Fala Gringo › Verbs › andar
andar — to walk, to go around
Full conjugation of andar 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.
In spoken Brazilian Portuguese it is interchangeable with caminhar — the drill accepts any of them.
How to use andar in Brazilian Portuguese
Andar is the Brazilian Portuguese verb for to walk, to go around. It is a regular -ar verb, so once you know the endings there are no surprises.
Three tenses do almost all the work in conversation. The presente covers the present and the near future: eu ando — I walk. The pretérito perfeito is the finished past, the English simple past: eu andei — I walked. The pretérito imperfeito is for habits, background and how things used to be: eu andava — I used to walk / go / was walking.
Said the Rio way, ando sounds like AHN-doo. The nós form andamos ends in the carioca “sh”, ahn-DAH-moosh — the most recognisable sound of the Rio accent, where São Paulo says a plain s.
Presente — present tense
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | andoI walk | AHN-doo | Eu ando até a estação. |
| você / ele / ela | andayou walk | AHN-dah | Você anda muito no centro? |
| nós | andamoswe walk | ahn-DAH-moosh | Nós andamos pelo bairro à tarde. |
| vocês / eles / elas | andamyou all walk | AHN-dahng | Vocês andam até a escola? |
Pretérito Perfeito — simple past
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | andeiI walked | an-DAY | Eu andei muito ontem. |
| você / ele / ela | andouyou walked | an-DOH | Você andou até a praia? |
| nós | andamoswe walked | ahn-DAH-moosh | Nós andamos pelo centro. |
| vocês / eles / elas | andaramyou all walked | an-DAH-rahng | Vocês andaram muito hoje? |
Pretérito Imperfeito — past habitual, “used to”
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | andavaI used to walk / go / was walking | an-DAH-vah | Eu andava de patins no calçadão. |
| você / ele / ela | andavayou used to walk / go / were walking | an-DAH-vah | Você andava de bicicleta no bairro? |
| nós | andávamoswe used to walk / go / were walking | an-DAH-vah-moosh | Nós andávamos muito pela cidade. |
| vocês / eles / elas | andavamyou all used to walk / go / were walking | an-DAH-vahng | Vocês andavam de ônibus para a escola? |
More “Ações e movimentos” verbs
- trazer to bring
- colocar to put, to place
- tirar to take (photo, vacation), to take off, to remove
- deixar to leave (behind), to let
- passar to pass, to spend (time)
- parar to stop
- continuar to continue
- mudar to change, to move (house)
- correr to run
- sentar to sit (down)
- fugir to run away, to escape
- cair to fall
- botar to put (colloquial)
- descer to go down, to get off
- partir to leave, to depart
- pôr to put, to place
- subir to go up, to climb
- virar to turn (a corner), to become