Fala Gringo › Verbs › subir
subir — to go up, to climb
Full conjugation of subir 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 subir in Brazilian Portuguese
Subir is the Brazilian Portuguese verb for to go up, to climb. It is an irregular verb: 2 of its forms in the three tenses below break the regular -ir pattern (sobe, sobem), and those are the ones to learn by heart.
Three tenses do almost all the work in conversation. The presente covers the present and the near future: eu subo — I go up. The pretérito perfeito is the finished past, the English simple past: eu subi — I went up / climbed. The pretérito imperfeito is for habits, background and how things used to be: eu subia — I used to go up / climb / was going up.
Said the Rio way, subo sounds like SOO-boo. The nós form subimos ends in the carioca “sh”, soo-BEE-moosh — the most recognisable sound of the Rio accent, where São Paulo says a plain s.
Presente — present tense
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | suboI go up | SOO-boo | Eu subo pelo elevador. |
| você / ele / ela | sobeyou go up | SOH-bee | Você sobe a pé ou de elevador? |
| nós | subimoswe go up | soo-BEE-moosh | Nós subimos a escada juntos. |
| vocês / eles / elas | sobemyou all go up | SOH-beng | Vocês sobem até o último andar? |
Pretérito Perfeito — simple past
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | subiI went up / climbed | soo-BEE | Eu subi as escadas até o quinto andar. |
| você / ele / ela | subiuyou went up / climbed | soo-BEE-oo | Você subiu a pé ou de elevador? |
| nós | subimoswe went up / climbed | soo-BEE-moosh | Nós subimos o morro juntos. |
| vocês / eles / elas | subiramyou all went up / climbed | soo-BEE-rahng | Vocês subiram até o topo? |
Pretérito Imperfeito — past habitual, “used to”
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | subiaI used to go up / climb / was going up | soo-BEE-ah | Eu subia as escadas para me exercitar. |
| você / ele / ela | subiayou used to go up / climb / were going up | soo-BEE-ah | Você subia no terraço para ver o pôr do sol? |
| nós | subíamoswe used to go up / climb / were going up | soo-BEE-ah-moosh | Nós subíamos a serra nas férias. |
| vocês / eles / elas | subiamyou all used to go up / climb | soo-BEE-ahng | Vocês subiam de elevador sempre? |
More “Ações e movimentos” verbs
- trazer to bring
- colocar to put, to place
- tirar to take (photo, vacation), to take off, to remove
- deixar to leave (behind), to let
- passar to pass, to spend (time)
- parar to stop
- continuar to continue
- mudar to change, to move (house)
- correr to run
- sentar to sit (down)
- fugir to run away, to escape
- cair to fall
- andar to walk, to go around
- botar to put (colloquial)
- descer to go down, to get off
- partir to leave, to depart
- pôr to put, to place
- virar to turn (a corner), to become