Dever Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese

dever — to have to — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Portuguese. It is a regular -er verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It is a modal verb meaning to have to, and it is always followed by another verb in the infinitive: devo estudar. Its present is devo, deves, deve, devemos, deveis, devem, and its pretérito perfeito is devi, deveste, deveu. It also means to owe, as in owing money. Do not confuse it with precisar, which means to need. On this page you will find dever 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 dever conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the dever present tense page.

Example sentences with dever

In the present tense

  • “Eu devo estudar todos os dias.” — “I have to study”
  • “Tu deves estudar todos os dias.” — “You have to study”
  • “Ele deve estudar todos os dias.” — “He has to study”
  • “Nós devemos estudar todos os dias.” — “We have to study”
  • “Vós deveis estudar todos os dias.” — “You have to study”
  • “Eles devem estudar todos os dias.” — “They have to study”

In the pretérito perfeito

  • “Eu devi estudar ontem.” — “I had to study”
  • “Tu deveste estudar ontem.” — “You had to study”
  • “Ele deveu estudar ontem.” — “He had to study”
  • “Nós devemos estudar ontem.” — “We had to study”
  • “Vós devestes estudar ontem.” — “You had to study”
  • “Eles deveram estudar ontem.” — “They had to study”

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 devia estudar antigamente.” — “I used to have to study”
  • “Tu deverás estudar amanhã.” — “You will have to study”
  • “Ele deveria estudar um dia.” — “He would have to study”
  • “É importante que nós devamos estudar.” — “It is important that we have to study”
  • “Deve estudar!” — “Have to study!”

How dever is used

The first thing to know about dever is its core meaning: to have to. It is a modal verb meaning to have to, and it is always followed by another verb in the infinitive: devo estudar. Its present is devo, deves, deve, devemos, deveis, devem, and its pretérito perfeito is devi, deveste, deveu. It also means to owe, as in owing money. Do not confuse it with precisar, which means to need. 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 dever keeps. The present eu form is devo, 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 devido, 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 dever does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need devo, never dever. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho devido, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle devido is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Dever in context

Eu devo estudar todos os dias. Tu deves estudar todos os dias. Ele deve estudar todos os dias. Nós devemos estudar todos os dias. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of dever is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — devo, deves, deve, devemos — while the meaning stays the same: to have to. Eu devi estudar ontem. Tu deveste estudar ontem. Ele deveu estudar ontem. Nós devemos estudar ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of dever 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 have to — 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 dever estudar.”

✓ Right: “Eu devo estudar todos os dias.”

The infinitive dever never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form devo.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Eu deves estudar.”

✓ Right: “Eu devo estudar todos os dias.”

deves is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is devo — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Eu devo estudar ontem.”

✓ Right: “Eu devi estudar ontem.”

Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito devi here, not the present devo.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Eu sou devido estudar.”

✓ Right: “Eu tenho devido estudar esta semana.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) devo
    • B) deves
    • C) deve
    • D) devemos

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

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

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

    • A) devias
    • B) devíamos
    • C) devíeis
    • D) devia

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

    • A) deveremos
    • B) deverei
    • C) deverás
    • D) deverá

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

    • A) deveria
    • B) deverias
    • C) deveríamos
    • D) deveríeis

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

    • A) deveras
    • B) devéramos
    • C) devera
    • D) devéreis

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

    • A) deva
    • B) devas
    • C) devais
    • D) devamos

  8. What is the gerund of dever?

    • A) devendo
    • B) devido
    • C) dever
    • D) devo

  9. What is the past participle of dever?

    • A) devendo
    • B) devido
    • C) dever
    • D) devo

  10. What does dever mean in English?

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

Answer key

  1. B) deves — the correct form is deves. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) tenho devido — the correct form is tenho devido. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) devia — the correct form is devia. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) deveremos — the correct form is deveremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) deverias — the correct form is deverias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) devera — the correct form is devera. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) devamos — the correct form is devamos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) devendo — the correct form is devendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) devido — the correct form is devido. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to have to — the correct form is to have to. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does dever mean in English?

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

Is dever regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of dever?

The gerund is devendo and the past participle is devido. The perfect tenses use ter + devido.

Where can I see the full conjugation of dever?

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

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