Andar and Passar - two complicated verbs

Portuguese Questions Verbs
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Can someone please explain the different uses of the verbs Andar and Passar? I see them used in many different contexts which I find confusing!

Thanks in advance :smile:

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Welcome to the forum! Do you have any examples of use that you find particularly confusing? Maybe we can challenge other members to try to translate them :stuck_out_tongue:

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A reference I’m using to give you this info is 501 Portuguese Verbs by Baron’s. It provides sentence examples of usage. My general sense is that andar has to do with activity of walking, and passar the concept of time.

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Allent
Andar is pretty well self explanatory. Just like caminhar . Both to walk.
Passar is mainly passage of time
Passe pela…To stop by (somewhere)
Passei um dia…I spent an hour
BUT I think that in Brazil I have seen “eu passei em um exame” whereas I have the feeling that in European Portuguese “tenho sucesso em um exame” might be used more.
Joseph will no doubt enlighten us.
I bet there are some totally colloquial uses which he will tell us about too.
Fiendish thing are languages!!

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Good contributions :+1: Andar is mainly, but not only about walking. It can also be used in expressions such as “O que andas a fazer?” (What are you up to / What have you been up to?) or “Ela anda triste ultimamente” (She’s been looking sad lately). More on that at the end of this Learning Note: Present Continuous in Portuguese

Passar can be about time, indeed, but also not exclusively. @mac.cummings has already shown other uses. By the way, we do say “Passei no teste/exame” (I passed the test) in EU Portuguese.

  • Ele passou por mim na rua. (He passed [by] me on the street)
  • Eu passei o concerto todo a chorar. (I spent the concert crying / I cried through the whole concert)
  • O tempo passa depressa. (Time passes quickly)
  • Nós passamos férias em Espanha todos os anos. (We spend our holidays in Spain every year)
  • Podes passar-me o sal? (Can you pass me the salt?)
  • Tu precisas de passar [a ferro] a tua t-shirt. (You need to iron your t-shirt.)

Passar a ferro = Ironing (often abbreviated to just passar)

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Obrigado Joseph. “Andas a fazer” e “anda triste” estão úteis mas vou lembrar deles…talvez não?
As línguas são tão diabólicas. (eu tive que procurar “fiendish” no diccionario)

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I have seen Eu dou um passeio no campo. I talk a walk in the countryside.
Not sure if passeio is a conjugation of the verb passar.

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David
E um substantivo. A noun.

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@davidcowling949, as @mac.cummings said, passeio is being used as a noun in this case. Um passeio = a walk. Apart from that, passeio can be a conjugation of the verb passear (eu passeio = I take a walk). No relation to the verb passar either way :slight_smile:

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Thanks Joseph. I have learned a new verb.:smiley:

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You’re welcome! Agora podes usar este novo verbo enquanto passeias (Now you can use this new verb while you take a walk) :slight_smile:

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Ola Joseph.
O verbo passear não existe em Practice Portuguese>learn>verbs.

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Sim, @davidcowling949, é possível que não exista. A secção de verbos do site tem uma selecção de centenas de verbos mais usados e/ou mais importantes, mas não tem todos os verbos que existem na língua portuguesa, nem é essa a intenção. Mas existem muitos recursos online para pesquisar verbos. O meu favorito é este (porque diz se o verbo é regular ou irregular): https://www.conjugacao.com.br/

É do Brasil, mas todos os verbos têm a mesma conjugação nos dois países, por isso, não faz diferença. Só mudam os nomes de alguns tempos: subjuntivo (Brasil) = conjuntivo (Portugal), e futuro do pretérito (Brasil) = condicional (Portugal).

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Obrigado Joseph pelo conselho.