Dirigir Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese

dirigir — to drive, to direct — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Portuguese. It is a regular -ir verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It means to drive and to direct, and it is regular apart from its spelling: the stem-final g becomes j before a and o, so the eu form is dirijo and the preterite is dirigi. Its present is dirijo, diriges, dirige, and its participle is dirigido. It is the verb for driving a car and for directing a company or a film. On this page you will find dirigir 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 dirigir conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the dirigir pretérito perfeito tense page.

Example sentences with dirigir

In the present tense

  • “Eu dirijo um carro todos os dias.” — “I drive a car”
  • “Tu diriges um carro todos os dias.” — “You drive a car”
  • “Ele dirige um carro todos os dias.” — “He drives a car”
  • “Nós dirigimos um carro todos os dias.” — “We drive a car”
  • “Vós dirigis um carro todos os dias.” — “You drive a car”
  • “Eles dirigem um carro todos os dias.” — “They drive a car”

In the pretérito perfeito

  • “Eu dirigi um carro ontem.” — “I drove a car”
  • “Tu dirigiste um carro ontem.” — “You drove a car”
  • “Ele dirigiu um carro ontem.” — “He drove a car”
  • “Nós dirigimos um carro ontem.” — “We drove a car”
  • “Vós dirigistes um carro ontem.” — “You drove a car”
  • “Eles dirigiram um carro ontem.” — “They drove a car”

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 dirigia um carro antigamente.” — “I used to drive a car”
  • “Tu dirigirás um carro amanhã.” — “You will drive a car”
  • “Ele dirigiria um carro um dia.” — “He would drive a car”
  • “É importante que nós dirijamos um carro.” — “It is important that we drive a car”
  • “Dirige um carro!” — “Drive a car!”

How dirigir is used

The first thing to know about dirigir is its core meaning: to drive, to direct. It means to drive and to direct, and it is regular apart from its spelling: the stem-final g becomes j before a and o, so the eu form is dirijo and the preterite is dirigi. Its present is dirijo, diriges, dirige, and its participle is dirigido. It is the verb for driving a car and for directing a company or a film. 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 dirigir keeps. The present eu form is dirijo, 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 dirigido, 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 dirigir does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need dirijo, never dirigir. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho dirigido, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle dirigido is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Dirigir in context

Eu dirijo um carro todos os dias. Tu diriges um carro todos os dias. Ele dirige um carro todos os dias. Nós dirigimos um carro todos os dias. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of dirigir is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — dirijo, diriges, dirige, dirigimos — while the meaning stays the same: to drive, to direct. Eu dirigi um carro ontem. Tu dirigiste um carro ontem. Ele dirigiu um carro ontem. Nós dirigimos um carro ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of dirigir 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 drive, to direct — 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 dirigir um carro.”

✓ Right: “Eu dirijo um carro todos os dias.”

The infinitive dirigir never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form dirijo.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Eu diriges um carro.”

✓ Right: “Eu dirijo um carro todos os dias.”

diriges is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is dirijo — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Eu dirijo um carro ontem.”

✓ Right: “Eu dirigi um carro ontem.”

Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito dirigi here, not the present dirijo.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Eu sou dirigido um carro.”

✓ Right: “Eu tenho dirigido um carro esta semana.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) dirijo
    • B) diriges
    • C) dirige
    • D) dirigimos

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

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

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

    • A) dirigias
    • B) dirigíamos
    • C) dirigíeis
    • D) dirigia

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

    • A) dirigiremos
    • B) dirigirei
    • C) dirigirás
    • D) dirigirá

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

    • A) dirigiria
    • B) dirigirias
    • C) dirigiríamos
    • D) dirigiríeis

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

    • A) dirigiras
    • B) dirigíramos
    • C) dirigira
    • D) dirigíreis

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

    • A) dirija
    • B) dirijas
    • C) dirijais
    • D) dirijamos

  8. What is the gerund of dirigir?

    • A) dirigindo
    • B) dirigido
    • C) dirigir
    • D) dirijo

  9. What is the past participle of dirigir?

    • A) dirigindo
    • B) dirigido
    • C) dirigir
    • D) dirijo

  10. What does dirigir mean in English?

  • A) to ask for
  • B) to receive
  • C) to drive, to direct
  • D) to pay

Answer key

  1. B) diriges — the correct form is diriges. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) tenho dirigido — the correct form is tenho dirigido. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) dirigia — the correct form is dirigia. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) dirigiremos — the correct form is dirigiremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) dirigirias — the correct form is dirigirias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) dirigira — the correct form is dirigira. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) dirijamos — the correct form is dirijamos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) dirigindo — the correct form is dirigindo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) dirigido — the correct form is dirigido. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to drive, to direct — the correct form is to drive, to direct. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does dirigir mean in English?

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

Is dirigir regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of dirigir?

The gerund is dirigindo and the past participle is dirigido. The perfect tenses use ter + dirigido.

Where can I see the full conjugation of dirigir?

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

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