Fala Gringo › Verbs › recusar
recusar — to refuse
Full conjugation of recusar 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 recusar in Brazilian Portuguese
Recusar is the Brazilian Portuguese verb for to refuse. 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 recuso — I refuse. The pretérito perfeito is the finished past, the English simple past: eu recusei — I refused. The pretérito imperfeito is for habits, background and how things used to be: eu recusava — I used to refuse / was refusing.
Said the Rio way, recuso sounds like heh-KOO-zoo. The nós form recusamos ends in the carioca “sh”, heh-koo-ZAH-moosh — the most recognisable sound of the Rio accent, where São Paulo says a plain s.
Presente — present tense
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | recusoI refuse | heh-KOO-zoo | Eu recuso o convite com jeitinho. |
| você / ele / ela | recusayou refuse | heh-KOO-zah | Você recusa ajuda? |
| nós | recusamoswe refuse | heh-koo-ZAH-moosh | Nós recusamos a proposta. |
| vocês / eles / elas | recusamyou all refuse | heh-KOO-zahng | Vocês recusam qualquer ajuda? |
Pretérito Perfeito — simple past
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | recuseiI refused | heh-koo-ZAY | Eu recusei a oferta dele. |
| você / ele / ela | recusouyou refused | heh-koo-ZOH | Você recusou o convite? |
| nós | recusamoswe refused | heh-koo-ZAH-moosh | Nós recusamos o acordo ontem. |
| vocês / eles / elas | recusaramyou all refused | heh-koo-ZAH-rahng | Vocês recusaram a comida? |
Pretérito Imperfeito — past habitual, “used to”
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | recusavaI used to refuse / was refusing | heh-koo-ZAH-vah | Eu recusava sempre esse tipo de trabalho. |
| você / ele / ela | recusavayou used to refuse / were refusing | heh-koo-ZAH-vah | Você recusava os presentes dele? |
| nós | recusávamoswe used to refuse / were refusing | heh-koo-ZAH-vah-moosh | Nós recusávamos qualquer ajuda. |
| vocês / eles / elas | recusavamyou all used to refuse / were refusing | heh-koo-ZAH-vahng | Vocês recusavam os convites? |
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
- 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