The Brazilian Portuguese preterite tense (or “simple past” tense) is used to describe an action, event, or state that was completed at a particular time in the past. This tense is typically formed by removing the ending from an infinitive verb (-ar, -er, or -ir), and adding one of the preterite endings, as in:
estudar meaning to study → estud- → eu estudei meaning I studied
comer meaning to eat → com- → você comeu meaning you ate
However, there are some irregular verbs in the preterite, which have forms that must be memorized. In this post, we’ll review how to form the preterite tense of both regular and irregular verbs, as well as when to use this tense. Are you ready to learn more? Let’s start!
How to form the preterite tense in Brazilian Portuguese?
To form the preterite tense of regular verbs in Brazilian Portuguese, remove the infinitive ending of the verb and then add the corresponding preterite conjugation endings to the verb stem. We’ll discuss some verbs that do not follow this pattern (the irregular verbs) more below.
There are three conjugation patterns in Brazilian Portuguese, one for each of the three infinitive verb forms:
Verbs ending in -ar = “first conjugation” (most common)
trabalhar meaning to work, estudar meaning to study, começar meaning to start
Verbs ending in -er = “second conjugation”
comer meaning to eat, beber meaning to drink, viver meaning to live
Verbs ending in -ir = “third conjugation”
dormir meaning to sleep, mentir meaning to lie, sorrir meaning to smile
Even though we remove the infinitive ending, the suffixes we add to make the verb preterite will depend on which conjugation pattern a verb belongs to. Have a look!
| Subject Pronoun | falar meaning to speak | comer meaning to eat | partir meaning to leave |
|---|---|---|---|
eu meaning I | falei | comi | parti |
tu meaning you | falaste | comeste | partiste |
você* meaning you, sg.ele meaning heela meaning she | falou | comeu | partiu |
nós meaning we | falamos | comemos | partimos |
vocês* meaning youeles, elas meaning they | falaram | comeram | partiram |
All the regular verbs in the preterite follow the pattern from the chart above, though there are some regular verbs which require some small changes to their spelling when we add the preterite endings.
Let’s look at some more examples of the preterite in Brazilian Portuguese.
falar meaning to talk → fal-
estudar meaning to study → estud-
Eu falei com o professor e estudei matemática ontem.Translation: I spoke to the teacher and studied math yesterday.comer meaning to eat → com-
beber meaning to drink → beb-
Eu comi uma salada e bebi chá ontem à noite.Translation: I ate a salad and drank tea yesterday evening.partir meaning to leave → part-
desistir meaning to give up → desist-
Nós não partimos hoje de manhã porque desistimos de viajar.Translation: We did not leave this morning because we gave up traveling.
Regular verbs with spelling changes in the preterite tense
Regular verbs ending in -air, -car, -çar, and -gar experience a change to their spelling when they are conjugated in the preterite tense in Brazilian Portuguese.
Verbs ending in -air
Verbs ending with -air are regular in the preterite tense, but they present an acute accent ( ´ ) on the vowel -i in all forms except você/ele/ela.
Subject pronouns sair meaning to leave eu meaning Isaítu meaning yousaístevocê meaning you, sg.ele meaning heela meaning shesaiunós meaning wesaímosvós meaning you, formalsaístesvocês meaning youeles, elas meaning theysaíramThe same happens with the other verbs ending in -air, such as cair meaning to fall, distrair meaning to distract, atrair meaning to attract, subtrair meaning to subtract, and others.
Spelling changes to maintain the correct pronunciation
In the first person singular eu meaning I form, regular verbs ending in -car, -çar, and -gar undergo a spelling change form that preserves the pronunciation of the stem after the preterite ending is added to it.
-car → -queificar meaning to stay → eu fiquei meaning I stayed
Some other verbs that follow this pattern: tocar meaning to touch/to play, brincar meaning to play, atacar meaning to attack, pescar meaning to fish, secar meaning to dry, roncar meaning to snore, discar meaning to dial, marcar meaning to mark
-çar → ceidançar meaning to dance → eu dancei meaning I danced
Some other verbs that follow this pattern: almoçar meaning to have lunch, caçar meaning to hunt, lançar meaning to release, abraçar meaning to hug, começar meaning to start, desperdiçar meaning to waste
-gar → gueichegar meaning to arrive → eu cheguei meaning I arrived
Some other verbs that follow this pattern: pagar meaning to pay, desligar meaning to turn off, carregar meaning to carry, apagar meaning to erase, jogar meaning to play, ligar meaning to turn on, to call, pegar meaning to take, esmagar meaning to mash
How to conjugate irregular verbs in the preterite tense?
There are also some irregular verbs in Brazilian Portuguese whose preterite tense conjugations do not follow the same pattern as the regular verbs presented above, and so have forms that must be memorized. The four most important verbs that are irregular in the preterite tense are ser meaning to be, ir meaning to go, ter meaning to have, and estar meaning to be.
| Subject pronouns | ser meaning to be | ir meaning to go | ter meaning to have | estar meaning to be |
|---|---|---|---|---|
eu meaning I | fui | fui | tive | estive |
tu meaning you | foste | foste | tiveste | estiveste |
você meaning you, sg.ele meaning heela meaning she | foi | foi | teve | esteve |
nós meaning we | fomos | fomos | tivemos | estivemos |
vós meaning you, formal | fostes | fostes | tivestes | estivestes |
vocês meaning youeles, elas meaning they | foram | foram | tiveram | estiveram |
But though these four may be the most important, there are other irregular verbs, like ver meaning to see, dar meaning to give, vir meaning to come, and pôr meaning to put, which have irregularities in either the stem or preterite ending or both. Check out this reference sheet for irregular preterite verbs to see the full conjugation of these verbs and others.
When to use the preterite tense in Brazilian Portuguese?
The preterite tense in Brazilian Portuguese is mostly equivalent to the English simple past tense; we use the preterite tense to refer to…
completed actions in the past
repeated actions over a specific period of time in the past
sequences of completed actions in the past
recent past actions with acabar de or the adverb agora
a first impression
some imperatives in advertisements or announcements
Now, let’s examine these uses of the preterite in more detail.
Actions that started and/or finished in the past
The preterite is mainly used to indicate an action that started and/or finished in either the recent or distant past.
- Eu viajei no fim de semana.Translation: I traveled on the weekend.
- Eu comecei meu exercício de casa ontem à noite.Translation: I started my homework last night.
- Eu conheci o seu pai em 1975.Translation: I met your father in 1975.
It’s common to use a time marker alongside the preterite tense, to describe when the action was started/finished. In the examples above, the time markers were:
fim de semana meaning on the weekend
ontem à noite meaning last night
em 1975 meaning in 1975
Time markers are a useful way to recognize a verb in the preterite!
Time-limited past actions
The preterite tense is also used for past actions that are “time-limited,” meaning that the action or situation being described continued only for a specific amount of time in the past.
Sometimes the period of time is defined by mentioning that the past action was repeated a limited number of times.
A sequence of completed actions in the past
We use the preterite when narrating a sequence of actions that happened in the past or to talk about past events and facts. Let’s imagine that you went to Brazil and you now want to describe how your trip was. You would use the preterite tense, as in:
- Eu cheguei ao aeroporto, peguei um táxi e fui para o hotel.Translation: I arrived at the airport, took a taxi and went to the hotel.
- Depois eu tomei um banho, dormi um pouco e almocei em um restaurante.Translation: Then I took a shower, slept a little and had lunch in a restaurant.
Notice that in the examples above, the preterite indicates a sequence of single actions in the past that are now over.
Using the preterite to talk about the recent past
The preterite tense is also used to talk about actions that were completed in the recent past, or actions that “just” happened, when it is used with the expression acabar de meaning to have just + infinitive or with the adverb agora meaning now.
Acabar de + infinitive:
The expression acabar de + infinitive, when conjugated in the preterite tense, is used to talk about an action in the recent past. This structure indicates an action that has just happened, and it’s equivalent to the English present perfect “have/has just…”.
preteriteinfinitiveO filme acabou de começar.Translation: The movie has just started.See this chart with more examples of the use of acabar de!
With the adverb agora meaning now:
You can also refer to the recent past by using the preterite tense and the adverb agora meaning now.
preteriteEu saí de casa agora.Translation: I have just left home.Literally: I left home now.Let’s suppose you want to emphasize that the action happened in a very recent past. In this case, you can use the expression agora mesmo meaning just now.
preteriteEu saí de casa agora mesmo, há menos de 1 minuto.Translation: I left home just now, less than 1 minute ago.
Describing the first impression of something
We often use the preterite tense in Brazilian Portuguese in order to express a first impression of something. Imagine that you go shopping with a friend, and he/she asks your opinion when buying something.
In the sentences above, it would also be possible to use the present tense, as in:
However, native speakers tend to use the preterite tense more often than the present tense in this context.
As an equivalent to the imperative in advertisements or announcements
Sometimes, the preterite tense is used idiomatically to establish an imperative value in advertisements or announcements.
In the imperative mood, this would look like:
This use of the preterite is also possible in negative commands:
This use of the simple past instead of the imperative is an advertisement tool used to interact and engage with the public in a less rude and funnier way.
How to use the preterite with the adverbs ‘já,’ ‘nunca,’ and ‘ainda não’?
The adverbs já meaning already, yet, nunca meaning never, and ainda não meaning not yet are often used alongside the preterite tense to emphasize that something has already happened, in questions about whether something has happened, or to emphasize that something happened earlier or later than expected. Let’s take a look at these different scenarios.
To discuss whether something has ever happened:
In the example below, the adverb já meaning already, yet is used to indicate that the action li meaning read has already happened:
Speaker A:Você já leu esse livro?Translation: Have you read this book yet?Speaker B:Sim, eu já o li.Translation: Yes, I have already read it.This sentence structure can also be used to indicate a first experience of doing something.
Eu já saltei de paraquedas.Translation: I have already parachuted.Now, imagine that you want to say the opposite: that you have never parachuted. In this case, you would use the adverbs ainda não meaning not yet or nunca meaning never:
- Você já saltou de paraquedas?Translation: Have you ever parachuted?
- Não, eu ainda não saltei de paraquedas.Translation: No, I have not parachuted yet.
- Não, eu nunca saltei de paraquedas.Translation: No, I have never parachuted.
To discuss whether something that happens regularly has happened yet:
In questions, we can also use já or ainda não along with the preterite tense to emphasize that we want to know if something has been done yet.
- Você já almoçou?Translation: Have you had lunch yet?
- Você ainda não almoçou?Translation: Haven’t you had lunch yet?
To emphasize that something happened earlier or later than expected:
In the examples below, the adverbs já and ainda não are used with the preterite tense to indicate that the action cheguei meaning arrived has happened earlier (in the first example) or later (in the second) than was expected.
- Eu já cheguei ao aeroporto.Translation: I have already arrived at the airport.
- Eu estou atrasada. Eu ainda não cheguei ao aeroporto.Translation: I’m late. I haven’t arrived at the airport yet.
To sum up
In this post, we reviewed how to form the preterite tense in Brazilian Portuguese, along with when to use this tense. We saw that…
The preterite tense is formed by removing the -ar, -er, or -ir infinitive endings and adding the proper preterite conjugation endings. The correct conjugation of the preterite tense will depend on whether the verb is a regular or irregular verb.
The preterite tense is used in Brazilian Portuguese to refer to actions that started and/or finished in the past, as well as used to narrate events in the past. Brazilian Portuguese also uses the preterite tense to talk about the recent past (“have just”), to describe a first impression, or to idiomatically express an imperative.
Sometimes, the preterite is used with the adverbs já, nunca, and ainda não to emphasize whether an action has already been completed or to indicate that something has happened earlier or later than expected.
Now that you’re an expert on the preterite tense in Brazilian Portuguese, try to practice forming and using the preterite with these activities!
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