reduz

Reduz is the third-person singular present indicative form of the Portuguese verb reduzir, which means to reduce, lessen, or diminish. It is used to say that someone or something reduces, as in phrases like ele reduz ou ela reduz. In Brazilian Portuguese, reduz can also be used with the pronoun você, since você takes third-person singular agreement (você reduz).

As a form of reduzir, reduz appears across Portuguese-speaking regions in standard verb conjugation patterns. It functions as a key component in sentences describing decreases in size, amount, value, or intensity, and it combines with other elements to form various tenses and constructions, including compound tenses with auxiliary verbs. The word is common in everyday usage, business language, and journalism wherever reduction or decrease is being described.

Etymology and development: reduzir comes from Latin reducere, meaning to bring back or to lead back, and the Portuguese form reduz preserves the semantic core of reducing or lowering something. The use of reduz in present-tense contexts reflects this core sense, and it appears alongside other conjugated forms of reduzir throughout the Portuguese-speaking world.