Fala Gringo › Verbs › praticar
praticar — to practice
Full conjugation of praticar 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 praticar in Brazilian Portuguese
Praticar is the Brazilian Portuguese verb for to practice. It is a regular -ar verb, so once you know the endings there are no surprises — only the spelling shifts in pratiquei to keep the sound of the stem, which is orthography, not irregularity.
Three tenses do almost all the work in conversation. The presente covers the present and the near future: eu pratico — I practice. The pretérito perfeito is the finished past, the English simple past: eu pratiquei — I practiced. The pretérito imperfeito is for habits, background and how things used to be: eu praticava — I used to practice / was practicing.
Said the Rio way, pratico sounds like prah-CHEE-koo. The nós form praticamos ends in the carioca “sh”, prah-chee-KAH-moosh — the most recognisable sound of the Rio accent, where São Paulo says a plain s.
Presente — present tense
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | praticoI practice | prah-CHEE-koo | Eu pratico português todo dia. |
| você / ele / ela | praticayou practice | prah-CHEE-kah | Você pratica algum esporte? |
| nós | praticamoswe practice | prah-chee-KAH-moosh | Nós praticamos juntos duas vezes por semana. |
| vocês / eles / elas | praticamyou all practice | prah-CHEE-kahng | Vocês praticam inglês no trabalho? |
Pretérito Perfeito — simple past
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | pratiqueiI practiced | prah-chee-KAY | Eu pratiquei bastante antes da prova. |
| você / ele / ela | praticouyou practiced | prah-chee-KOH | Você praticou hoje? |
| nós | praticamoswe practiced | prah-chee-KAH-moosh | Nós praticamos a apresentação ontem. |
| vocês / eles / elas | praticaramyou all practiced | prah-chee-KAH-rahng | Vocês praticaram no fim de semana? |
Pretérito Imperfeito — past habitual, “used to”
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | praticavaI used to practice / was practicing | prah-chee-KAH-vah | Eu praticava violão todo dia. |
| você / ele / ela | praticavayou used to practice / were practicing | prah-chee-KAH-vah | Você praticava natação quando criança? |
| nós | praticávamoswe used to practice / were practicing | prah-chee-KAH-vah-moosh | Nós praticávamos futebol na rua. |
| vocês / eles / elas | praticavamyou all used to practice / were practicing | prah-chee-KAH-vahng | Vocês praticavam juntos antes? |
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
- jantar to have dinner
- assistir to watch
- escutar to listen (actively)
- dançar to dance
- viajar to travel
- descansar to rest
- 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