Acordar Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese

acordar — to wake up — 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 wake up, and it is completely regular: acordo, acordas, acorda, acordamos, acordais, acordam. Do not confuse it with lembrar, which means to remember, or with levantar, which means to get up after waking. On this page you will find acordar 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 acordar conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the acordar present tense page.

Example sentences with acordar

In the present tense

  • “Eu acordo cedo todos os dias.” — “I wake up early”
  • “Tu acordas cedo todos os dias.” — “You wake up early”
  • “Ele acorda cedo todos os dias.” — “He wakes up early”
  • “Nós acordamos cedo todos os dias.” — “We wake up early”
  • “Vós acordais cedo todos os dias.” — “You wake up early”
  • “Eles acordam cedo todos os dias.” — “They wake up early”

In the pretérito perfeito

  • “Eu acordei cedo ontem.” — “I woke up early”
  • “Tu acordaste cedo ontem.” — “You woke up early”
  • “Ele acordou cedo ontem.” — “He woke up early”
  • “Nós acordámos cedo ontem.” — “We woke up early”
  • “Vós acordastes cedo ontem.” — “You woke up early”
  • “Eles acordaram cedo ontem.” — “They woke up early”

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 acordava cedo antigamente.” — “I used to wake up early”
  • “Tu acordarás cedo amanhã.” — “You will wake up early”
  • “Ele acordaria cedo um dia.” — “He would wake up early”
  • “É importante que nós acordemos cedo.” — “It is important that we wake up early”
  • “Acorda cedo!” — “Wake up early!”

How acordar is used

The first thing to know about acordar is its core meaning: to wake up. It means to wake up, and it is completely regular: acordo, acordas, acorda, acordamos, acordais, acordam. Do not confuse it with lembrar, which means to remember, or with levantar, which means to get up after waking. 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 acordar keeps. The present eu form is acordo, 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 acordado, 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 acordar does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need acordo, never acordar. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho acordado, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle acordado is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Acordar in context

Eu acordo cedo todos os dias. Tu acordas cedo todos os dias. Ele acorda cedo todos os dias. Nós acordamos cedo todos os dias. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of acordar is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — acordo, acordas, acorda, acordamos — while the meaning stays the same: to wake up. Eu acordei cedo ontem. Tu acordaste cedo ontem. Ele acordou cedo ontem. Nós acordámos cedo ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of acordar 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 wake up — 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 acordar cedo.”

✓ Right: “Eu acordo cedo todos os dias.”

The infinitive acordar never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form acordo.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Eu acordas cedo.”

✓ Right: “Eu acordo cedo todos os dias.”

acordas is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is acordo — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Eu acordo cedo ontem.”

✓ Right: “Eu acordei cedo ontem.”

Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito acordei here, not the present acordo.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Eu sou acordado cedo.”

✓ Right: “Eu tenho acordado cedo esta semana.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) acordo
    • B) acordas
    • C) acorda
    • D) acordamos

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

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

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

    • A) acordavas
    • B) acordávamos
    • C) acordáveis
    • D) acordava

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

    • A) acordaremos
    • B) acordarei
    • C) acordarás
    • D) acordará

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

    • A) acordaria
    • B) acordarias
    • C) acordaríamos
    • D) acordaríeis

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

    • A) acordaras
    • B) acordáramos
    • C) acordara
    • D) acordáreis

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

    • A) acorde
    • B) acordes
    • C) acordeis
    • D) acordemos

  8. What is the gerund of acordar?

    • A) acordando
    • B) acordado
    • C) acordar
    • D) acordo

  9. What is the past participle of acordar?

    • A) acordando
    • B) acordado
    • C) acordar
    • D) acordo

  10. What does acordar mean in English?

  • A) to be
  • B) to have
  • C) to wake up
  • D) —

Answer key

  1. B) acordas — the correct form is acordas. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) tenho acordado — the correct form is tenho acordado. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) acordava — the correct form is acordava. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) acordaremos — the correct form is acordaremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) acordarias — the correct form is acordarias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) acordara — the correct form is acordara. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) acordemos — the correct form is acordemos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) acordando — the correct form is acordando. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) acordado — the correct form is acordado. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to wake up — the correct form is to wake up. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does acordar mean in English?

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

Is acordar regular or irregular?

acordar is regular. acordar 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 acordar?

The gerund is acordando and the past participle is acordado. The perfect tenses use ter + acordado.

Where can I see the full conjugation of acordar?

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

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