FALTAR in Portuguese

By James Hall / / (3) Intermediate Portuguese
faltar in Portuguese

The verb FALTAR in Portuguese is used to describe a lack or shortage of something. It's very commonly used with expressions "a falta" and "em falta".

a falta, em falta

Using Faltar

It is pronounced as "fawlt-AH", similar to the English word "halt". It is often used to describe current or past shortages, with the expression "em falta" used in a more formal or technical context and the expression "a falta" used in a more general sense to describe a lack or shortage.

em falta

The expression "em falta" is used to describe something that is lacking or missing. It's often used in a more formal or technical context, but equally a very casual way to say something like, Faltou você (You were missed). By far though, the most common context is expressing that something is out of supply..

A loja está em falta de leite. ➜ The store's out of milk.
Estamos em falta de recursos. ➜ We're lacking resources.
Eles estão em falta de equipamentos. ➜ They lack equipment.

a falta

The expression "a falta" is used to describe the lack or shortage of something, often in a more general sense.

A falta de dinheiro é estressante. ➜ The lack of money is stressful.
A falta de organização é preocupante. ➜ The lack of organization is worrisome
A falta de carinho pode ser prejudicial. ➜ The lack of kindness can be harmful.

FALTAR in the Present Tense

The present tense of the verb "faltar" in Brazilian Portuguese is used to describe a current lack or shortage of something.

Ele falta sabedoria. ➜ He lacks wisdom.
Você falta tempo. ➜ You lack time.
Ela está faltando experiência. ➜ She's lacking experience.

*Using faltar in the present progressive here ! - Another way to say this would be, Ela falta experiência.

Simple Past of FALTAR

The simple past of "faltar" is used to describe a lack or shortage that happened in the past.

Faltamos dinheiro. ➜ We lacked money.
Ele faltou tempo. ➜ He lacked time.
Você faltou paciência. ➜ You lacked patience.
» From our online Portuguese course. teaching series "a Virada"

Using FALTAR in conversation

Lucas: Olá, você tem uma atualização sobre o projeto?

Gabriela: Infelizmente, ainda faltam algumas informações importantes para concluir o projeto.

Lucas: Qual é a falta exatamente?

Gabriela: Estamos com falta de dados financeiros da empresa. Estamos fazendo um pedido de mais info diretamente para o departamento de contabilidade.

Lucas: Excelente! 💛 👍 😃