The personal infinitive in Portuguese
Last updated 28 October 2026
Portuguese has a verb form that almost no other language has: the personal infinitive. It is the infinitive with a personal ending, so the verb can say who does the action. English and Spanish cannot do that.
How to form it
For regular verbs, take the infinitive and add the endings below. The eu and ele forms have no ending, so they look like the ordinary infinitive.
| Person | falar | comer | partir |
|---|---|---|---|
| eu | falar | comer | partir |
| tu | falares | comeres | partires |
| ele, ela, você | falar | comer | partir |
| nós | falarmos | comermos | partirmos |
| vós | falardes | comerdes | partirdes |
| eles, elas, vocês | falarem | comerem | partirem |
The personal infinitive is always built on the ordinary infinitive, so irregular verbs follow the same pattern. Fazer gives fazer, fazeres, fazer, fazermos, fazerdes, fazerem, and ser gives ser, seres, ser, sermos, serdes, serem. A verb with an accent in its infinitive keeps it, so sair gives saíres and saírem.
When to use it
The personal infinitive is needed when the infinitive has its own subject, different from the main verb.
- É importante estudarmos todos os dias. It is important that we study every day.
- Antes de eu sair, apaguei a luz. Before I left, I turned off the light.
- Para eles entenderem, o professor repetiu. So that they would understand, the teacher repeated it.
- Depois de vocês chegarem, vamos jantar. After you arrive, we will have dinner.
It is also common after verbs of asking and telling, where the person who acts is the object of the main verb.
- Pedi para saírem. I asked them to leave.
- Disseram-nos para esperarmos. They told us to wait.
- É melhor tu fazeres isso. It is better that you do it.
When not to use it
When the subject is the same as that of the main verb, the plain infinitive is the normal choice.
- Quero comer. (I want to eat.) The same person wants and eats.
- Vamos ver. (Let us see.)
Portugal and Brazil
Both countries use the personal infinitive, and it is correct everywhere. In Brazilian speech it is used less than in Portugal, especially with tu, and many people choose a different structure instead.
Portugal
- É melhor tu fazeres isso. It is better that you do it.
- Antes de nós partirmos, fecha a porta. Before we leave, close the door.
Brazil
- É melhor você fazer isso. It is better that you do it.
- Antes de a gente sair, fecha a porta. Before we leave, close the door.
A gente is the Brazilian everyday "we". It takes the same verb form as ele, so there is no -mos ending.
Practice
É importante nós ___ todos os dias. (estudar)
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