Chegar Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese

chegar — to arrive — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Portuguese. It is a regular -ar verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It means to arrive somewhere, and it is completely regular apart from its spelling: the -gar stem keeps its hard g by writing gu before e and i, so the eu form is chego and the subjunctive is chegue. It is the natural opposite of partir and sair. On this page you will find chegar 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 chegar conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the chegar present tense page.

Example sentences with chegar

In the present tense

  • “Eu chego a casa todos os dias.” — “I arrive home”
  • “Tu chegas a casa todos os dias.” — “You arrive home”
  • “Ele chega a casa todos os dias.” — “He arrives home”
  • “Nós chegamos a casa todos os dias.” — “We arrive home”
  • “Vós chegais a casa todos os dias.” — “You arrive home”
  • “Eles chegam a casa todos os dias.” — “They arrive home”

In the pretérito perfeito

  • “Eu cheguei a casa ontem.” — “I arrived home”
  • “Tu chegaste a casa ontem.” — “You arrived home”
  • “Ele chegou a casa ontem.” — “He arrived home”
  • “Nós chegámos a casa ontem.” — “We arrived home”
  • “Vós chegastes a casa ontem.” — “You arrived home”
  • “Eles chegaram a casa ontem.” — “They arrived home”

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 chegava a casa antigamente.” — “I used to arrive home”
  • “Tu chegarás a casa amanhã.” — “You will arrive home”
  • “Ele chegaria a casa um dia.” — “He would arrive home”
  • “É importante que nós cheguemos a casa.” — “It is important that we arrive home”
  • “Chega a casa!” — “Arrive home!”

How chegar is used

The first thing to know about chegar is its core meaning: to arrive. It means to arrive somewhere, and it is completely regular apart from its spelling: the -gar stem keeps its hard g by writing gu before e and i, so the eu form is chego and the subjunctive is chegue. It is the natural opposite of partir and sair. 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 chegar keeps. The present eu form is chego, 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 chegado, 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 chegar does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need chego, never chegar. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho chegado, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle chegado is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Chegar in context

Eu chego a casa todos os dias. Tu chegas a casa todos os dias. Ele chega a casa todos os dias. Nós chegamos a casa todos os dias. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of chegar is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — chego, chegas, chega, chegamos — while the meaning stays the same: to arrive. Eu cheguei a casa ontem. Tu chegaste a casa ontem. Ele chegou a casa ontem. Nós chegámos a casa ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of chegar 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 arrive — 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 chegar a casa.”

✓ Right: “Eu chego a casa todos os dias.”

The infinitive chegar never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form chego.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Eu chegas a casa.”

✓ Right: “Eu chego a casa todos os dias.”

chegas is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is chego — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Eu chego a casa ontem.”

✓ Right: “Eu cheguei a casa ontem.”

Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito cheguei here, not the present chego.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Eu sou chegado a casa.”

✓ Right: “Eu tenho chegado a casa esta semana.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) chego
    • B) chegas
    • C) chega
    • D) chegamos

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

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

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

    • A) chegavas
    • B) chegávamos
    • C) chegáveis
    • D) chegava

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

    • A) chegaremos
    • B) chegarei
    • C) chegarás
    • D) chegará

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

    • A) chegaria
    • B) chegarias
    • C) chegaríamos
    • D) chegaríeis

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

    • A) chegaras
    • B) chegáramos
    • C) chegara
    • D) chegáreis

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

    • A) chegue
    • B) chegues
    • C) chegueis
    • D) cheguemos

  8. What is the gerund of chegar?

    • A) chegando
    • B) chegado
    • C) chegar
    • D) chego

  9. What is the past participle of chegar?

    • A) chegando
    • B) chegado
    • C) chegar
    • D) chego

  10. What does chegar mean in English?

  • A) to be
  • B) to have
  • C) to arrive
  • D) —

Answer key

  1. B) chegas — the correct form is chegas. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) tenho chegado — the correct form is tenho chegado. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) chegava — the correct form is chegava. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) chegaremos — the correct form is chegaremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) chegarias — the correct form is chegarias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) chegara — the correct form is chegara. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) cheguemos — the correct form is cheguemos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) chegando — the correct form is chegando. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) chegado — the correct form is chegado. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to arrive — the correct form is to arrive. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does chegar mean in English?

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

Is chegar regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of chegar?

The gerund is chegando and the past participle is chegado. The perfect tenses use ter + chegado.

Where can I see the full conjugation of chegar?

On the chegar conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The chegar present 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 chegar, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

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