Portuguese Verbs Be & Have: Ser / Estar & Ter

Learn the verbs be and have in Brazilian Portuguese

 

Need more Portuguese? Try the Portuguese courses at Udemy, the audio and video lessons at Portuguesepod101.com, and the Portuguese Interlinear book (with English translations below the Portuguese text)

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6. Be and Have in Portuguese

There are two verbs that mean to be: ser and estar. The verb ter means to have. Each subject pronoun requires a different form of the verb, called conjugations. Remember that nouns or names can also replace the third person pronouns he, she, it and they.

ser - to be
eu sou	I am	nós somos	we are
tu és	you are (informal singular)	vós estais	you are (informal plural)
ele é ela é você é o senhor é a senhora é	he / it is (masculine) she / it is (feminine) you are (informal singular) you are (formal masculine singular) you are (formal feminine singular)	eles são elas são vocês são os senhores são as senhoras são	they are (masculine) they are (feminine) you are (informal plural) you are (formal masculine plural) you are (formal feminine plural)

 

estar - to be
eu estou	I am	nós estamos	we are
tu estás	you are (informal singular)	vós estais	you are (informal plural)
ele está ela está você está o senhor está a senhora está	he / it is (masculine) she / it is (feminine) you are (informal singular) you are (formal masculine singular) you are (formal feminine singular)	eles estão elas estão vocês estão os senhores estão as senhoras estão	they are (masculine) they are (feminine) you are (informal plural) you are (formal masculine plural) you are (formal feminine plural)

 

ter - to have
eu tenho	I have	nós temos	we have
tu tens	you have (informal singular)	vós tendes	you have (informal plural)
ele tem ela tem você tem o senhor tem a senhora tem	he / it has (masculine) she / it has (feminine) you have (informal singular) you have (formal masculine singular) you have (formal feminine singular)	eles têm elas têm vocês têm os senhores têm as senhoras têm	they have (masculine) they have (feminine) you have (informal plural) you have (formal masculine plural) you have (formal feminine plural)

Remember that tu and vos conjugations are not used in Brazil.

Ser is used to say when you are something (inherent characteristic), and estar is used to say when you are in/at somewhere (location):

Eu sou o novo aluno.     I am the new student.
Eu estou no meu novo carro.     I am in my new car.

Many common expressions that use the verb be in English use the verb ter in Portuguese:

to be afraid - ter medo
to be against - estar contra
to be at fault - ter culpa
to be careful - ter cuidado
to be cold - estar com frio
to be curious - ser curioso/a
to be happy - estar contente
to be hot - estar com calor
to be hungry - estar com fome
to be in a hurry - ter pressa, estar com pressa
to be jealous - ter ciúmes
to be lucky - ter sorte
to be patient - ser paciente
to be successful - ter sucesso
to be thirsty - estar com sêde
to be tired - estar cansado/a

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