The Portuguese verb chegar means "to arrive". Below are its 7 tenses as tables, with the irregular forms marked, 4 example sentences and answers to 3 common questions. Press play next to a present tense form or an example to hear it.
The present tense of chegar is eu chego, tu chegas, ele/ela chega, nós chegamos, vós chegais, eles/elas chegam. It counts as a regular -ar verb, though 10 of its forms differ from the model pattern and are marked in the tables. The tables below cover 7 tenses, from the present to the imperative.
Forms in orange break the regular -ar pattern.
| eu | chego | |
|---|---|---|
| tu | chegas | |
| ele/ | chega | |
| nós | chegamos | |
| vós | chegais | |
| eles/ | chegam |
| eu | cheguei (irregular) |
|---|---|
| tu | chegaste |
| ele/ | chegou |
| nós | chegámos |
| vós | chegastes |
| eles/ | chegaram |
| eu | chegava |
|---|---|
| tu | chegavas |
| ele/ | chegava |
| nós | chegávamos |
| vós | chegáveis |
| eles/ | chegavam |
| eu | chegarei |
|---|---|
| tu | chegarás |
| ele/ | chegará |
| nós | chegaremos |
| vós | chegareis |
| eles/ | chegarão |
| eu | chegaria |
|---|---|
| tu | chegarias |
| ele/ | chegaria |
| nós | chegaríamos |
| vós | chegaríeis |
| eles/ | chegariam |
| que eu | chegue (irregular) |
|---|---|
| que tu | chegues (irregular) |
| que ele/ | chegue (irregular) |
| que nós | cheguemos (irregular) |
| que vós | chegueis (irregular) |
| que eles/ | cheguem (irregular) |
| tu | chega |
|---|---|
| você | chegue (irregular) |
| nós | cheguemos (irregular) |
| vós | chegai |
| vocês | cheguem (irregular) |
Chegar is regular, with spelling changes only. The spelling changes add u before e in cheguei and in the present subjunctive forms, including chegue and cheguem. The imperative você, nós and vocês forms also use this spelling.
Lingo7 is an app for reading books in Portuguese with a translation under every sentence and audio, so the forms in these tables come back in context.
Yes, chegar is regular, with spelling changes only. Its forms follow the regular ar model.
The u is added before e in the present subjunctive and in the imperative você, nós and vocês forms. Examples include chegue, cheguemos and cheguem.
The past participle is chegado and the gerund is chegando.