Fala Gringo › Verbs › terminar
terminar — to finish
Full conjugation of terminar 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 terminar in Brazilian Portuguese
Terminar is the Brazilian Portuguese verb for to finish. 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 termino — I finish. The pretérito perfeito is the finished past, the English simple past: eu terminei — I finished. The pretérito imperfeito is for habits, background and how things used to be: eu terminava — I used to finish / end / was finishing.
Said the Rio way, termino sounds like ter-MEE-noo. The nós form terminamos ends in the carioca “sh”, tehr-mee-NAH-moosh — the most recognisable sound of the Rio accent, where São Paulo says a plain s.
Presente — present tense
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | terminoI finish | ter-MEE-noo | Eu termino o trabalho até amanhã. |
| você / ele / ela | terminayou finish | ter-MEE-nah | Você termina cedo hoje? |
| nós | terminamoswe finish | tehr-mee-NAH-moosh | Nós terminamos o projeto na sexta. |
| vocês / eles / elas | terminamyou all finish | ter-MEE-nahng | Vocês terminam antes do prazo? |
Pretérito Perfeito — simple past
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | termineiI finished | tehr-mee-NAY | Eu terminei o relatório antes do prazo. |
| você / ele / ela | terminouyou finished | tehr-mee-NOH | Você terminou a tarefa? |
| nós | terminamoswe finished | tehr-mee-NAH-moosh | Nós terminamos a reunião mais cedo. |
| vocês / eles / elas | terminaramyou all finished | tehr-mee-NAH-rahng | Vocês terminaram o exercício? |
Pretérito Imperfeito — past habitual, “used to”
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | terminavaI used to finish / end / was finishing | tehr-mee-NAH-vah | Eu terminava o trabalho antes das seis. |
| você / ele / ela | terminavayou used to finish / end / were finishing | tehr-mee-NAH-vah | Você terminava a tarefa a tempo? |
| nós | terminávamoswe used to finish / end / were finishing | tehr-mee-NAH-vah-moosh | Nós terminávamos as reuniões cedo. |
| vocês / eles / elas | terminavamyou all used to finish / end | tehr-mee-NAH-vahng | Vocês terminavam tudo no prazo? |
More “Ações do dia a dia” verbs
- acordar to wake up
- dormir to sleep
- ler to read
- escrever to write
- ouvir to hear
- começar to start, to begin
- acabar to end, to end up, to run out (acabar de = to have just)
- tentar to try
- conseguir to manage, to succeed
- mostrar to show
- limpar to clean
- consertar to fix, to repair
- suar to sweat
- arrumar to tidy up, to fix (up)