Fala Gringo › Verbs › cuidar
cuidar — to take care (of)
Full conjugation of cuidar 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 cuidar in Brazilian Portuguese
Cuidar is the Brazilian Portuguese verb for to take care (of). 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 cuido — I take care (of). The pretérito perfeito is the finished past, the English simple past: eu cuidei — I took care (of). The pretérito imperfeito is for habits, background and how things used to be: eu cuidava — I used to take care (of).
Said the Rio way, cuido sounds like KWEE-doo. The nós form cuidamos ends in the carioca “sh”, kwee-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 | cuidoI take care (of) | KWEE-doo | Eu cuido do meu sobrinho no sábado. |
| você / ele / ela | cuidayou take care (of) | KWEE-dah | Você cuida bem das plantas. |
| nós | cuidamoswe take care (of) | kwee-DAH-moosh | Nós cuidamos do cachorro da vizinha. |
| vocês / eles / elas | cuidamyou all take care (of) | KWEE-dahng | Vocês cuidam da casa quando ele viaja? |
Pretérito Perfeito — simple past
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | cuideiI took care (of) | kwee-DAY | Eu cuidei de tudo, relaxa. |
| você / ele / ela | cuidouyou took care (of) | kwee-DOH | Você cuidou do jantar? |
| nós | cuidamoswe took care (of) | kwee-DAH-moosh | Nós cuidamos das crianças a noite toda. |
| vocês / eles / elas | cuidaramyou all took care (of) | kwee-DAH-rahng | Vocês cuidaram bem do apartamento? |
Pretérito Imperfeito — past habitual, “used to”
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | cuidavaI used to take care (of) | kwee-DAH-vah | Eu cuidava da minha avó nos fins de semana. |
| você / ele / ela | cuidavayou used to take care (of) | kwee-DAH-vah | Você cuidava do jardim? |
| nós | cuidávamoswe used to take care (of) | kwee-DAH-vah-moosh | Nós cuidávamos um do outro. |
| vocês / eles / elas | cuidavamyou all used to take care (of) | kwee-DAH-vahng | Vocês cuidavam da loja sozinhos? |
More “Interação social” verbs
- gostar to like
- amar to love
- ajudar to help
- emprestar to lend
- paquerar to flirt
- acompanhar to accompany, to follow along
- lidar to deal (with), to handle
- convidar to invite
- visitar to visit
- aceitar to accept
- recusar to refuse
- combinar to arrange
- encontrar to find, to meet
- esperar to wait, to hope
- seguir to follow
- agradecer to thank
- desculpar to forgive, to excuse
- marcar to schedule, to mark