contendes

Contendes is a grammatical form in Portuguese, serving as the second-person singular present indicative of the verb contender. The meaning of contender in this sense includes to dispute, to contend for, or to argue a point, depending on context. The word ultimately derives from Latin contendere, meaning to strive, stretch toward, or contend in a contest.

In standard European Portuguese, contendes is used with the informal second-person pronoun tu, as in Tu contendes que a decisão é injusta. In Brazilian Portuguese, the more common informal form is tu rarely used in isolation, with você contende typically preferred in everyday speech, where você is treated grammatically as third person singular. As a result, contendes is more characteristic of regional varieties that preserve the tu form.

Verbal family and related terms: contendor (one who contends or a challenger) and contenda (a dispute or contest) are related lexical items commonly found in Lusophone texts. The verb contender itself can carry senses ranging from disputing a claim or argument to competing in a contest or engaging in a conflict, depending on nuance and context.

Notes on usage: contendes is primarily encountered in written or formal register that preserves the tu form, or in discussions of grammar and dialectal variation. It is not used in the same way in most modern Brazilian Portuguese writing, where você contende would be more standard.

See also contenda, contendor.