In short

The plain present of Lesson 6 already covers “I work” and “I am working”, so Portuguese does not need a progressive the way English does. But when you want to stress that something is happening right at this moment, European Portuguese has a dedicated shape: estar a + infinitivo - Estou a trabalhar, “I am (in the act of) working”. This is one of a family of aspectual periphrases: a conjugated helper verb plus a fixed little word plus an infinitive, together saying when in its life an action is - just starting, in progress, habitual, or just finished. This lesson gives you four you will use constantly: estar a (in progress now), costumar (habitually), começar a (starting), and acabar de (just finished). All of them work by conjugating only the first verb; the second verb stays in the infinitive.

The rule

estar a + infinitive - the “-ing right now” of European Portuguese

Take estar (Lesson 8: estou, estás, está, estamos, estão), add a, and add the infinitive of the action:

• Estou a ler. - I am reading (right now).
• A Ana está a dormir. - Ana is sleeping.
• Estamos a aprender português. - We are learning Portuguese.
• O que estás a fazer? - What are you doing?

Reach for it only when you genuinely mean “in progress at this instant”. For habits, schedules and general facts, the plain present is still correct and far more common: Trabalho num banco (I work in a bank), not Estou a trabalhar num banco. English “-ing” is not a reliable signal - I am learning Portuguese this year is a background situation, better said with the plain present Aprendo português este ano or with ando a aprender (see Lesson 43), not with estou a aprender.

Brazilian note: this is the single most visible Europe/Brazil difference in everyday verbs. Brazil uses estar + gerund - estou trabalhando, ela está dormindo - exactly where European Portuguese uses estar a + infinitivo (estou a trabalhar, ela está a dormir). Both are fully correct in their own norm; this path teaches the European estar a form. Lesson 10 maps the divide, and Lesson 47 covers the gerund.

costumar + infinitive - what you usually do

Costumar (a regular -ar verb: costumo, costumas, costuma, costumamos, costumam) plus the infinitive means “to usually / to be in the habit of”. It is the cleanest way to mark a habit without an adverb:

• Costumo tomar café ao pequeno-almoço. - I usually have coffee at breakfast.
• Costumamos jantar às oito. - We usually have dinner at eight.
• Não costumo ver televisão. - I don’t usually watch television.

Note that costumar itself is almost always in the present for a current habit; do not add “usually” separately - costumo already carries it.

começar a + infinitive - the action starting up

Começar (regular -ar, with the ç kept before o and a: começo, começas, começa, começamos, começam) plus a plus the infinitive marks the beginning of an action - it is starting or about to be under way:

• Começo a trabalhar às nove. - I start working at nine.
• Está a começar a chover. - It’s starting to rain. (here começar is itself inside estar a)
• As crianças começam a ler aos seis anos. - Children start reading at six.

The linking word is a, and it is obligatory: começar + infinitive without a is wrong.

acabar de + infinitive - the action just finished

Acabar (regular -ar: acabo, acabas, acaba, acabamos, acabam) plus de plus the infinitive means “to have just done” something - the action is barely over. Portuguese uses the present of acabar for this, where English uses “have just”:

• Acabo de chegar. - I have just arrived.
• Ela acaba de sair. - She has just left.
• Acabamos de comer. - We have just eaten.

Mind the preposition: it is de here (just finished), against the a of começar a (just starting). Swapping them changes the meaning entirely.

Forms & patterns

Every periphrasis has the same skeleton - conjugate the first verb, keep the second as an infinitive - and each has its own fixed linking word:

The helper verb costumar conjugated in full, as the model -ar helper:

Only the first verb changes for person and tense; the infinitive after the link never changes.

Examples

Common mistakes

• Estou trabalhando -> Estou a trabalhar - the European progressive is estar a + infinitivo; estar + gerund is the Brazilian form.
• Trabalho agora meaning “I’m working at this very moment” -> Estou a trabalhar - when you must stress “right now”, use estar a; the plain present alone reads as a habit or a general fact.
• Estou a trabalhar num banco as your job in general -> Trabalho num banco - do not use estar a for permanent facts and routines; keep it for actions in progress.
• Começo trabalhar às nove -> Começo a trabalhar às nove - começar needs the linking a before the infinitive.
• Acabo a comer (meaning “I’ve just eaten”) -> Acabo de comer - “just finished” is acabar de; a would point the wrong way.
• Costumo a fazer -> Costumo fazer - costumar takes the infinitive directly, with no linking word.
• Uso costumar tomar café / adding “usually” twice -> Costumo tomar café - costumar already means “usually”; conjugate it and stop there.

Tips

• Default to the plain present (Lesson 6). Only switch to estar a + infinitivo when you truly mean “in the act, this second”.
• Learn each periphrasis with its glue word attached, as one chunk: estar a…, começar a…, acabar de…, costumar (no word)…. The wrong preposition is the most common slip.
• Contrast the two edges of an action: começar a = it is just starting; acabar de = it has just finished. Practise them as a pair to keep a and de straight.
• Only the first verb carries person and tense. Everything you learned about conjugating -ar verbs (Lesson 6) applies to costumar, começar and acabar, and the infinitive after them is fixed.
• These four are “part I”. More aspectual periphrases - tenho feito, ando a fazer, voltar a fazer, deixar de fazer - come once you have the compound past, in Lesson 43.