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BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE VERB

prevenir

to prevent

  • Irregular -ir verb
  • Gerund: prevenindo
  • Past participle: prevenido

Conjugation

Tap any form to hear it. The part that changes is in colour.

Present

Presente · now, habits and facts

  1. eu I prevent
  2. você, ele, ela, a gente you prevent
  3. nós we prevent
  4. vocês, eles, elas you all prevent

Past

Pretérito Perfeito · finished actions

  1. eu I prevented
  2. você, ele, ela, a gente you prevented
  3. nós we prevented
  4. vocês, eles, elas you all prevented

Future

Futuro com ir · plans: “going to”

  1. eu I am going to prevent
  2. você, ele, ela, a gente you are going to prevent
  3. nós we are going to prevent
  4. vocês, eles, elas you all are going to prevent

Imperfect

Pretérito Imperfeito · “used to” and “was …ing”

  1. eu I used to prevent
  2. você, ele, ela, a gente you used to prevent
  3. nós we used to prevent
  4. vocês, eles, elas you all used to prevent

Conditional

Futuro do Pretérito · “would”

  1. eu I would prevent
  2. você, ele, ela, a gente you would prevent
  3. nós we would prevent
  4. vocês, eles, elas you all would prevent

Present subjunctive

Presente do Subjuntivo · wishes, doubts, “que …”

  1. eu (that) I prevent
  2. você, ele, ela, a gente (that) you prevent
  3. nós (that) we prevent
  4. vocês, eles, elas (that) you all prevent

Past subjunctive

Imperfeito do Subjuntivo · “if I were”, “se …”

  1. eu (if) I prevented
  2. você, ele, ela, a gente (if) you prevented
  3. nós (if) we prevented
  4. vocês, eles, elas (if) you all prevented

Future subjunctive

Futuro do Subjuntivo · “when” and “if” about the future

  1. eu (when) I prevent
  2. você, ele, ela, a gente (when) you prevent
  3. nós (when) we prevent
  4. vocês, eles, elas (when) you all prevent

Imperative

Imperativo · requests and orders

  1. você prevent!
  2. vocês prevent! (all of you)

How to use prevenir

One sentence for each tense, the way people say it.

  1. Present

    A vacina previne várias doenças graves.

    The vaccine prevents several serious diseases.

  2. Past

    O médico me preveniu sobre os efeitos do remédio.

    The doctor warned me about the medicine's side effects.

  3. Future

    Beber bastante água vai prevenir a dor de cabeça.

    Drinking plenty of water is going to prevent the headache.

  4. Imperfect

    Minha avó prevenia gripe com chá de limão.

    My grandmother used to prevent colds with lemon tea.

  5. Conditional

    Um cinto de segurança preveniria muitas mortes.

    A seat belt would prevent many deaths.

  6. Present subjunctive

    É melhor que a gente se previna e leve guarda-chuva.

    It's better that we play it safe and bring an umbrella.

  7. Past subjunctive

    Se você se prevenisse, não pegaria tanto resfriado.

    If you took precautions, you wouldn't catch so many colds.

  8. Future subjunctive

    Se a gente prevenir agora, evita problema depois.

    If we prevent it now, we avoid trouble later.

  9. Imperative

    Se previna: use protetor solar todo dia.

    Protect yourself: wear sunscreen every day.

Good to know

  • "Prevenir" takes an "i" in the present: eu previno, ele previne. It is not a form of "vir".
  • "Se prevenir" is to take precautions: "melhor prevenir do que remediar" is better safe than sorry.

Where you hear prevenir

The lessons that teach a form of it, and how they say it.

Brazilian Portuguese · Intermediate Level 2

  • Beber água previne muita coisa. Drinking water prevents a lot.
  • O remédio preveniu o problema. The medicine prevented the problem.
  • Isso vai prevenir uma dor de cabeça. That's going to prevent a headache.
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Plan B

Intermediate Level 2 · Melhor prevenir do que remediar.

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Verbs like this one

The same pattern, on other verbs: irregular -ir verb.