An Overview of Portuguese Infinitives
The infinitive is the “base” form of the verb. It expresses meaning, but not full grammatical information (no tense, no person, no number). However, the ending does indicate which conjugation pattern the verb follows. The three main types of infinitives are -ar verbs (e.g.: falar), -er verbs (e.g.: vender) and -ir verbs (e.g.: partir).
In terms of usage, the infinitive is used:
a) After prepositions
e.g.: Acabo de falar com as crianças.
b) After certain verbs
such as poder, querer, and ir
e.g.: Posso ir contigo.
c) As a noun (general action)
e.g.: Ler é viver.
⚠️ Important notes
- The infinitive does not follow conjugated forms of ser, estar or haver .
- The infinitive does not follow an explicit subject (e.g., eu, tu, etc.) in standard constructions.
🧠 Important distinction (Portuguese-specific)
Unlike Spanish, Portuguese also has a personal infinitive, which can agree with the subject:
- É importante nós estudarmos.
- Antes de saírem, avisem-me.
👉 This is a key feature of Portuguese.
Questions about Infinitives
Q: Why is it tenho falado and NOT tenho falar?
Infinitives (like falar, sair, vender, etc.) do not follow auxiliary verbs such as ter or haver. In these cases, the verb appears as a past participle (falado, saído, vendido).
Q: Why is it quero falar contigo and NOT quero falo contigo?
You generally do not have two conjugated verbs in a row. The second verb should be in the infinitive.
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