Fala Gringo › Verbs › desculpar
desculpar — to forgive, to excuse
Full conjugation of desculpar 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 desculpar in Brazilian Portuguese
Desculpar is the Brazilian Portuguese verb for to forgive, to excuse. 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 desculpo — I forgive / excuse. The pretérito perfeito is the finished past, the English simple past: eu desculpei — I forgave / excused. The pretérito imperfeito is for habits, background and how things used to be: eu desculpava — I used to forgive / excuse / was forgiving.
Said the Rio way, desculpo sounds like dehsh-KOOL-poo. The nós form desculpamos ends in the carioca “sh”, dehsh-kool-PAH-moosh — the most recognisable sound of the Rio accent, where São Paulo says a plain s.
Presente — present tense
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | desculpoI forgive / excuse | dehsh-KOOL-poo | Eu desculpo o atraso dele. |
| você / ele / ela | desculpayou forgive / excuse | dehsh-KOOL-pah | Você desculpa esse tipo de erro? |
| nós | desculpamoswe forgive / excuse | dehsh-kool-PAH-moosh | Nós desculpamos a demora. |
| vocês / eles / elas | desculpamyou all forgive / excuse | dehsh-KOOL-pahng | Vocês desculpam ele? |
Pretérito Perfeito — simple past
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | desculpeiI forgave / excused | dehsh-kool-PAY | Eu desculpei o atraso dela. |
| você / ele / ela | desculpouyou forgave / excused | dehsh-kool-POH | Você desculpou ele depois? |
| nós | desculpamoswe forgave / excused | dehsh-kool-PAH-moosh | Nós desculpamos o erro do garçom. |
| vocês / eles / elas | desculparamyou all forgave / excused | dehsh-kool-PAH-rahng | Vocês desculparam a confusão? |
Pretérito Imperfeito — past habitual, “used to”
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | desculpavaI used to forgive / excuse / was forgiving | dehsh-kool-PAH-vah | Eu desculpava tudo que ele fazia. |
| você / ele / ela | desculpavayou used to forgive / excuse / were forgiving | dehsh-kool-PAH-vah | Você desculpava os atrasos dele? |
| nós | desculpávamoswe used to forgive / excuse / were forgiving | dehsh-kool-PAH-vah-moosh | Nós desculpávamos esse tipo de coisa. |
| vocês / eles / elas | desculpavamyou all used to forgive / excuse / were forgiving | dehsh-kool-PAH-vahng | Vocês desculpavam ela sempre? |
More “Interação social” verbs
- gostar to like
- amar to love
- ajudar to help
- cuidar to take care (of)
- 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
- marcar to schedule, to mark