respondeu

Respondeu is the third-person singular preterite indicative form of the Portuguese verb responder, meaning “he/she/you (formal) answered” or “replied.” It denotes a completed action in the past and is commonly used in narrative and reported speech.

Etymology and morphology: responder is a regular -er verb. The preterite forms include eu respondi, tu respondeste, ele respondeu, nós respondemos, vós respondestes, eles responderam. The form respondeu specifically marks the past tense for he, she, or you (formal). In other tenses, the verb follows the standard responder paradigm (presente: eu respondo; futuro: eu responderei; subjuntivo: que eu responda, etc.).

Usage: respondeu is used to indicate that an answer was given in response to a question, request, or statement. Common constructions include responder a uma pergunta, responder a alguém, and responder a um email or mensagem. The sentence structure typically features the verb with its object or with a prepositional phrase identifying what was answered.

Dialectal notes: Brazilian Portuguese often uses você respondeu as the corresponding past form, while European Portuguese may also use tu respondeste in familiar contexts; both systems recognize respondeu as a valid past-tense form for third-person singular.

See also: responder, resposta, pergunta, comunicação.

This entry provides a concise overview of respondeu as a conjugated form rather than a standalone lexical item, and it sits within the broader family of Portuguese verb forms derived from Latin respondēre.