Example: “vá agora!” – “go now!”