Vir Examples, Sentences & Quiz in Portuguese

vir — to come — 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 coming and arriving from somewhere else, and it also appears in expressions for where someone comes from. Its present is irregular — venho, vens, vem, vimos, vindes, vêm — and its pretérito perfeito is vim, vieste, veio, viemos, viestes, vieram. Do not confuse it with ver, which means to see. On this page you will find vir 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 vir conjugation page, and the deep dive into its most practised tense is on the vir pretérito perfeito tense page.

Example sentences with vir

In the present tense

  • “Eu venho a casa todos os dias.” — “I come home”
  • “Tu vens a casa todos os dias.” — “You come home”
  • “Ele vem a casa todos os dias.” — “He comes home”
  • “Nós vimos a casa todos os dias.” — “We come home”
  • “Vós vindes a casa todos os dias.” — “You come home”
  • “Eles vêm a casa todos os dias.” — “They come home”

In the pretérito perfeito

  • “Eu vim a casa ontem.” — “I came home”
  • “Tu vieste a casa ontem.” — “You came home”
  • “Ele veio a casa ontem.” — “He came home”
  • “Nós viemos a casa ontem.” — “We came home”
  • “Vós viestes a casa ontem.” — “You came home”
  • “Eles vieram a casa ontem.” — “They came home”

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 vinha a casa antigamente.” — “I used to come home”
  • “Tu virás a casa amanhã.” — “You will come home”
  • “Ele viria a casa um dia.” — “He would come home”
  • “É importante que nós venhamos a casa.” — “It is important that we come home”
  • “Vem a casa!” — “Come home!”

How vir is used

The first thing to know about vir is its core meaning: to come. It is the verb of coming and arriving from somewhere else, and it also appears in expressions for where someone comes from. Its present is irregular — venho, vens, vem, vimos, vindes, vêm — and its pretérito perfeito is vim, vieste, veio, viemos, viestes, vieram. Do not confuse it with ver, which means to see. 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 vir keeps. The present eu form is venho, 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 vindo, 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 vir does not do. It never appears as a bare infinitive after a subject pronoun — after eu you need venho, never vir. It never takes the wrong auxiliary in the perfect tenses: the pretérito perfeito composto is tenho vindo, built with ter, and the other auxiliary does not belong here. And its participle vindo is given in the masculine singular form in the tables, with agreement depending on the sentence, not on the verb table.

Vir in context

Eu venho a casa todos os dias. Tu vens a casa todos os dias. Ele vem a casa todos os dias. Nós vimos a casa todos os dias. That is a normal part of the routine, and that is why the present of vir is the first form worth learning. Each sentence uses a different person, so read them aloud and notice how the form changes — venho, vens, vem, vimos — while the meaning stays the same: to come. Eu vim a casa ontem. Tu vieste a casa ontem. Ele veio a casa ontem. Nós viemos a casa ontem. That was a normal day, but it is exactly on days like this that the pretérito perfeito of vir 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 come — 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 vir a casa.”

✓ Right: “Eu venho a casa todos os dias.”

The infinitive vir never takes a subject. After eu you need the conjugated present form venho.

2. Using the wrong person

✗ Wrong: “Eu vens a casa.”

✓ Right: “Eu venho a casa todos os dias.”

vens is the tu form, not the eu form. The eu form is venho — check the person before you write the form.

3. Using the present for a finished past action

✗ Wrong: “Eu venho a casa ontem.”

✓ Right: “Eu vim a casa ontem.”

Ontem points to the past, so use the pretérito perfeito vim here, not the present venho.

4. Mixing up the auxiliary

✗ Wrong: “Eu sou vindo a casa.”

✓ Right: “Eu tenho vindo a casa esta semana.”

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

Quiz: test yourself

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

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

    • A) venho
    • B) vens
    • C) vem
    • D) vimos

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

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

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

    • A) vinhas
    • B) vínhamos
    • C) vínheis
    • D) vinha

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

    • A) viremos
    • B) virei
    • C) virás
    • D) virá

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

    • A) viria
    • B) virias
    • C) viríamos
    • D) viríeis

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

    • A) vieras
    • B) viéramos
    • C) viera
    • D) viéreis

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

    • A) venha
    • B) venhas
    • C) venhais
    • D) venhamos

  8. What is the gerund of vir?

    • A) vindo
    • B) vir
    • C) venho
    • D) —

  9. What is the past participle of vir?

    • A) vir
    • B) vindo
    • C) venho
    • D) —

  10. What does vir mean in English?

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

Answer key

  1. B) vens — the correct form is vens. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) tenho vindo — the correct form is tenho vindo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) vinha — the correct form is vinha. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) viremos — the correct form is viremos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) virias — the correct form is virias. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) viera — the correct form is viera. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) venhamos — the correct form is venhamos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) vindo — the correct form is vindo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  9. B) vindo — the correct form is vindo. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  10. C) to come — the correct form is to come. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does vir mean in English?

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

Is vir regular or irregular?

vir is irregular. vir 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, particípio, pretérito perfeito composto, pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto, futuro do presente composto, futuro do pretérito composto, presente do subjuntivo composto, pretérito imperfeito do subjuntivo composto, futuro do subjuntivo composto — learn those forms as a set.

What are the gerund and past participle of vir?

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

Where can I see the full conjugation of vir?

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

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