Fala Gringo › Verbs › brincar
brincar — to play (kids), to joke
Full conjugation of brincar 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 brincar in Brazilian Portuguese
Brincar is the Brazilian Portuguese verb for to play (kids), to joke. It is a regular -ar verb, so once you know the endings there are no surprises — only the spelling shifts in brinquei 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 brinco — I play (kids) / joke. The pretérito perfeito is the finished past, the English simple past: eu brinquei — I played (kids) / joked. The pretérito imperfeito is for habits, background and how things used to be: eu brincava — I used to play (kids) / joke.
Said the Rio way, brinco sounds like BREEN-koo. The nós form brincamos ends in the carioca “sh”, breen-KAH-moosh — the most recognisable sound of the Rio accent, where São Paulo says a plain s.
Presente — present tense
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | brincoI play (kids) / joke | BREEN-koo | Eu brinco com meus sobrinhos no domingo. |
| você / ele / ela | brincayou play (kids) / joke | BREEN-kah | Você brinca muito, né? |
| nós | brincamoswe play (kids) / joke | breen-KAH-moosh | Nós brincamos de esconde-esconde com as crianças. |
| vocês / eles / elas | brincamyou all play (kids) / joke | BREEN-kahng | Vocês brincam demais com ele. |
Pretérito Perfeito — simple past
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | brinqueiI played (kids) / joked | breen-KAY | Eu brinquei, não fica bravo. |
| você / ele / ela | brincouyou played (kids) / joked | breen-KOH | Você brincou com o cachorro hoje? |
| nós | brincamoswe played (kids) / joked | breen-KAH-moosh | Nós brincamos na praia a tarde toda. |
| vocês / eles / elas | brincaramyou all played (kids) / joked | breen-KAH-rahng | Vocês brincaram de pique na rua? |
Pretérito Imperfeito — past habitual, “used to”
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | brincavaI used to play (kids) / joke | breen-KAH-vah | Eu brincava na rua até escurecer. |
| você / ele / ela | brincavayou used to play (kids) / joke | breen-KAH-vah | Você brincava de boneca? |
| nós | brincávamoswe used to play (kids) / joke | breen-KAH-vah-moosh | Nós brincávamos de bola no quintal. |
| vocês / eles / elas | brincavamyou all used to play (kids) / joke | breen-KAH-vahng | Vocês brincavam juntos na escola? |
More “Rotina e lazer” verbs
- comer to eat
- beber to drink
- tomar to take (a shower, a coffee, medicine)
- cozinhar to cook
- almoçar to have lunch
- 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)
- nadar to swim
- passear to go for a walk, to stroll
- ganhar to win, to earn
- perder to lose