Fala Gringo › Verbs › virar
virar — to turn (a corner), to become
Full conjugation of virar 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 virar in Brazilian Portuguese
Virar is the Brazilian Portuguese verb for to turn (a corner), to become. 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 viro — I turn (a corner) / become. The pretérito perfeito is the finished past, the English simple past: eu virei — I turned (a corner) / became. The pretérito imperfeito is for habits, background and how things used to be: eu virava — I used to turn (a corner) / become.
Said the Rio way, viro sounds like VEE-roo. The nós form viramos ends in the carioca “sh”, vee-RAH-moosh — the most recognisable sound of the Rio accent, where São Paulo says a plain s.
Presente — present tense
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | viroI turn (a corner) / become | VEE-roo | Eu viro à direita no sinal. |
| você / ele / ela | virayou turn (a corner) / become | VEE-rah | Você vira a esquina e já vê a praia. |
| nós | viramoswe turn (a corner) / become | vee-RAH-moosh | Nós viramos à esquerda ali. |
| vocês / eles / elas | viramyou all turn (a corner) / become | VEE-rahng | Vocês viram na segunda rua. |
Pretérito Perfeito — simple past
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | vireiI turned (a corner) / became | vee-RAY | Eu virei vegetariano ano passado. |
| você / ele / ela | virouyou turned (a corner) / became | vee-ROH | Você virou carioca de vez! |
| nós | viramoswe turned (a corner) / became | vee-RAH-moosh | Nós viramos amigos rapidinho. |
| vocês / eles / elas | viraramyou all turned (a corner) / became | vee-RAH-rahng | Vocês viraram na esquina errada? |
Pretérito Imperfeito — past habitual, “used to”
| Person | Form | Pronunciation | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | viravaI used to turn (a corner) / become | vee-RAH-vah | Eu virava a noite jogando videogame. |
| você / ele / ela | viravayou used to turn (a corner) / become | vee-RAH-vah | Você virava a esquina errada sempre? |
| nós | virávamoswe used to turn (a corner) / become | vee-RAH-vah-moosh | Nós virávamos a noite conversando. |
| vocês / eles / elas | viravamyou all used to turn (a corner) / become | vee-RAH-vahng | Vocês viravam a madrugada no carnaval? |
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
- subir to go up, to climb