40+ Portuguese Verbs That Always Need "De"

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For the first few months my wife and I were in Portugal, I kept saying things like “Eu gosto café” or “Eu preciso ajuda.” People understood me, but I could tell something was off. It wasn’t until a friend gently corrected me that I realized I was missing a tiny but crucial word: de.

Dropping the “de” is one of the biggest tells that you’re an English speaker. It’s a super common mistake because the rules for which verbs pair with which prepositions don’t always line up between English and Portuguese. In English, we “listen to” music or “dream of” something; Portuguese just has its own set of these verb-preposition power couples. I’ve put this list together because figuring out which verbs need the “de” was a game-changer for me. This is your cheat sheet to start sounding a lot more natural.

📚 Complete Guide: For a deeper explanation of how and when you’d use these, see my Guide to Prepositions.

Getting this one tiny word right is a huge step toward sounding more natural.

Essential Daily Verbs

Honestly, if you just master this first short list, you’ll have fixed about 80% of your daily “de” mistakes. These verbs pop up in almost every conversation, so getting them right is a huge win. The little -se part means the verb is reflexive (a topic for another day, but for now, just know it’s part of the package!)

Table 1: Essential Daily Verbs

English	Portuguese
To like	Gostar de
To need	Precisar de
To talk about	Falar de
To remember	Lembrar-se de
To forget	Esquecer-se de
To laugh at	Rir-se de
To change (your mind, job, etc.)	Mudar de
To doubt	Duvidar de
To overuse / take advantage of	Abusar de
To take care of / deal with	Tratar de

Emotional States

Expressing how you feel is key to connecting with people. In Portuguese, many of these emotional state verbs just don’t work without “de.” This is how you say you’re tired of something or afraid of something.

Table 2: Emotional States

English	Portuguese
To be afraid of	Ter medo de
To be ashamed of	Ter vergonha de
To be proud of	Ter orgulho de
To be jealous of	Ter ciúmes de
To feel sorry for	Ter pena de
To miss (someone/something)	Ter saudades de
To be fed up with	Estar farto de
To be tired of	Estar cansado de

Actions and Activities

These are perfect for telling a story or just explaining what you’ve been up to. “Acabar de” is especially useful—you’ll hear it all the time for things that just happened.

Table 3: Actions and Activities

English	Portuguese
To have just (done something)	Acabar de
To stop (doing something)	Deixar de
To give up on	Desistir de
To take charge of	Encarregar-se de
To take care of / be busy with	Ocupar-se de
To make sure of	Certificar-se de
To ensure	Assegurar-se de
To convince oneself of	Convencer-se de

Expressions with ‘de’ act like glue, connecting your thoughts smoothly.

Common Expressions

Think of these as the glue that holds your sentences together. Using them correctly will instantly make your Portuguese sound more fluid and less like you’re translating word-for-word in your head.

Table 4: Common Expressions

English	Portuguese
Before	Antes de
After	Depois de
Starting from	A partir de
Besides / In addition to	Além de
In order to	A fim de
Instead of	Em vez de
Despite	Apesar de
Because of	Por causa de
Near	Perto de
Far from	Longe de
Through	Através de

Formal and Business

You probably won’t use these when ordering a coffee, but for any kind of bureaucracy, paperwork, or professional email, they are essential. Using them correctly shows you’ve really done your homework.

Table 5: Formal and Business

English	Portuguese
To depend on	Depender de
To require / need (formal)	Necessitar de
To have available / at one’s disposal	Dispor de
To take care of (e.g., a task)	Cuidar de
To inform of	Informar de

Conclusion

Mastering a tiny preposition like “de” can feel a bit like a secret handshake. It’s a small thing that makes a big difference in how naturally your Portuguese flows. It’s one of those hurdles that, once you clear it, really boosts your confidence.

Don’t feel like you have to memorize them all at once. Just start with “gostar de” and “precisar de” and build from there. Remember, these prepositions are just one part of the puzzle. To see how they fit into the bigger picture of building fluent sentences, check out my master guide on Portuguese sentence structure.

Found this helpful?

Browse my other Portuguese vocabulary guides or contact me with questions or suggestions for new vocabulary topics.

Frequently Asked Questions

[!faq]- How do I know when a verb needs “de”? Unfortunately, there’s no magic rule. It’s a matter of memorization and exposure. The best way is to learn verbs as “verb + preposition” chunks, like learning “gostar de” as one unit instead of just “gostar.” Start with the most common ones on this list and you’ll develop a feel for it over time.

[!faq]- Is “de” the same as “do”, “da”, “dos”, or “das”? Yes and no. “Do,” “da,” “dos,” and “das” are contractions of the preposition “de” plus an article (“o,” “a,” “os,” or “as”). You use the simple “de” for general statements and the contraction when talking about a specific thing.

Here’s the difference in practice:

• General: “Gosto de café.” (I like coffee in general.)
• Specific: “Gosto do café daqui.” (I like the coffee from here.)

So, “gosto do café” is just a shortened way of saying “gosto de + o café.”

[!faq]- What’s the difference between “gostar de” and “gostar”? In Portugal, you almost always need “de” after “gostar” when it’s followed by a noun or another verb. Saying “Eu gosto o livro” is incorrect; it must be “Eu gosto do livro.” The only common time you see “gostar” alone is in a response, like if someone asks “Gostas?”, you can just reply “Gosto,” meaning “I do.”

[!faq]- Is this vocabulary the same in Brazil? Mostly, yes. The verbs themselves and the need for “de” are largely the same. However, you’ll find some differences in usage and pronunciation. For example, in Brazil, it’s more common to hear “Eu gosto de você” while in Portugal you’d say “Eu gosto de ti.” This list is focused on sounding natural in Portugal.