Fala Gringo › Verbs › continuar
continuar — to continue
Full conjugation of continuar 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 continuar in Brazilian Portuguese
Continuar is the Brazilian Portuguese verb for to continue. 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 continuo — I continue. The pretérito perfeito is the finished past, the English simple past: eu continuei — I continued. The pretérito imperfeito is for habits, background and how things used to be: eu continuava — I used to continue / keep / was continuing.
Said the Rio way, continuo sounds like kohn-chee-NOO-oo. The nós form continuamos ends in the carioca “sh”, kohn-chee-noo-AH-moosh — the most recognisable sound of the Rio accent, where São Paulo says a plain s.
Presente — present tense
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | continuoI continue | kohn-chee-NOO-oo | Eu continuo estudando mesmo assim. |
| você / ele / ela | continuayou continue | kohn-chee-NOO-ah | Você continua aqui amanhã? |
| nós | continuamoswe continue | kohn-chee-noo-AH-moosh | Nós continuamos a viagem depois. |
| vocês / eles / elas | continuamyou all continue | kohn-chee-NOO-ahng | Vocês continuam trabalhando nisso? |
Pretérito Perfeito — simple past
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | continueiI continued | kon-chee-noo-AY | Eu continuei o trabalho depois do almoço. |
| você / ele / ela | continuouyou continued | kon-chee-noo-OH | Você continuou assistindo a série? |
| nós | continuamoswe continued | kohn-chee-noo-AH-moosh | Nós continuamos a conversa no café. |
| vocês / eles / elas | continuaramyou all continued | kon-chee-noo-AH-rahng | Vocês continuaram o projeto sem mim? |
Pretérito Imperfeito — past habitual, “used to”
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | continuavaI used to continue / keep / was continuing | kon-chee-noo-AH-vah | Eu continuava estudando mesmo cansada. |
| você / ele / ela | continuavayou used to continue / keep / were continuing | kon-chee-noo-AH-vah | Você continuava tentando mesmo assim? |
| nós | continuávamoswe used to continue / keep / were continuing | kon-chee-noo-AH-vah-moosh | Nós continuávamos o projeto sem parar. |
| vocês / eles / elas | continuavamyou all used to continue / keep | kon-chee-noo-AH-vahng | Vocês continuavam trabalhando tarde da noite? |
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
- mudar to change, to move (house)
- correr to run
- sentar to sit (down)
- fugir to run away, to escape
- cair to fall
- andar to walk, to go around
- 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