Responder Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese

responder — to answer — is one of the verbs you will use every day in Portuguese. It is a regular -er verb, and it comes up in conversation, at work and at home. It means to answer, and it is completely regular: respondo, respondes, responde, respondemos, respondeis, respondem. Its pretérito perfeito is respondi, respondeste, respondeu, and its participle is respondido. It takes the question as its object, with a: respondo à pergunta. On this page you will find responder 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 responder conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the responder present tense page.

Example sentences with responder

In the present tense

  • “Eu respondo à pergunta todos os dias.” — “I answer the question”
  • “Tu respondes à pergunta todos os dias.” — “You answer the question”
  • “Ele responde à pergunta todos os dias.” — “He answers the question”
  • “Nós respondemos à pergunta todos os dias.” — “We answer the question”
  • “Vós respondeis à pergunta todos os dias.” — “You answer the question”
  • “Eles respondem à pergunta todos os dias.” — “They answer the question”

In the pretérito perfeito

  • “Eu respondi à pergunta ontem.” — “I answered the question”
  • “Tu respondeste à pergunta ontem.” — “You answered the question”
  • “Ele respondeu à pergunta ontem.” — “He answered the question”
  • “Nós respondemos à pergunta ontem.” — “We answered the question”
  • “Vós respondestes à pergunta ontem.” — “You answered the question”
  • “Eles responderam à pergunta ontem.” — “They answered the question”

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 respondia à pergunta antigamente.” — “I used to answer the question”
  • “Tu responderás à pergunta amanhã.” — “You will answer the question”
  • “Ele responderia à pergunta um dia.” — “He would answer the question”
  • “É importante que nós respondamos à pergunta.” — “It is important that we answer the question”
  • “Responde à pergunta!” — “Answer the question!”

How responder is used

The first thing to know about responder is its core meaning: to answer. It means to answer, and it is completely regular: respondo, respondes, responde, respondemos, respondeis, respondem. Its pretérito perfeito is respondi, respondeste, respondeu, and its participle is respondido. It takes the question as its object, with a: respondo à pergunta. 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 responder keeps. The present eu form is respondo, 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 respondido, 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 responder does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need respondo, never responder. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho respondido, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle respondido is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Responder in context

Eu respondo à pergunta todos os dias. Tu respondes à pergunta todos os dias. Ele responde à pergunta todos os dias. Nós respondemos à pergunta todos os dias. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of responder is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — respondo, respondes, responde, respondemos — while the meaning stays the same: to answer. Eu respondi à pergunta ontem. Tu respondeste à pergunta ontem. Ele respondeu à pergunta ontem. Nós respondemos à pergunta ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of responder 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 answer — 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 responder à pergunta.”

✓ Right: “Eu respondo à pergunta todos os dias.”

The infinitive responder never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form respondo.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Eu respondes à pergunta.”

✓ Right: “Eu respondo à pergunta todos os dias.”

respondes is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is respondo — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Eu respondo à pergunta ontem.”

✓ Right: “Eu respondi à pergunta ontem.”

Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito respondi here, not the present respondo.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Eu sou respondido à pergunta.”

✓ Right: “Eu tenho respondido à pergunta esta semana.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) respondo
    • B) respondes
    • C) responde
    • D) respondemos

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

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

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

    • A) respondias
    • B) respondíamos
    • C) respondíeis
    • D) respondia

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

    • A) responderemos
    • B) responderei
    • C) responderás
    • D) responderá

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

    • A) responderia
    • B) responderias
    • C) responderíamos
    • D) responderíeis

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

    • A) responderas
    • B) respondéramos
    • C) respondera
    • D) respondéreis

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

    • A) responda
    • B) respondas
    • C) respondais
    • D) respondamos

  8. What is the gerund of responder?

    • A) respondendo
    • B) respondido
    • C) responder
    • D) respondo

  9. What is the past participle of responder?

    • A) respondendo
    • B) respondido
    • C) responder
    • D) respondo

  10. What does responder mean in English?

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

Answer key

  1. B) respondes — the correct form is respondes. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) tenho respondido — the correct form is tenho respondido. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) respondia — the correct form is respondia. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) responderemos — the correct form is responderemos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) responderias — the correct form is responderias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) respondera — the correct form is respondera. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) respondamos — the correct form is respondamos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) respondendo — the correct form is respondendo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) respondido — the correct form is respondido. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to answer — the correct form is to answer. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does responder mean in English?

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

Is responder regular or irregular?

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

What are the gerund and past participle of responder?

The gerund is respondendo and the past participle is respondido. The perfect tenses use ter + respondido.

Where can I see the full conjugation of responder?

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

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