Cair Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese

cair — to fall — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Portuguese. It is a regular -ir verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It means to fall, and it is completely regular: caio, cais, cai, caímos, caís, caem. Its pretérito perfeito is caí, caíste, caiu, caímos, caístes, caíram — note the accent on the eu and tu forms. Its gerund is caindo and its participle is caído. On this page you will find cair in real sentences, grouped by meaning and tense, two short texts that show it in context, the mistakes learners actually make with it, and a ten-question quiz with explained answers. Start with the examples, say them aloud, and then test yourself. The full conjugation tables are on the cair conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the cair pretérito perfeito tense page.

Example sentences with cair

In the present tense

  • “Eu caio no chão.” — “I fall on the floor”
  • “Tu cais no chão.” — “You fall on the floor”
  • “Ele cai no chão.” — “He falls on the floor”
  • “Nós caímos no chão.” — “We fall on the floor”
  • “Vós caís no chão.” — “You fall on the floor”
  • “Eles caem no chão.” — “They fall on the floor”

In the pretérito perfeito

  • “Eu caí no chão ontem.” — “I fell on the floor”
  • “Tu caíste no chão ontem.” — “You fell on the floor”
  • “Ele caiu no chão ontem.” — “He fell on the floor”
  • “Nós caímos no chão ontem.” — “We fell on the floor”
  • “Vós caístes no chão ontem.” — “You fell on the floor”
  • “Eles caíram no chão ontem.” — “They fell on the floor”

In other tenses

The same verb in the pretérito imperfeito, the futuro do presente, the futuro do pretérito, the presente do subjuntivo and the imperative — the tenses that complete the picture. All forms come from the verified tables.

  • “Eu caía no chão antigamente.” — “I used to fall on the floor”
  • “Tu cairás no chão amanhã.” — “You will fall on the floor”
  • “Ele cairia no chão um dia.” — “He would fall on the floor”
  • “É importante que nós caiamos no chão.” — “It is important that we fall on the floor”
  • “Cai no chão!” — “Fall on the floor!”

How cair is used

The first thing to know about cair is its core meaning: to fall. It means to fall, and it is completely regular: caio, cais, cai, caímos, caís, caem. Its pretérito perfeito is caí, caíste, caiu, caímos, caístes, caíram — note the accent on the eu and tu forms. Its gerund is caindo and its participle is caído. In everyday speech it appears most often in the present and the pretérito perfeito, the two tenses on this page, because most of what we say is either what we do every day or what we have just done. Learn those two tenses first and the rest of the conjugation becomes a matter of adding forms one at a time. The second thing to know is the company cair keeps. The present eu form is caio, and it pairs naturally with the time words todos os dias and sempre for habits, and with agora for what is happening right now. The pretérito perfeito composto eu form is tenho caído, and it pairs with ontem and esta semana for finished actions. When you learn a verb form, learn its time words with it, and choosing the tense becomes automatic. The third thing to know is what cair does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need caio, never cair. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho caído, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle caído is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Cair in context

Eu caio no chão. Tu cais no chão. Ele cai no chão. Nós caímos no chão. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of cair is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — caio, cais, cai, caímos — while the meaning stays the same: to fall. Eu caí no chão ontem. Tu caíste no chão ontem. Ele caiu no chão ontem. Nós caímos no chão ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of cair appears constantly: a finished action, a precise moment, and the story goes on. Compare these sentences with the present ones above: the verb changes tense, but the basic meaning — to fall — does not change. That is the difference between a habit and a finished event.

Common mistakes

1. Using the infinitive instead of a conjugated form

✗ Wrong: “Eu cair no chão.”

✓ Right: “Eu caio no chão.”

The infinitive cair never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form caio.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Eu cais no chão.”

✓ Right: “Eu caio no chão.”

cais is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is caio — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Eu caio no chão ontem.”

✓ Right: “Eu caí no chão ontem.”

Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito caí here, not the present caio.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Eu sou caído no chão.”

✓ Right: “Eu tenho caído no chão esta semana.”

cair takes ter in the pretérito perfeito composto. The eu form is tenho caído — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.

Quiz: test yourself

Ten questions on cair across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.

  1. What is the tu form of cair in the Present indicative (presente)?

    • A) caio
    • B) cais
    • C) cai
    • D) caímos

  2. What is the eu form of cair in the Pretérito perfeito composto?

    • A) tens caído
    • B) tem caído
    • C) tenho caído
    • D) temos caído

  3. What is the ele/ela form of cair in the Pretérito imperfeito?

    • A) caías
    • B) caíamos
    • C) caíeis
    • D) caía

  4. What is the nós form of cair in the Futuro do presente?

    • A) cairemos
    • B) cairei
    • C) cairás
    • D) cairá

  5. What is the tu form of cair in the Futuro do pretérito?

    • A) cairia
    • B) cairias
    • C) cairíamos
    • D) cairíeis

  6. What is the eu form of cair in the Pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples?

    • A) caíras
    • B) caíramos
    • C) caíra
    • D) caíreis

  7. What is the nós form of cair in the Presente do subjuntivo?

    • A) caia
    • B) caias
    • C) caiais
    • D) caiamos

  8. What is the gerund of cair?

    • A) caindo
    • B) caído
    • C) cair
    • D) caio

  9. What is the past participle of cair?

    • A) caindo
    • B) caído
    • C) cair
    • D) caio

  10. What does cair mean in English?

  • A) to ask for
  • B) to receive
  • C) to fall
  • D) to pay

Answer key

  1. B) cais — the correct form is cais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) tenho caído — the correct form is tenho caído. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) caía — the correct form is caía. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) cairemos — the correct form is cairemos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) cairias — the correct form is cairias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) caíra — the correct form is caíra. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) caiamos — the correct form is caiamos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) caindo — the correct form is caindo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) caído — the correct form is caído. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to fall — the correct form is to fall. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does cair mean in English?

cair means “to fall”. You use it whenever you talk about to fall in Portuguese, in the present, the past and the future.

Is cair regular or irregular?

cair is regular. cair is regular: every form follows the standard -ir endings, so once you know the pattern you can build every tense from the stem.

What are the gerund and past participle of cair?

The gerund is caindo and the past participle is caído. The perfect tenses use ter + caído.

Where can I see the full conjugation of cair?

On the cair conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The cair pretérito perfeito tense page goes deeper into its most practised tense.

Pronunciation

Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for cair, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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