atende

Atende is a verb form in Portuguese derived from atender. It functions as the third-person singular present indicative of atender (ele/ela/você atende) and, in many dialects, as the informal second-person singular imperative (atende). The form thus commonly appears in sentences that mean “he/she attends to” or “you attend to” or as a direct command to perform the action. The verb 满ains a regular -er conjugation pattern in some tenses, but atender has its own stem changes in different forms (for example, eu atendo, tu atendes, ele atende, nós atendemos, vós atendeis, eles atendem).

Etymology traces atender back to Latin attendere, meaning “to stretch toward” or “to attend to,” through the evolution of the Romance languages into Portuguese. The sense broadened to cover both paying attention to something and providing service or care.

Usage and nuances: Atende is most commonly used to express attending to people, tasks, or needs, as in “Ele atende aos clientes” (He attends to the customers) or “Ela atende às necessidades da comunidade” (She attends to the community’s needs). It is also used for answering a phone call, as in “Atende ao telefone” (Answer the phone). The same form can appear as an imperative, “Atende,” meaning a direct instruction to perform the action, depending on context and regional usage. Brazilian Portuguese often favors a vocal distinction with pronouns like você atende; European Portuguese may reflect slightly different subjunctive and imperative forms.

Related forms include the noun atendedor/atendente (attendant) and the noun atendimento (service or reception).