Ready to ask politely, invite friends, or give simple instructions in Portuguese? The imperative mood is your tool for everyday life: “Open the window,” “Please wait,” “Let’s eat!” In this lesson, you’ll learn clear patterns for Brazilian Portuguese, practice with common verbs, and get cultural tips to sound friendly and natural.

What is the imperative?

The imperative mood is used to give commands, make requests, and offer invitations.

• “Abra a janela, por favor.” (Open the window, please.)
• “Não fale alto.” (Don’t speak loudly.)
• “Vamos comer!” (Let’s eat!)

At A2, focus on the forms with você, nós, and vocês. In Brazil, você (singular) and vocês (plural) are standard in conversation. Nós is “we,” often used for suggestions (“Let’s…”).

How to form the imperative (Brazilian Portuguese)

Here’s the simple path for the affirmative imperative with você/nós/vocês:

• Regular -ar verbs: use -e (você), -emos (nós), -em (vocês)
  • falar → você fale, nós falemos, vocês falem
• Regular -er and -ir verbs: use -a (você), -amos (nós), -am (vocês)
  • comer → você coma, nós comamos, vocês comam
  • abrir → você abra, nós abramos, vocês abram

Negative imperative: use the same forms with “não” in front.

• “Não fale.” / “Não falem.”
• “Não coma.” / “Não comam.”
• “Não abra.” / “Não abram.”

Tip: In Brazilian Portuguese, nós forms like “falemos/comamos/abramos” sound formal. In everyday speech, people prefer “vamos + infinitivo”: “Vamos falar/comer/abrir.”

Polite tone matters

To soften commands, add:

• “por favor” (please)
• “um momento, por favor” (one moment, please)
• “poderia…?” (could you…?) + infinitive is also common for polite requests: “Você poderia abrir a janela?” (Could you open the window?) — this is not imperative, but it’s a great alternative in service situations.

Por favor, a porta.

More useful verbs in commands

• esperar → “Espere um minuto.” (Wait a minute.)
• fazer → “Faça silêncio, por favor.” (Please be quiet.)
• ver → “Veja isso!” (Look at this!)
• trazer → “Traga água, por favor.” (Bring water, please.)

Note: Many common verbs are irregular in the imperative você/vocês because they use the present subjunctive base (e.g., fazer → faça; ver → veja; trazer → traga).

“Let’s…” with nós

You’ll often hear suggestions using “vamos + infinitivo,” which is friendly and very common:

• “Vamos comer?” (Shall we eat?)
• “Vamos começar!” (Let’s start!)
• “Vamos estudar português!” (Let’s study Portuguese!)

Negative suggestion is also easy: “Não vamos…”

• “Não vamos atrasar.” (Let’s not be late.)

Regular -er patterns you’ll use every day

The -er pattern is especially useful for food and drink verbs (comer, beber). Notice the “a” vowel in the imperative for você/vocês.

Irregular must‑knows (você/vocês)

• ir → vá / vão (nós: vamos)
• fazer → faça / façam
• dizer → diga / digam
• trazer → traga / tragam
• ver → veja / vejam
• estar → esteja / estejam

Examples:

• “Vá pela direita.” (Go to the right.)
• “Façam a lição.” (Do the homework.)
• “Digam seu nome completo.” (Say your full name.)
• “Traga sua identidade.” (Bring your ID.)
• “Veja as instruções.” (See the instructions.)
• “Estejam prontos às oito.” (Be ready at eight.)

Não fala! → Não fale! Negative imperative uses the present subjunctive base. Avoid indicative forms in negatives.

Cultural note: sounding friendly in Brazil

• Add “por favor” to soften commands: “Abra a janela, por favor.”
• Use “vamos + infinitivo” for inclusive, friendly suggestions: “Vamos caminhar?”
• In service, polite requests often use “poderia” or “pode” + infinitive: “Poderia assinar aqui?” (Could you sign here?)
• Keep your voice calm; even with an exclamation mark in writing, the tone should be polite. Smiles and softeners like “um minutinho” (just a minute) also help.

Quick recap

• Use você/nós/vocês for clear, friendly commands.
• Regular patterns: -ar → e/emos/em; -er/-ir → a/amos/am.
• Negative: add “não” and keep the same forms (não fale; não comam).
• Everyday “Let’s…” → “vamos + infinitivo”.
• Add “por favor” to sound polite.

Keep practicing with short, real-life sentences. Try these:

• “Veja o mapa.” (Look at the map.)
• “Não use o celular aqui.” (Don’t use your phone here.)
• “Vamos começar a reunião.” (Let’s start the meeting.)

You’ve got this—com calma e com prática, seu imperativo vai soar super natural!