Adiantar vs. Antecipar: Move Something Earlier in Portuguese
Both verbs can mean bringing an event forward. Adiantar also appears in everyday phrases about progress, time saved, or whether an action helps.
Real Life Portuguese · 6 min read · Updated October 14, 2026
The short answer
Adiantar can mean to move something earlier, such as a meeting, appointment, or task. In conversation, you may also hear adiantar in the sense of making progress or helping a situation: isso não adianta means that it does not help or make a difference.
Use adiantar for moving an appointment or making progress
When you propose a new time, name the event and the earlier time so the other person can confirm the change.
Dá para adiantar a reunião para as dez?
Can we move the meeting up to ten?
Adiantei o trabalho antes do almoço.
I got the work done earlier / made progress before lunch.
Discutir agora não vai adiantar.
Arguing now won’t help.
Use antecipar for bringing forward or doing something in advance
Antecipar also means to bring an event forward or do something ahead of its expected time. It often appears in planned, administrative, or formal contexts, though it is also used in ordinary Brazilian Portuguese.
The verbs can overlap when you change a scheduled time. Antecipar may also describe expecting or foreseeing an outcome, so read the rest of the sentence for the intended meaning.
A consulta foi antecipada para quinta-feira.
The appointment was moved up to Thursday.
Vamos antecipar a compra dos ingressos.
We’re going to buy the tickets in advance.
Não dá para antecipar o resultado.
We can’t predict the outcome.
Put it into practice
Use adiantar for everyday schedule changes and for the common phrase isso não adianta. Antecipar also means bringing something forward and can mean doing it in advance or foreseeing it.
Quick practice
Which Portuguese example matches “The appointment was moved up to Thursday”?
Choose an answer to check yourself.
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