In Brazilian Portuguese, the imperative is the form of a verb that is used to give orders, make requests, provide suggestions, or to give advice.
- Abram a porta!Translation: Open the door!
- Feche a porta. Está frio.Translation: Close the door. It is cold.
Here are some quick facts about the Brazilian Portuguese imperative:
Because we use this verb form only when we are talking to the person or people who are supposed to perform an action, the imperative in Brazilian Portuguese only has three forms: tu/você meaning you, sg., nós meaning we, and vocês meaning you, pl..
Unlike other moods, the imperative only has one tense: the present.
In Brazilian Portuguese, the imperative has an affirmative (do it!) and a negative form (don’t do it!). This influences the placement of object and reflexive pronouns, and some verbs have some spelling changes.
Are you curious to know more about this mood? So, keep on reading this post.
What is the imperative in Brazilian Portuguese?
The imperative is the form of a verb you use to give an order or command, but it can also be used in “softer” contexts, such as to give advice, to make a request, or to provide a suggestion.
To express orders, as in:
Façam silêncio!Translation: Be quiet!Literally: Make silence!To make a request, as in:
Abra a janela por favor.Translation: Open the window please.To give suggestions or advice:
Tome um remédio para melhorar.Translation: Take medicine to get better.
Below, we will first talk about the forms of the imperative, and after about its everyday use. Let’s start?
How to form the imperative in Brazilian Portuguese?
In Brazilian Portuguese, the verb stem of the imperative is formed from the first-person eu meaning I form of the simple present.
Every imperative verb comes in three forms: a tu/você meaning you, sing. form, a vocês meaning you, pl. form, and a nós meaning we form. What’s the difference?
The imperative mood is always used when you expect a person or group that you are directly addressing to perform an action. In Brazilian Portuguese, the form of the verb reflects whether you are addressing:
a single person → tu/você meaning you, sg.
Think: “Close the door, John!”
(We’ll talk about the distinction between the two more below!)more than one person → vocês meaning you, pl.
Think: “Come in, everyone!”
a group that includes you, the speaker → nós meaning we
Think “Let’s go!”
Now let’s look more closely at how to create these different imperative forms.
Forming the imperative of regular verbs
To form the imperative of regular verbs, first create the first person singular form of the verb in the simple present, then follow the rules below to create the imperative stem:
-ar verbs → replace the final -o with -e
falar → eu falo → faleTranslation: to speak → I speak → speak!The tu (you) form ends in -a instead:
falar → eu falo → (tu) fala meaning speak!-er and -ir verbs → replace the final -o with -a
- comer → eu como → comaTranslation: to eat → I eat → eat!
- abrir → eu abro → abraTranslation: to open → I open → open!The tu meaning you form ends in -e instead:comer → eu como → (tu) come
This stem is the você meaning you sg. form of the imperative. You can form the nós meaning we and vocês meaning you, pl. forms just by adding the appropriate personal endings to the stem. Here is a chart:
Subject
pronounsfalar comer abrir tu meaning you
fala
come
abre
você meaning you, sing.
fale
coma
abra
nós meaning we
falemos
comamos
abramos
vocês meaning you, pl.
falem
comam
abram
Forming the imperative of irregular verbs
To form the imperative of irregular verbs, you will still start by forming the eu meaning I form of the simple present. You’ll make the same changes to the eu form that you did above:
- dizer → eu digo → digaTranslation: to say → I say → say!
- vestir → eu visto → vistaTranslation: to dress → I dress → dress!
The verb stems diga and vista become the basis for the formation of the imperative.
| Subject pronouns | dizer | vestir |
|---|---|---|
tu meaning you | dize | veste |
você meaning you, sing. | diga | vesta |
nós meaning we | digamos | vistamos |
vocês meaning you, pl. | digam | vistam |
How to form the negative imperative in Brazilian Portuguese?
To make a negative imperative, you will usually place the word não meaning not before the verb in the imperative.
However, unlike the affirmative tu meaning you imperative, which is formed using a different stem, the negative tu imperative is formed by combining não with a form that is created by adding the appropriate personal endings for tu to the same stem as the other imperatives:
| Subject pronouns | Affirmative | Negative |
|---|---|---|
tu meaning you | fala | não fales |
você meaning you, sg. | fale | não fale |
nós meaning we | falemos | não falemos |
vocês meaning you, pl. | falem | não falem |
This pattern is followed by all imperative verbs: regular and irregular.
What are the imperative forms that require spelling changes?
Verbs ending with -car, -çar, -cer, -gar, and -ger have a spelling change in the imperative form that helps preserve the original pronunciation of the c, ç, or g in the stem.
| -car → -que | -çar → -ce | -gar → -gue | -ger → -ja | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| tu | fica | começa | aluga | protege |
| você | fique | comece | alugue | proteja |
| nós | fiquemos | comecemos | aluguemos | protejamos |
| vocês | fiquem | comecem | aluguem | protejam |
Where to place object pronouns and reflexive pronouns with the imperative?
In the affirmative imperative, both object pronouns and reflexive pronouns are placed after the verb and linked with a hyphen.
In the negative imperative, however, the não meaning not attracts the object/reflexive pronoun and the pronoun is placed between não and the verb instead. No hyphen is used here.
How to choose between different imperative forms in Brazilian Portuguese?
We’ve already mentioned that the imperative is used to give orders, requests, suggestions, or advice. In this section, though, we’ll give you some more hints on how to choose between different ways of expressing commands. Let’s have a look!
The ‘tu’ imperative vs. the ‘você’ imperative in Brazilian Portuguese
The tu imperative and the você imperative are both used to address a single person.
So what is the difference?
In European Portuguese, there are two ways to say “you (sg.)”: tu (informal) and você (formal), so the form will depend on formality.
In everyday language, Brazilians will mostly use the tu form of the imperative. So, a Brazilian Portuguese speaker would prefer to say guarda meaning save, keep and not guarde. The você form sounds very formal in Brazil.
When to use the imperative with ‘vamos’ + main verb?
In everyday written and spoken language, we often use vamos meaning we go + main verb instead of the nós meaning we form of the imperative. The nós imperative is mostly used in more formal contexts.
When to use the imperative vs. the future subjunctive?
You can use either the imperative or the future subjunctive to suggest that a future action will lead to some result. For example:
What are some ways to replace the imperative?
There are some tenses and expressions that can be used to replace the imperative in Brazilian Portuguese. The expressions below can still be used to give an order, make a request, or provide advice or a suggestion. Let’s see them below:
Noun clauses or interjections:
Silêncio! ⇛ Façam silêncio!Translation: Silence! ⇛ Make silence!Simple present:
Você fecha essa janela. ⇛ Feche essa janela.Translation: You close this window. ⇛ Close this window.Using the simple present makes the order less direct, and therefore more polite than the imperative.
Simple future or the future with ir:
Vocês vão me ligar mais tarde, tá certo! ⇛ Liguem-me mais tarde, tá certo!Translation: You will call me later, ok! ⇛ Call me later, ok!- Se você prestasse mais atenção! ⇛ Preste mais atenção!Translation: If you paid more attention! ⇛ Pay more attention!The use of the imperfect subjunctive is capable of transforming the order into a more polite suggestion.
- Não conversar durante o exame! ⇛ Não conversem durante o exame!Translation: Do not talk during the exam!
- Terminando! ⇛ Terminem!Translation: Ending! ⇛ Finish!
How to use the imperative politely in Brazilian Portuguese?
Depending on the context and tone, the imperative can sometimes sound very impolite and like a rude way to address somebody; however, there are some words you can use to attenuate an order or request, such as por favor and por gentileza meaning please.
Summary
In this post, we talked about the form and use of the imperative.
The basic stem is formed by starting with the eu meaning I form and making the following changes:
in -ar verbs, the -o is replaced by -e, as in: falar → eu falo → fale
in -er and -ir verbs, the -o is replaced by -e, as in: correr → eu corro → corra
Most irregular verbs follow the same pattern, as in:dizer → eu digo → diga
The affirmative tu meaning you, sg. imperative has its own stem:
-ar → -a
-er/-ir → -e
The negative imperative is formed by taking the basic stem and adding não meaning not before the verb. Here, the tu form does use the same stem as the others.
Object and reflexive pronouns must be put after the verb by a hyphen, and in negative forms it must be put after the não and before the verb, as in:
- Abra-a!Translation: Open it!
- Não a abra!Translation: Don't open it!
We also talked about the everyday use of the imperative.
Although Brazilians generally use the personal pronoun você meaning you, they tend to use the imperative for tu meaning you, which sounds less formal.
Brazilians often use vamos + verb instead of the nós meaning we imperative.
The imperative can be used instead of the future subjunctive to give suggestions.
Now, practice what you’ve learned about the imperative with this activity!
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