Fala Gringo › Verbs › acontecer
acontecer — to happen
Full conjugation of acontecer in the tenses that matter for everyday speech, with pronunciation hints in the Rio (carioca) accent and example sentences the way Brazilians actually talk — not textbook European Portuguese.
How to use acontecer in Brazilian Portuguese
Acontecer is the Brazilian Portuguese verb for to happen. It is a regular -er verb, so once you know the endings there are no surprises — only the spelling shifts in aconteço to keep the sound of the stem, which is orthography, not irregularity.
Three tenses do almost all the work in conversation. The presente covers the present and the near future: isso acontece — it happens. The pretérito perfeito is the finished past, the English simple past: isso aconteceu — it happened. The pretérito imperfeito is for habits, background and how things used to be: isso acontecia — it used to happen. Because acontecer is one of the 58 most-used verbs, the page also has both subjunctives: the presente do subjuntivo, the mood of wishes, doubts and “quero que…” — isso aconteça — that it happens — and the imperfeito do subjuntivo, the tense of hypotheticals: isso acontecesse — if it happened.
Said the Rio way, acontece sounds like ah-kon-TEH-see.
Presente — present tense
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | aconteçoI happen (never used) | ah-kon-TEH-soo | |
| isso | aconteceit happens | ah-kon-TEH-see | Isso acontece muito no Rio. |
| nós | acontecemoswe happen (never used) | ah-kon-teh-SEH-moosh | |
| as coisas | acontecemthings happen | ah-kon-TEH-seng | As coisas acontecem, relaxa. |
Pretérito Perfeito — simple past
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | aconteciI happened (never used) | ah-kon-teh-SEE | |
| isso | aconteceuit happened | ah-kon-teh-SEH-oo | O que aconteceu com você? |
| nós | acontecemoswe happened (never used) | ah-kon-teh-SEH-moosh | |
| as coisas | aconteceramthings happened | ah-kon-teh-SEH-rahng | Muitas coisas aconteceram esse ano. |
Pretérito Imperfeito — past habitual, “used to”
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | aconteciaI used to happen (never used) | ah-kon-teh-SEE-ah | |
| isso | aconteciait used to happen | ah-kon-teh-SEE-ah | Isso acontecia direto quando eu era criança. |
| nós | acontecíamoswe used to happen (never used) | ah-kon-teh-SEE-ah-moosh | |
| as coisas | aconteciamthings used to happen | ah-kon-teh-SEE-ahng | Antigamente as coisas aconteciam mais devagar. |
Presente do Subjuntivo — present subjunctive, “(I hope) that I…”
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | aconteçathat I happen (never used) | ah-kon-TEH-sah | |
| isso | aconteçathat it happens | ah-kon-TEH-sah | Tomara que isso aconteça logo. |
| nós | aconteçamosthat we happen (never used) | ah-kon-teh-SAH-moosh | |
| as coisas | aconteçamthat things happen | ah-kon-TEH-sahng | Espero que as coisas aconteçam do jeito certo. |
Imperfeito do Subjuntivo — imperfect subjunctive, “if I…”
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | acontecesseif I happened (never used) | ah-kon-teh-SEH-see | |
| isso | acontecesseif it happened | ah-kon-teh-SEH-see | Se acontecesse alguma coisa, você me avisava, né? |
| nós | acontecêssemosif we happened (never used) | ah-kon-teh-SEH-seh-moosh | |
| as coisas | acontecessemif things happened | ah-kon-teh-SEH-seng | Queria que as coisas acontecessem mais rápido. |