Abrir Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese
abrir — to open — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Portuguese. It is a irregular -ir verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It means to open, and every tense is regular — the only surprise is the past participle, which is aberto, not a regular -ido form, so learn it as a pair with the infinitive: abrir, aberto. Its present is abro, abres, abre, and its pretérito perfeito is abri, abriste, abriu. It is the verb for opening doors, books, shops and conversations. On this page you will find abrir 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 abrir conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the abrir pretérito perfeito tense page.
Example sentences with abrir
In the present tense
- “Eu abro a porta todos os dias.” — “I open the door”
- “Tu abres a porta todos os dias.” — “You open the door”
- “Ele abre a porta todos os dias.” — “He opens the door”
- “Nós abrimos a porta todos os dias.” — “We open the door”
- “Vós abris a porta todos os dias.” — “You open the door”
- “Eles abrem a porta todos os dias.” — “They open the door”
In the pretérito perfeito
- “Eu abri a porta ontem.” — “I opened the door”
- “Tu abriste a porta ontem.” — “You opened the door”
- “Ele abriu a porta ontem.” — “He opened the door”
- “Nós abrimos a porta ontem.” — “We opened the door”
- “Vós abristes a porta ontem.” — “You opened the door”
- “Eles abriram a porta ontem.” — “They opened the door”
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 abria a porta antigamente.” — “I used to open the door”
- “Tu abrirás a porta amanhã.” — “You will open the door”
- “Ele abriria a porta um dia.” — “He would open the door”
- “É importante que nós abramos a porta.” — “It is important that we open the door”
- “Abre a porta!” — “Open the door!”
How abrir is used
The first thing to know about abrir is its core meaning: to open. It means to open, and every tense is regular — the only surprise is the past participle, which is aberto, not a regular -ido form, so learn it as a pair with the infinitive: abrir, aberto. Its present is abro, abres, abre, and its pretérito perfeito is abri, abriste, abriu. It is the verb for opening doors, books, shops and conversations. 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 abrir keeps. The present eu form is abro, 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 aberto, 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 abrir does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need abro, never abrir. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho aberto, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle aberto is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.
Abrir in context
Eu abro a porta todos os dias. Tu abres a porta todos os dias. Ele abre a porta todos os dias. Nós abrimos a porta todos os dias. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of abrir is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — abro, abres, abre, abrimos — while the meaning stays the same: to open. Eu abri a porta ontem. Tu abriste a porta ontem. Ele abriu a porta ontem. Nós abrimos a porta ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of abrir 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 open — 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 abrir a porta.”
✓ Right: “Eu abro a porta todos os dias.”
The infinitive abrir never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form abro.
2. Using the wrong person
✗ Wrong: “Eu abres a porta.”
✓ Right: “Eu abro a porta todos os dias.”
abres is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is abro — check the person before you write the form.
3. Using the present for a finished past action
✗ Wrong: “Eu abro a porta ontem.”
✓ Right: “Eu abri a porta ontem.”
Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito abri here, not the present abro.
4. Mixing up the auxiliary
✗ Wrong: “Eu sou aberto a porta.”
✓ Right: “Eu tenho aberto a porta esta semana.”
abrir takes ter in the pretérito perfeito composto. The eu form is tenho aberto — the other auxiliary never belongs with this verb.
Quiz: test yourself
Ten questions on abrir across the tenses. Answers with explanations follow each question.
What is the tu form of abrir in the Present indicative (presente)?
- A) abro
- B) abres
- C) abre
- D) abrimos
What is the eu form of abrir in the Pretérito perfeito composto?
- A) tens aberto
- B) tem aberto
- C) tenho aberto
- D) temos aberto
What is the ele/ela form of abrir in the Pretérito imperfeito?
- A) abrias
- B) abríamos
- C) abríeis
- D) abria
What is the nós form of abrir in the Futuro do presente?
- A) abriremos
- B) abrirei
- C) abrirás
- D) abrirá
What is the tu form of abrir in the Futuro do pretérito?
- A) abriria
- B) abririas
- C) abriríamos
- D) abriríeis
What is the eu form of abrir in the Pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples?
- A) abriras
- B) abríramos
- C) abrira
- D) abríreis
What is the nós form of abrir in the Presente do subjuntivo?
- A) abra
- B) abras
- C) abrais
- D) abramos
What is the gerund of abrir?
- A) abrindo
- B) aberto
- C) abrir
- D) abro
What is the past participle of abrir?
- A) abrindo
- B) aberto
- C) abrir
- D) abro
What does abrir mean in English?
- A) to ask for
- B) to receive
- C) to open
- D) to pay
Answer key
- B) abres — the correct form is abres. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) tenho aberto — the correct form is tenho aberto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) abria — the correct form is abria. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) abriremos — the correct form is abriremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) abririas — the correct form is abririas. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) abrira — the correct form is abrira. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- D) abramos — the correct form is abramos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- A) abrindo — the correct form is abrindo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- B) aberto — the correct form is aberto. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
- C) to open — the correct form is to open. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
Frequently asked questions
What does abrir mean in English?
abrir means “to open”. You use it whenever you talk about to open in Portuguese, in the present, the past and the future.
Is abrir regular or irregular?
abrir is irregular. abrir is irregular in particípio, pretérito perfeito composto, pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto, futuro do presente composto, futuro do pretérito composto, presente do subjuntivo composto, pretérito imperfeito do subjuntivo composto, futuro do subjuntivo composto — learn those forms as a set.
What are the gerund and past participle of abrir?
The gerund is abrindo and the past participle is aberto. The perfect tenses use ter + aberto.
Where can I see the full conjugation of abrir?
On the abrir conjugation page — every tense, every person, with tables. The abrir 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 abrir, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.
Related pages
- abrir conjugation — full tables
- abrir in the pretérito perfeito tense
- Portuguese pretérito perfeito tense guide — the full guide to the pretérito perfeito tense in Portuguese.
- Portuguese irregular verbs — every common irregular Portuguese verb, grouped by pattern.
- Pedir conjugation — another Portuguese verb in this batch.
- Dirigir 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 abrir with the interactive tool.
- Conjugation Practice — practise abrir with the interactive tool.
- Verb Conjugator — practise abrir with the interactive tool.