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Study Resource: Uses of different past tenses in Brazilian Portuguese

By: Fabiana Dametto Oliveira

The following table summarizes when to use different past tenses in Brazilian Portuguese.


Context	Past tense	Example
talking about completed past events	preterite	preterite Eu tomei suco hoje de manhã. Translation: I had juice this morning.
talking about completed past events	preterite + imperfect	preteriteimperfect Eu tomei suco hoje de manhã porque estava calor. Translation: I had juice this morning because it was hot.
talking about interrupted actions in the past	imperfect + preterite	preteriteimperfect Eu estudava na sala quando minha mãe chegou. Translation: I was studying in the living room when my mother arrived.
talking about interrupted actions in the past	imperfect continuous + preterite	preteriteimperfect continuous Eu estava estudando na sala quando minha mãe chegou calor. Translation: I was studying in the living room when my mother arrived.
talking about the amount of time elapsed	preterite + há	preterite Eu morei nos Estados Unidos há três anos. Translation: I lived in the United States three years ago.
with já, ainda não, and nunca	preterite	preterite Eu já participei de uma maratona. Translation: I have already participated in a marathon.
	preterite	preterite Eu ainda não terminei de ler este livro. Translation: I still haven't finished reading this book.
	past perfect	past perfect Eu já tinha participado de uma maratona antes. Translation: I had participated in a marathon before.
	past perfect + preterite	past perfectpreterite Eu já tinha pesquisado sobre o tema que o professor explicou. Translation: I had already researched the topic that the professor explained.
past habitual actions and unspecified period of time in the past	imperfect	imperfect Na infância, eu jogava futebol todos os dias. Translation: As a child, I played football every day.
talking about immediate past (acabar de)	acabar de in the preterite + infinitive	preterite Nós acabamos de entrar no restaurante. Translation: We’ve just entered the restaurant.
talking about immediate past (acabar de)	acabar de in the past perfect + infinitive combined with the preterite	past perfectpreterite Nós tínhamos acabado de entrar no restaurante quando a Mariana chegou. Translation: We had just entered the restaurant when Mariana arrived.
talking about progressive past actions	preterite continuous	preterite Eles estiveram procurando uma solução por um longo tempo. Translation: They were looking for a solution for a long time.
talking about progressive past actions	imperfect continuous	imperfect continuous Eu estava treinando na quadra de tênis. Translation: I was training on the tennis court.
talking about a past event that occurred before another past event	preterite + past perfect	preteritepast perfect Cristina foi ao cinema, mas ela já tinha visto o filme antes. Translation: Cristina went to the cinema, but she had seen the movie before.
	imperfect + past perfect	imperfectpast perfect O bebê estava calmo porque ele já tinha tomado a mamadeira. Translation: The baby was calm because he had already taken the bottle.