Sentir Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese

sentir — to feel — 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 feel, and it is a stem-change verb: the present eu form is sinto, with i, while the tu form keeps e — sentes, sente, sentimos, sentis, sentem. Its pretérito perfeito is senti, sentiste, sentiu, and its participle is sentido. It covers feeling cold, feeling happy and feeling pain. On this page you will find sentir 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 sentir conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the sentir pretérito perfeito tense page.

Example sentences with sentir

In the present tense

  • “Eu sinto frio todos os dias.” — “I feel the cold”
  • “Tu sentes frio todos os dias.” — “You feel the cold”
  • “Ele sente frio todos os dias.” — “He feels the cold”
  • “Nós sentimos frio todos os dias.” — “We feel the cold”
  • “Vós sentis frio todos os dias.” — “You feel the cold”
  • “Eles sentem frio todos os dias.” — “They feel the cold”

In the pretérito perfeito

  • “Eu senti frio ontem.” — “I felt the cold”
  • “Tu sentiste frio ontem.” — “You felt the cold”
  • “Ele sentiu frio ontem.” — “He felt the cold”
  • “Nós sentimos frio ontem.” — “We felt the cold”
  • “Vós sentistes frio ontem.” — “You felt the cold”
  • “Eles sentiram frio ontem.” — “They felt the cold”

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 sentia frio antigamente.” — “I used to feel the cold”
  • “Tu sentirás frio amanhã.” — “You will feel the cold”
  • “Ele sentiria frio um dia.” — “He would feel the cold”
  • “É importante que nós sintamos frio.” — “It is important that we feel the cold”
  • “Sente frio!” — “Feel the cold!”

How sentir is used

The first thing to know about sentir is its core meaning: to feel. It means to feel, and it is a stem-change verb: the present eu form is sinto, with i, while the tu form keeps e — sentes, sente, sentimos, sentis, sentem. Its pretérito perfeito is senti, sentiste, sentiu, and its participle is sentido. It covers feeling cold, feeling happy and feeling pain. 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 sentir keeps. The present eu form is sinto, 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 sentido, 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 sentir does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need sinto, never sentir. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho sentido, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle sentido is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Sentir in context

Eu sinto frio todos os dias. Tu sentes frio todos os dias. Ele sente frio todos os dias. Nós sentimos frio todos os dias. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of sentir is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — sinto, sentes, sente, sentimos — while the meaning stays the same: to feel. Eu senti frio ontem. Tu sentiste frio ontem. Ele sentiu frio ontem. Nós sentimos frio ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of sentir 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 feel — 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 sentir frio.”

✓ Right: “Eu sinto frio todos os dias.”

The infinitive sentir never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form sinto.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Eu sentes frio.”

✓ Right: “Eu sinto frio todos os dias.”

sentes is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is sinto — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Eu sinto frio ontem.”

✓ Right: “Eu senti frio ontem.”

Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito senti here, not the present sinto.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Eu sou sentido frio.”

✓ Right: “Eu tenho sentido frio esta semana.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) sinto
    • B) sentes
    • C) sente
    • D) sentimos

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

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

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

    • A) sentias
    • B) sentíamos
    • C) sentíeis
    • D) sentia

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

    • A) sentiremos
    • B) sentirei
    • C) sentirás
    • D) sentirá

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

    • A) sentiria
    • B) sentirias
    • C) sentiríamos
    • D) sentiríeis

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

    • A) sentiras
    • B) sentíramos
    • C) sentira
    • D) sentíreis

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

    • A) sinta
    • B) sintas
    • C) sintais
    • D) sintamos

  8. What is the gerund of sentir?

    • A) sentindo
    • B) sentido
    • C) sentir
    • D) sinto

  9. What is the past participle of sentir?

    • A) sentindo
    • B) sentido
    • C) sentir
    • D) sinto

  10. What does sentir mean in English?

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

Answer key

  1. B) sentes — the correct form is sentes. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) tenho sentido — the correct form is tenho sentido. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) sentia — the correct form is sentia. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) sentiremos — the correct form is sentiremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) sentirias — the correct form is sentirias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) sentira — the correct form is sentira. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) sintamos — the correct form is sintamos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) sentindo — the correct form is sentindo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) sentido — the correct form is sentido. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to feel — the correct form is to feel. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does sentir mean in English?

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

Is sentir regular or irregular?

sentir is regular. sentir 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 sentir?

The gerund is sentindo and the past participle is sentido. The perfect tenses use ter + sentido.

Where can I see the full conjugation of sentir?

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

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