Fala Gringo › Verbs › almoçar
almoçar — to have lunch
Full conjugation of almoçar 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 almoçar in Brazilian Portuguese
Almoçar is the Brazilian Portuguese verb for to have lunch. It is a regular -ar verb, so once you know the endings there are no surprises — only the spelling shifts in almocei 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: eu almoço — I have lunch. The pretérito perfeito is the finished past, the English simple past: eu almocei — I had lunch. The pretérito imperfeito is for habits, background and how things used to be: eu almoçava — I used to have lunch.
Said the Rio way, almoço sounds like ow-MOH-soo. The nós form almoçamos ends in the carioca “sh”, ow-moh-SAH-moosh — the most recognisable sound of the Rio accent, where São Paulo says a plain s.
Presente — present tense
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | almoçoI have lunch | ow-MOH-soo | Eu almoço meio-dia em ponto. |
| você / ele / ela | almoçayou have lunch | ow-MOH-sah | Você almoça em casa ou na rua? |
| nós | almoçamoswe have lunch | ow-moh-SAH-moosh | Nós almoçamos juntos toda sexta. |
| vocês / eles / elas | almoçamyou all have lunch | ow-MOH-sahng | Vocês almoçam no quilo perto do trabalho? |
Pretérito Perfeito — simple past
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | almoceiI had lunch | ow-moh-SAY | Eu almocei tarde hoje. |
| você / ele / ela | almoçouyou had lunch | ow-moh-SOH | Você já almoçou? |
| nós | almoçamoswe had lunch | ow-moh-SAH-moosh | Nós almoçamos naquele quilo novo. |
| vocês / eles / elas | almoçaramyou all had lunch | ow-moh-SAH-rahng | Vocês almoçaram onde? |
Pretérito Imperfeito — past habitual, “used to”
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | almoçavaI used to have lunch | ow-moh-SAH-vah | Eu almoçava na casa da minha avó. |
| você / ele / ela | almoçavayou used to have lunch | ow-moh-SAH-vah | Você almoçava na escola? |
| nós | almoçávamoswe used to have lunch | ow-moh-SAH-vah-moosh | Nós almoçávamos todos juntos no domingo. |
| vocês / eles / elas | almoçavamyou all used to have lunch | ow-moh-SAH-vahng | Vocês almoçavam no trabalho? |
More “Rotina e lazer” verbs
- comer to eat
- beber to drink
- tomar to take (a shower, a coffee, medicine)
- cozinhar to cook
- jantar to have dinner
- assistir to watch
- escutar to listen (actively)
- dançar to dance
- viajar to travel
- descansar to rest
- praticar to practice
- treinar to train
- curtir to enjoy (slang)
- aproveitar to make the most of, to take advantage of
- frequentar to attend, to go regularly
- jogar to play (sports), to throw
- torcer to root for, to cheer (for a team)
- brincar to play (kids), to joke
- nadar to swim
- passear to go for a walk, to stroll
- ganhar to win, to earn
- perder to lose