Comprar Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese

comprar — to buy — 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 buy, and it is completely regular: compro, compras, compra, compramos, comprais, compram. Its pretérito perfeito is comprei, compraste, comprou, and its participle is comprado. It is the verb for buying anything, from a book to a house. On this page you will find comprar 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 comprar conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the comprar present tense page.

Example sentences with comprar

In the present tense

  • “Eu compro um livro todos os dias.” — “I buy a book”
  • “Tu compras um livro todos os dias.” — “You buy a book”
  • “Ele compra um livro todos os dias.” — “He buys a book”
  • “Nós compramos um livro todos os dias.” — “We buy a book”
  • “Vós comprais um livro todos os dias.” — “You buy a book”
  • “Eles compram um livro todos os dias.” — “They buy a book”

In the pretérito perfeito

  • “Eu comprei um livro ontem.” — “I bought a book”
  • “Tu compraste um livro ontem.” — “You bought a book”
  • “Ele comprou um livro ontem.” — “He bought a book”
  • “Nós comprámos um livro ontem.” — “We bought a book”
  • “Vós comprastes um livro ontem.” — “You bought a book”
  • “Eles compraram um livro ontem.” — “They bought a book”

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 comprava um livro antigamente.” — “I used to buy a book”
  • “Tu comprarás um livro amanhã.” — “You will buy a book”
  • “Ele compraria um livro um dia.” — “He would buy a book”
  • “É importante que nós compremos um livro.” — “It is important that we buy a book”
  • “Compra um livro!” — “Buy a book!”

How comprar is used

The first thing to know about comprar is its core meaning: to buy. It means to buy, and it is completely regular: compro, compras, compra, compramos, comprais, compram. Its pretérito perfeito is comprei, compraste, comprou, and its participle is comprado. It is the verb for buying anything, from a book to a house. 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 comprar keeps. The present eu form is compro, 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 comprado, 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 comprar does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need compro, never comprar. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho comprado, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle comprado is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Comprar in context

Eu compro um livro todos os dias. Tu compras um livro todos os dias. Ele compra um livro todos os dias. Nós compramos um livro todos os dias. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of comprar is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — compro, compras, compra, compramos — while the meaning stays the same: to buy. Eu comprei um livro ontem. Tu compraste um livro ontem. Ele comprou um livro ontem. Nós comprámos um livro ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of comprar 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 buy — 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 comprar um livro.”

✓ Right: “Eu compro um livro todos os dias.”

The infinitive comprar never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form compro.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Eu compras um livro.”

✓ Right: “Eu compro um livro todos os dias.”

compras is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is compro — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Eu compro um livro ontem.”

✓ Right: “Eu comprei um livro ontem.”

Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito comprei here, not the present compro.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Eu sou comprado um livro.”

✓ Right: “Eu tenho comprado um livro esta semana.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) compro
    • B) compras
    • C) compra
    • D) compramos

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

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

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

    • A) compravas
    • B) comprávamos
    • C) compráveis
    • D) comprava

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

    • A) compraremos
    • B) comprarei
    • C) comprarás
    • D) comprará

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

    • A) compraria
    • B) comprarias
    • C) compraríamos
    • D) compraríeis

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

    • A) compraras
    • B) compráramos
    • C) comprara
    • D) compráreis

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

    • A) compre
    • B) compres
    • C) compreis
    • D) compremos

  8. What is the gerund of comprar?

    • A) comprando
    • B) comprado
    • C) comprar
    • D) compro

  9. What is the past participle of comprar?

    • A) comprando
    • B) comprado
    • C) comprar
    • D) compro

  10. What does comprar mean in English?

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

Answer key

  1. B) compras — the correct form is compras. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) tenho comprado — the correct form is tenho comprado. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) comprava — the correct form is comprava. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) compraremos — the correct form is compraremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) comprarias — the correct form is comprarias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) comprara — the correct form is comprara. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) compremos — the correct form is compremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) comprando — the correct form is comprando. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) comprado — the correct form is comprado. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to buy — the correct form is to buy. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does comprar mean in English?

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

Is comprar regular or irregular?

comprar is regular. comprar 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 comprar?

The gerund is comprando and the past participle is comprado. The perfect tenses use ter + comprado.

Where can I see the full conjugation of comprar?

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

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