Fala Gringo › Verbs › conversar
conversar — to chat
Full conjugation of conversar 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 conversar in Brazilian Portuguese
Conversar is the Brazilian Portuguese verb for to chat. 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 converso — I chat. The pretérito perfeito is the finished past, the English simple past: eu conversei — I chatted. The pretérito imperfeito is for habits, background and how things used to be: eu conversava — I used to chat / was chatting.
Said the Rio way, converso sounds like kohn-VEHR-soo. The nós form conversamos ends in the carioca “sh”, kohn-vehr-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 | conversoI chat | kohn-VEHR-soo | Eu converso com ela todo dia. |
| você / ele / ela | conversayou chat | kohn-VEHR-sah | Você conversa muito no trabalho? |
| nós | conversamoswe chat | kohn-vehr-SAH-moosh | Nós conversamos sobre tudo. |
| vocês / eles / elas | conversamyou all chat | kohn-VEHR-sahng | Vocês conversam em português? |
Pretérito Perfeito — simple past
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | converseiI chatted | kohn-vehr-SAY | Eu conversei com o vizinho ontem. |
| você / ele / ela | conversouyou chatted | kohn-vehr-SOH | Você conversou com ela depois? |
| nós | conversamoswe chatted | kohn-vehr-SAH-moosh | Nós conversamos a noite toda. |
| vocês / eles / elas | conversaramyou all chatted | kohn-vehr-SAH-rahng | Vocês conversaram sobre o assunto? |
Pretérito Imperfeito — past habitual, “used to”
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | conversavaI used to chat / was chatting | kohn-vehr-SAH-vah | Eu conversava com a minha vó toda semana. |
| você / ele / ela | conversavayou used to chat / were chatting | kohn-vehr-SAH-vah | Você conversava muito na aula? |
| nós | conversávamoswe used to chat / were chatting | kohn-vehr-SAH-vah-moosh | Nós conversávamos até tarde. |
| vocês / eles / elas | conversavamyou all used to chat / were chatting | kohn-vehr-SAH-vahng | Vocês conversavam sobre isso antes? |
More “Comunicação” verbs
- falar to speak, to talk
- gritar to shout, to scream
- dizer to say
- perguntar to ask
- responder to answer
- explicar to explain
- chamar to call
- contar to tell, to count
- repetir to repeat
- entender to understand
- aprender to learn
- ensinar to teach
- sugerir to suggest
- receber to receive, to get (mail, a message)
- mandar to send
- avisar to let (someone) know, to warn