Fala Gringo › Verbs › jantar
jantar — to have dinner
Full conjugation of jantar 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 jantar in Brazilian Portuguese
Jantar is the Brazilian Portuguese verb for to have dinner. 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 janto — I have dinner. The pretérito perfeito is the finished past, the English simple past: eu jantei — I had dinner. The pretérito imperfeito is for habits, background and how things used to be: eu jantava — I used to have dinner.
Said the Rio way, janto sounds like ZHAHN-too. The nós form jantamos ends in the carioca “sh”, zhahn-TAH-moosh — the most recognisable sound of the Rio accent, where São Paulo says a plain s.
Presente — present tense
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | jantoI have dinner | ZHAHN-too | Eu janto cedo durante a semana. |
| você / ele / ela | jantayou have dinner | ZHAHN-tah | Você janta fora muito? |
| nós | jantamoswe have dinner | zhahn-TAH-moosh | Nós jantamos às oito. |
| vocês / eles / elas | jantamyou all have dinner | ZHAHN-tahng | Vocês jantam juntos todo dia? |
Pretérito Perfeito — simple past
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | janteiI had dinner | zhahn-TAY | Eu jantei uma pizza ontem. |
| você / ele / ela | jantouyou had dinner | zhahn-TOH | Você já jantou? |
| nós | jantamoswe had dinner | zhahn-TAH-moosh | Nós jantamos num japonês em Ipanema. |
| vocês / eles / elas | jantaramyou all had dinner | zhahn-TAH-rahng | Vocês jantaram bem? |
Pretérito Imperfeito — past habitual, “used to”
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | jantavaI used to have dinner | zhahn-TAH-vah | Eu jantava vendo novela. |
| você / ele / ela | jantavayou used to have dinner | zhahn-TAH-vah | Você jantava tarde quando morava na Espanha? |
| nós | jantávamoswe used to have dinner | zhahn-TAH-vah-moosh | Nós jantávamos na varanda no verão. |
| vocês / eles / elas | jantavamyou all used to have dinner | zhahn-TAH-vahng | Vocês jantavam com os avós no domingo? |
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
- 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)
- brincar to play (kids), to joke
- nadar to swim
- passear to go for a walk, to stroll
- ganhar to win, to earn
- perder to lose