Ir (to go) in Portuguese

In Brief

Portuguese ir means “to go,” but its present-tense forms are highly irregular: vou, vais, vai, vamos, ides, vão. Use it for movement—Vou ao trabalho (“I’m going to work”)—and before an infinitive (the basic verb form) to talk about a plan or likely future event: Vou comer (“I’m going to eat”).

Overview

Ir is one of the most useful Portuguese verbs. You need it to say where someone goes, ask where someone is going, make suggestions with vamos, and talk about what will happen next. It is introduced at A1 because it appears constantly in everyday questions, directions, travel, work, and social plans.

The verb is irregular: its forms do not follow the endings of regular -ir verbs, so it is best learned as one complete set. Portuguese often leaves out the subject pronoun—the word naming who performs the action—because the verb form usually supplies that information. Thus Vou agora naturally means “I’m going now”; eu is not required.

English and Portuguese overlap in expressions such as “I’m going to eat,” but not in every detail. Portuguese uses a conjugated form of ir directly before another verb: vou comer. For physical destinations, it commonly adds a or para, and a combines with definite articles to produce forms such as ao and à.

How It Works

Present-tense forms

The present tense describes what happens now, what happens regularly, or—when context makes it clear—a scheduled or intended future action.

Person	Subject pronoun	Form of ir	Basic meaning
first-person singular	eu	vou	I go / I am going
second-person singular	tu	vais	you go / you are going
third-person singular	ele, ela, você	vai	he, she, you go / is going
first-person plural	nós	vamos	we go / we are going
second-person plural	vós	ides	you all go / are going
third-person plural	eles, elas, vocês	vão	they / you all go / are going

Two practical points make this table easier to use:

• Você takes the same verb form as ele/ela: você vai. Vocês takes the same form as eles/elas: vocês vão.
• Vós ides is uncommon in ordinary modern conversation. In Portugal, everyday plural “you” is normally vocês vão; in Brazil, vocês vão is standard. You should recognize ides, but most beginners will rarely need to say it.

The written accent in vão matters. It distinguishes the plural form from singular vai and represents a nasal vowel sound.

Subject pronouns are often omitted

Because vou, vais, and vamos clearly identify the subject, Portuguese commonly says:

• Vou ao mercado. — “I’m going to the market.”
• Vais connosco? — “Are you coming with us?” (common European Portuguese spelling)
• Vamos amanhã. — “We’re going tomorrow.”

With vai and vão, a noun or pronoun may be useful when the person is not already clear: A Ana vai de comboio (“Ana is going by train”).

Going to a destination: ir a

A basic pattern is:

ir + a + destination

When a comes before a definite article (“the”), the two words contract—they join into one form. These contractions are mandatory in standard Portuguese.

Combination	Contraction	Example	Meaning
a + o	ao	Vou ao banco.	I’m going to the bank.
a + a	à	Vamos à praia.	We’re going to the beach.
a + os	aos	Eles vão aos correios.	They’re going to the post office.
a + as	às	Vou às lojas.	I’m going to the shops.

The article depends on the destination noun: o banco gives ao banco, while a praia gives à praia. The grave accent in à shows the contraction a + a; it is not the acute accent found in a word such as já.

Not every place name takes an article. With many cities, use a alone: Vou a Lisboa. Some place names conventionally include an article, so contraction follows: Vou ao Porto and Vou aos Estados Unidos. Article use with countries and regions must often be learned with the place name.

A and para

Both a and para can introduce a destination, but they do not always feel identical.

• ir a commonly presents a visit or movement to a place: Vou ao supermercado.
• ir para emphasizes direction, destination, or a move toward somewhere: Vou para o escritório. It can also suggest a longer stay or relocation when context supports that reading: Ela vai para Portugal estudar.

Do not treat “temporary = a, permanent = para” as an absolute rule. It is a useful beginner tendency, not a reliable test in every sentence. Regional usage also differs. In informal Brazilian Portuguese, ir em can be heard for destinations, as in vou no mercado, but careful standard usage normally prefers vou ao mercado or vou para o mercado. In European Portuguese, ir a is especially common for ordinary trips.

Some fixed everyday combinations deserve to be learned as chunks. Ir para casa is widespread for “go home.” European Portuguese also uses ir a casa in contexts such as going home or going to someone’s house, with the intended meaning supplied by context.

Transport: de, not a

To say how someone travels, Portuguese normally uses de followed by the means of transport, often without an article:

• Vou de carro. — I’m going by car.
• Vamos de autocarro. — We’re going by bus. (European Portuguese)
• Eles vão de ônibus. — They’re going by bus. (Brazilian Portuguese)
• Ela vai a pé. — She is going on foot.

The destination and transport can appear together: Vou ao trabalho de metro (“I go to work by metro”).

Ir + infinitive: plans and the near future

An infinitive is the basic form of a verb, such as comer (“to eat”), estudar (“to study”), or sair (“to leave/go out”). Put it directly after the appropriate form of ir:

conjugated ir + infinitive

• Vou estudar. — I’m going to study.
• Vais trabalhar amanhã? — Are you going to work tomorrow?
• Vai chover. — It’s going to rain.
• Vamos sair. — We’re going to go out.

There is no preposition between ir and the infinitive. In particular, do not copy English “to” by adding a: vou a comer is not the standard near-future construction.

This pattern is often called the near future, although speakers use it for more than events happening immediately. It can express intentions, plans, predictions, and events at a clearly stated later time. A fuller treatment belongs with the A2 near-future concept; at A1, the essential pattern is simply vou/vais/vai/vamos/vão + infinitive.

Questions and invitations

Portuguese normally forms a question without an extra verb equivalent to English “do.” Intonation in speech and the question mark in writing do the work:

• Vais à festa? — Are you going to the party?
• Onde vai a Marta? — Where is Marta going?
• Quando vão sair? — When are they going to leave?

Vamos? can mean “Shall we go?”, “Are we going?”, or simply “Let’s go,” depending on tone and context. Before another verb, it makes an inclusive suggestion: Vamos começar? (“Shall we start?”).

Examples in Context

Portuguese	English	Note
Vou ao trabalho.	I go / I’m going to work.	a + o = ao
Onde vais?	Where are you going?	Informal singular tu form
Vamos à praia no sábado.	We’re going to the beach on Saturday.	a + a = à
A Sofia vai a Lisboa amanhã.	Sofia is going to Lisbon tomorrow.	City name without an article
Eles vão para o Brasil em agosto.	They’re going to Brazil in August.	para emphasizes the destination
Você vai de carro ou de comboio?	Are you going by car or by train?	você takes vai; comboio is common in Portugal
As crianças vão a pé para a escola.	The children walk to school.	Literally, “go on foot”
Vou comer depois da reunião.	I’m going to eat after the meeting.	ir + infinitive
O que vais fazer esta noite?	What are you going to do tonight?	Near-future question
Vai chover à tarde.	It’s going to rain in the afternoon.	Impersonal weather expression
Vamos começar?	Shall we start?	A suggestion with vamos
A Ana e o Rui vão aos correios.	Ana and Rui are going to the post office.	Plural subject and a + os
Vou para casa agora.	I’m going home now.	Common fixed destination phrase
No verão, vamos muitas vezes à serra.	In summer, we often go to the mountains.	Present tense for a repeated habit

Common Mistakes

Using a regular ending

• Wrong: Eu iro ao centro.
• Right: Eu vou ao centro.
• Why: Ir is highly irregular in the present. Its forms must be memorized rather than built with regular -ir endings.

Matching você with vais

• Wrong: Você vais amanhã?
• Right: Você vai amanhã?
• Why: Você refers to the listener but grammatically takes a third-person form. Use vai, not the tu form vais.

Failing to contract a and the article

• Wrong: Vamos a a praia.
• Right: Vamos à praia.
• Why: a + a must contract to à. Likewise, use ao, aos, and às where the matching article is present.

Putting a before an infinitive

• Wrong: Vou a estudar hoje.
• Right: Vou estudar hoje.
• Why: The future pattern is ir + infinitive with nothing between the two verbs.

Translating “go home” word for word

• Wrong: Vou para a casa when you simply mean your own home.
• Right: Vou para casa.
• Why: In the common expression meaning “go home,” casa usually has no article. Para a casa can be correct when a particular house has been identified: Vou para a casa da Joana (“I’m going to Joana’s house”).

Confusing vai and vão

• Wrong: Os meus amigos vai à festa.
• Right: Os meus amigos vão à festa.
• Why: A plural subject requires vão. Learn its spelling and nasal pronunciation together.

Usage Notes

Portuguese has important regional choices in pronouns and vocabulary. Tu vais is normal in Portugal and in several parts of Brazil, though the exact social use of tu varies by region. Você vai is widespread in Brazil and is also used in Portugal, where its tone can depend strongly on context. Regardless of local preference, keep the grammatical pairing consistent: tu vais, você vai, vocês vão.

In English, “I go” and “I am going” have distinct forms. Portuguese present vou can correspond to either one. Time expressions and context clarify the meaning: Vou ao ginásio às segundas is habitual (“I go to the gym on Mondays”), while Vou ao ginásio agora is happening now (“I’m going to the gym now”).

For “come with me/us,” Portuguese often still uses ir from the traveler’s point of view: Vais comigo? literally has the shape “Are you going with me?” but naturally means “Are you coming with me?” Avoid forcing English go/come choices onto every Portuguese sentence.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

You do not need to master these details at A1, but they explain forms you will encounter later.

Ir supplies forms used in other grammatical constructions. The preterite (a completed past tense) is fui, foste, foi, fomos, fostes, foram: Fui ao médico ontem (“I went to the doctor yesterday”). These forms are identical to the preterite of ser (“to be”), so context determines which verb is meant. The imperfect past is ia, ias, ia, íamos, íeis, iam, often used for habitual past movement or “was/were going to”: Eu ia de bicicleta (“I used to go by bicycle”).

Portuguese also has the expression ir-se embora, meaning “to leave” or “go away.” In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, the shorter ir embora is very common: Tenho de ir embora (“I have to leave”). Pronoun placement varies by variety and register, so it is better to learn complete examples before trying to generalize.

The present form vamos can function as an encouragement or command including the speaker: Vamos! (“Let’s go!” / “Come on!”). Vai! may tell one person to go, but command forms and their regional patterns deserve separate study.

Finally, ir + infinitive competes with the simple future, such as farei (“I will do”). In conversation, the construction with ir is extremely common and is not restricted to the immediate future: Vou viajar no próximo ano can refer to next year. The simple future often sounds more formal, written, predictive, or emphatic, though the exact contrast depends on context.

Practice Tips

1. Learn the forms in useful pairs. Say eu vou, tu vais, você vai; nós vamos, vocês vão. Then replace the pronouns with people’s names or omit them: A Rita vai; vamos agora.
2. Build destination chains. Choose five familiar places and practice each with its article: ao mercado, à praia, aos correios. Add transport afterward: Vou ao mercado de bicicleta.
3. Separate movement from future meaning. Make two short lists each day: physical trips (Vou à biblioteca) and plans with an infinitive (Vou ler). This trains you to notice when a/para is needed and when no preposition is allowed.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Regular -AR Verbs — provides basic experience with Portuguese subject–verb forms before this irregular paradigm.
• Next step: Near Future (ir + infinitive) — develops the use of ir for plans, intentions, and predictions.