Faria, Teria, Poderia: How to Say ‘Would’ in Portuguese
Faria, teria, and poderia are common conditional forms that translate as would do, would have, and could.
Real Life Portuguese · 4 min read · Updated October 14, 2026
The short answer
The Portuguese conditional often translates as ‘would’ in English. For regular verbs, learners can recognize an infinitive followed by endings such as -ia: falar becomes falaria, comer becomes comeria, and abrir becomes abriria. Context tells you whether the sentence is hypothetical, tentative, or polite.
Use the conditional for imagined results
In an if-clause about an unreal or imagined situation, the result often uses the conditional: se eu tivesse tempo, viajaria. The se-clause supplies the condition; the conditional gives its imagined consequence.
Eu viajaria mais se tivesse férias.
I would travel more if I had vacation time.
A gente compraria a passagem hoje.
We would buy the ticket today.
Eles morariam perto do trabalho.
They would live near work.
Recognize frequent irregular stems and polite questions
Three useful irregular forms are faria (would do/make), teria (would have), and poderia (could/would be able to). The verbs dizer, trazer, and fazer also use a changed stem before the conditional endings: diria, traria, and faria.
Brazilian Portuguese commonly uses the conditional in softened requests, especially gostaria de (I would like) and poderia (could you). The word por favor adds politeness, but the conditional itself already makes the request less direct.
Eu teria mais tempo na sexta-feira.
I would have more time on Friday.
Você poderia me ajudar, por favor?
Could you help me, please?
Gostaria de reservar uma mesa para duas pessoas.
I’d like to reserve a table for two.
Put it into practice
Look for -ia forms when Portuguese describes what someone would do, would have, or could do. Learn faria, teria, poderia, diria, and traria as high-use forms.
Quick practice
Which Portuguese example matches “I would travel more if I had vacation time”?
Choose an answer to check yourself.
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