Study Resource: Preterite vs. Imperfect in Brazilian Portuguese
The following resources will help you to use the preterite and imperfect tenses correctly in Brazilian Portuguese.
Preterite: Regular verbs
This table illustrates the conjugation of regular verbs in the Brazilian Portuguese preterite tense.
| Subject Pronouns | -AR | -ER | -IR |
|---|---|---|---|
eu (meaning I) | falei | comi | parti |
tu (meaning you) | falaste | comeste | partiste |
você (meaning you, sg.)ele (meaning he, it)ela (meaning she, it) | falou | comeu | partiu |
nós (meaning we) | falamos | comemos | partimos |
vós* (meaning you, formal) | falastes | comestes | partistes |
vocês (meaning you, pl.)eles, elas (meaning they) | falaram | comeram | partiram |
Check out this table of irregular preterite verbs!
Imperfect: Regular verbs
This table illustrates the conjugation of regular verbs in the Brazilian Portuguese imperfect tense.
| Subject Pronouns | -AR | -ER | -IR |
|---|---|---|---|
eu (meaning I) | falava | comia | partia |
tu (meaning you) | falavas | comias | partias |
você (meaning you, sg.)ele (meaning he, it)ela (meaning she, it) | falava | comia | partia |
nós (meaning we) | falávamos | comíamos | partíamos |
vós* (meaning you, formal) | faláveis | comíeis | partíeis |
vocês (meaning you, pl.)eles, elas (meaning they) | falavam | comiam | partiam |
Imperfect: Irregular verbs
This table illustrates the conjugation of irregular verbs in the Brazilian Portuguese imperfect tense.
| Subject Pronouns | ser (meaning to be) | ter (meaning to have) | vir (meaning to come) | pôr (meaning to put) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
eu (meaning I) | era | tinha | vinha | punha |
tu (meaning you) | eras | tinhas | vinhas | punhas |
você (meaning you, sg.)ele (meaning he, it)ela (meaning she, it) | era | tinha | vinha | punha |
nós (meaning we) | éramos | tínhamos | vínhamos | púnhamos |
vós* (meaning you, formal) | éreis | tínheis | vínheis | púnheis |
vocês (meaning you, pl.)eles, elas (meaning they) | eram | tinham | vinham | punham |
Uses of the imperfect vs. preterite: Summary
The following table summarizes the differences in usage between the preterite and imperfect tenses in Brazilian Portuguese:
| Preterite | Imperfect |
|---|---|
One-off situation: Eu corri três quilômetros ontem. Translation: I ran three kilometers yesterday. | Past action that is unspecified in time: Antes, eu corria dois quilômetros por dia. Translation: Before, I used to run three kilometers per day. |
Punctual action: Marta trabalhou muito na semana passada. Translation: Marta worked a lot last week. | Past habits: Marta trabalhava muito quando era mais jovem. Translation: Marta used to work a lot when she was younger. |
Time-limited repeated events: Eu fui ao Brasil duas vezes. Translation: I went to Brazil twice. | Unlimited repeated action: Eu ia ao Brasil muitas vezes quando eu era mais jovem. Translation: I used to go to Brazil many times when I was younger. |
Sequence of actions: Eu almocei, tomei banho e fui ao supermercado. Translation: I had lunch, took a shower and went to the supermarket. | Background information: O supermercado estava cheio. Translation: The supermarket was busy. |
Completed actions: Ele acordou ao meio-dia. Translation: He woke up at noon. | Simultaneous actions: Eu preparava o almoço enquanto ele limpava a casa. Translation: I prepared lunch while he cleaned the house. |
The preterite and imperfect are used together…
Past action + scene description:
preteriteimperfectOntem eu tomei um sorvete de pistache porque estava muito calor.Translation: Yesterday I had pistachio ice cream because it was very hot.Ongoing + interrupted actions in the past:
preteriteimperfectEu caminhava de manhã quando vi um acidente na rua.Translation: I was walking in the morning when I saw an accident on the street.
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