Ir Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese

ir — to go — 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 is the verb of movement, and it also appears in expressions for how things are going and in the near future with the infinitive. It shares its pretérito perfeito — fui, foste, foi, fomos, fostes, foram — with ser, so context tells you whether fui means “I went” or “I was”. Its present is irregular in every person except nós and vós: vou, vais, vai, vamos, ides, vão. On this page you will find ir 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 ir conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the ir pretérito perfeito tense page.

Example sentences with ir

In the present tense

  • “Eu vou à escola todos os dias.” — “I go to school”
  • “Tu vais à escola todos os dias.” — “You go to school”
  • “Ele vai à escola todos os dias.” — “He goes to school”
  • “Nós vamos à escola todos os dias.” — “We go to school”
  • “Vós ides à escola todos os dias.” — “You go to school”
  • “Eles vão à escola todos os dias.” — “They go to school”

In the pretérito perfeito

  • “Eu fui à escola ontem.” — “I went to school”
  • “Tu foste à escola ontem.” — “You went to school”
  • “Ele foi à escola ontem.” — “He went to school”
  • “Nós fomos à escola ontem.” — “We went to school”
  • “Vós fostes à escola ontem.” — “You went to school”
  • “Eles foram à escola ontem.” — “They went to school”

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 ia à escola antigamente.” — “I used to go to school”
  • “Tu irás à escola amanhã.” — “You will go to school”
  • “Ele iria à escola um dia.” — “He would go to school”
  • “É importante que nós vamos à escola.” — “It is important that we go to school”
  • “Vai à escola!” — “Go to school!”

How ir is used

The first thing to know about ir is its core meaning: to go. It is the verb of movement, and it also appears in expressions for how things are going and in the near future with the infinitive. It shares its pretérito perfeito — fui, foste, foi, fomos, fostes, foram — with ser, so context tells you whether fui means “I went” or “I was”. Its present is irregular in every person except nós and vós: vou, vais, vai, vamos, ides, vão. 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 ir keeps. The present eu form is vou, 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 ido, 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 ir does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need vou, never ir. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho ido, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle ido is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Ir in context

Eu vou à escola todos os dias. Tu vais à escola todos os dias. Ele vai à escola todos os dias. Nós vamos à escola todos os dias. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of ir is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — vou, vais, vai, vamos — while the meaning stays the same: to go. Eu fui à escola ontem. Tu foste à escola ontem. Ele foi à escola ontem. Nós fomos à escola ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of ir 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 go — 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 ir à escola.”

✓ Right: “Eu vou à escola todos os dias.”

The infinitive ir never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form vou.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Eu vais à escola.”

✓ Right: “Eu vou à escola todos os dias.”

vais is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is vou — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Eu vou à escola ontem.”

✓ Right: “Eu fui à escola ontem.”

Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito fui here, not the present vou.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Eu sou ido à escola.”

✓ Right: “Eu tenho ido à escola esta semana.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) vou
    • B) vais
    • C) vai
    • D) vamos

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

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

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

    • A) ias
    • B) íamos
    • C) íeis
    • D) ia

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

    • A) iremos
    • B) irei
    • C) irás
    • D) irá

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

    • A) iria
    • B) irias
    • C) iríamos
    • D) iríeis

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

    • A) foras
    • B) fôramos
    • C) fora
    • D) fôreis

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

    • A) vá
    • B) vás
    • C) vades
    • D) vamos

  8. What is the gerund of ir?

    • A) indo
    • B) ido
    • C) ir
    • D) vou

  9. What is the past participle of ir?

    • A) indo
    • B) ido
    • C) ir
    • D) vou

  10. What does ir mean in English?

  • A) to be
  • B) to have
  • C) to go
  • D) —

Answer key

  1. B) vais — the correct form is vais. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) tenho ido — the correct form is tenho ido. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) ia — the correct form is ia. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) iremos — the correct form is iremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) irias — the correct form is irias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) fora — the correct form is fora. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) vamos — the correct form is vamos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) indo — the correct form is indo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) ido — the correct form is ido. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to go — the correct form is to go. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does ir mean in English?

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

Is ir regular or irregular?

ir is irregular. ir is irregular in presente, pretérito perfeito, pretérito imperfeito, pretérito mais-que-perfeito simples, presente do subjuntivo, pretérito imperfeito do subjuntivo, futuro do subjuntivo, imperativo afirmativo, imperativo negativo — learn those forms as a set.

What are the gerund and past participle of ir?

The gerund is indo and the past participle is ido. The perfect tenses use ter + ido.

Where can I see the full conjugation of ir?

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

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