Levar Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese
levar — to carry — 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 carry and to take something somewhere, and it is completely regular: levo, levas, leva, levamos, levais, levam. Its pretérito perfeito is levei, levaste, levou, and its participle is levado. It also means to take time, as in how long something takes. Do not confuse it with trazer, which means to bring something towards the speaker. On this page you will find levar 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 levar conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the levar present tense page.
Example sentences with levar
In the present tense
- “Eu levo um livro à Maria todos os dias.” — “I carry a book to Maria”
- “Tu levas um livro à Maria todos os dias.” — “You carry a book to Maria”
- “Ele leva um livro à Maria todos os dias.” — “He carries a book to Maria”
- “Nós levamos um livro à Maria todos os dias.” — “We carry a book to Maria”
- “Vós levais um livro à Maria todos os dias.” — “You carry a book to Maria”
- “Eles levam um livro à Maria todos os dias.” — “They carry a book to Maria”
In the pretérito perfeito
- “Eu levei um livro à Maria ontem.” — “I carried a book to Maria”
- “Tu levaste um livro à Maria ontem.” — “You carried a book to Maria”
- “Ele levou um livro à Maria ontem.” — “He carried a book to Maria”
- “Nós levámos um livro à Maria ontem.” — “We carried a book to Maria”
- “Vós levastes um livro à Maria ontem.” — “You carried a book to Maria”
- “Eles levaram um livro à Maria ontem.” — “They carried a book to Maria”
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 levava um livro à Maria antigamente.” — “I used to carry a book to Maria”
- “Tu levarás um livro à Maria amanhã.” — “You will carry a book to Maria”
- “Ele levaria um livro à Maria um dia.” — “He would carry a book to Maria”
- “É importante que nós levemos um livro à Maria.” — “It is important that we carry a book to Maria”
- “Leva um livro à Maria!” — “Carry a book to Maria!”
How levar is used
The first thing to know about levar is its core meaning: to carry. It means to carry and to take something somewhere, and it is completely regular: levo, levas, leva, levamos, levais, levam. Its pretérito perfeito is levei, levaste, levou, and its participle is levado. It also means to take time, as in how long something takes. Do not confuse it with trazer, which means to bring something towards the speaker. 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 levar keeps. The present eu form is levo, 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 levado, 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 levar does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need levo, never levar. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho levado, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle levado is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.
Levar in context
Eu levo um livro à Maria todos os dias. Tu levas um livro à Maria todos os dias. Ele leva um livro à Maria todos os dias. Nós levamos um livro à Maria todos os dias. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of levar is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — levo, levas, leva, levamos — while the meaning stays the same: to carry. Eu levei um livro à Maria ontem. Tu levaste um livro à Maria ontem. Ele levou um livro à Maria ontem. Nós levámos um livro à Maria ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of levar 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 carry — 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 levar um livro à Maria.”
✓ Right: “Eu levo um livro à Maria todos os dias.”
The infinitive levar never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form levo.
2. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Eu levas um livro à Maria.”
✓ Right: “Eu levo um livro à Maria todos os dias.”
levas is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is levo — check the person before you write the form.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Eu levo um livro à Maria ontem.”
✓ Right: “Eu levei um livro à Maria ontem.”
Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito levei here, not the present levo.
4. Mixing up the auxiliary
✗ Wrong: “Eu sou levado um livro à Maria.”
✓ Right: “Eu tenho levado um livro à Maria esta semana.”
levar takes ter in the pretérito perfeito composto. The eu form is tenho levado — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on levar across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.
What is the tu form of levar in the Present indicative (presente)?
- A) levo
- B) levas
- C) leva
- D) levamos
What is the eu form of levar in the Pretérito perfeito composto?
- A) tens levado
- B) tem levado
- C) tenho levado
- D) temos levado
What is the ele/ela form of levar in the Pretérito imperfeito?
- A) levavas
- B) levávamos
- C) leváveis
- D) levava
What is the nós form of levar in the Futuro do presente?
- A) levaremos
- B) levarei
- C) levarás
- D) levará
What is the tu form of levar in the Futuro do pretérito?
- A) levaria
- B) levarias
- C) levaríamos
- D) levaríeis
What is the eu form of levar in the Pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples?
- A) levaras
- B) leváramos
- C) levara
- D) leváreis
What is the nós form of levar in the Presente do subjuntivo?
- A) leve
- B) leves
- C) leveis
- D) levemos
What is the gerund of levar?
- A) levando
- B) levado
- C) levar
- D) levo
What is the past participle of levar?
- A) levando
- B) levado
- C) levar
- D) levo
What does levar mean in English?
- A) to ask for
- B) to receive
- C) to carry
- D) to pay
Answer key
- B) levas — the correct form is levas. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) tenho levado — the correct form is tenho levado. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) levava — the correct form is levava. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) levaremos — the correct form is levaremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) levarias — the correct form is levarias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) levara — the correct form is levara. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) levemos — the correct form is levemos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) levando — the correct form is levando. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) levado — the correct form is levado. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) to carry — the correct form is to carry. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
Frequently asked questions
What does levar mean in English?
levar means “to carry”. You use it whenever you talk about to carry in Portuguese, in the present, the past and the future.
Is levar regular or irregular?
levar is regular. levar 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 levar?
The gerund is levando and the past participle is levado. The perfect tenses use ter + levado.
Where can I see the full conjugation of levar?
On the levar conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The levar 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 levar, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- levar conjugation — full tables
- levar in the present tense
- Portuguese present tense guide — the full guide to the present tense in Portuguese.
- Pagar conjugation — another Portuguese verb in this batch.
- Comprar conjugation — another Portuguese verb in this batch.
- Portuguese verbs — the full hub of Portuguese conjugation pages.
- VerbFlow home — all languages, tools and verb lists.
- Verb Quiz — practise levar with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise levar with the interactive tool.
- Verb Conjugator — practise levar with the interactive tool.