ensina

Ensina is a Portuguese verb meaning to teach or to instruct. It is the third-person singular present indicative form of ensinar, the base verb that denotes the action of imparting knowledge or skills. As a regular -ar verb, its present tense forms are for example eu ensino, tu ensinas, ele/ela ensina, nós ensinamos, eles/elas ensinam. The form ensina is also used as the affirmative informal imperative, meaning “teach!” when addressing someone directly, and it can appear with clitic pronouns to form phrases such as ensina-me (teach me).

Usage of ensina is transitive: it requires a direct object that names what is being taught. For instance, ela ensina matemática (she teaches mathematics) or o professor ensina ciência aos alunos (the teacher teaches science to the students). The expression ensinar alguém a fazer algo (to teach someone to do something) is common and widely used in both education contexts and everyday speech.

In different varieties of Portuguese, including Brazilian and European Portuguese, ensina functions in the same core way, though pronoun placement and certain colloquial forms may vary. Related verbs include ensinar (the infinitive form) and synonyms such as instruir and educar, which carry slightly different nuances in scope and emphasis.