How to use the different past tenses in Brazilian Portuguese?

When talking about completed past events, we use the preterite, which is used with punctual events that started and ended in the past. It’s common to use time markers, such as dates or periods of the day, with a completed past event, as in:

When referring to completed past events in Brazilian Portuguese, it is also possible to use the preterite with the imperfect. In this case, you will use the preterite to mention the completed event and the imperfect to give its context and describe the reason it happened.

The non-action verbs ser(to be), estar(to be), and ter(to have) are very often used as the imperfect verb in this type of construction. to describe a scenario in the past.

To describe a past action that was interrupted by another past action, we can use either (1) the imperfect and the preterite or (2) the imperfect continuous and the preterite. Let’s look at both:

• The imperfect and the preterite:

  The imperfect tense describes the ongoing action that has been interrupted, and the preterite describes the interrupting action.

  imperfectpreterite

  Eu caminhava no parque quando vi um gatinho perdido.

  I was walking in the park when I saw a lost kitten.

  → The imperfect action (eu caminhava) is interrupted by the punctual, preterite action (eu vi um gatinho).

• The imperfect continuous and the preterite:

  As with the pair above, the imperfect continuous describes the ongoing action that has been interrupted, and the preterite describes the interrupting action. This pair is very common in everyday language.

  imperfect continuousimperfect

  Eu estava caminhando no parque quando vi um gatinho perdido.

  I was walking in the park when I saw a lost kitten.

  Like the imperfect, the imperfect continuous describes an action that was in progress in the past. However, we use the imperfect continuous instead of the imperfect to emphasize the continuation of the action.

  Tip

  Notice in the examples above that both the imperfect and the imperfect continuous are equivalent to the English past continuous (“was verb-ing”).

When we talk about the amount of time elapsed since a completed action, we use the preterite to refer to the event, in combination with há followed by a time phrase.

To talk about an action that someone has already done or hasn’t done yet, we use the adverbsNo definition set for adverbsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. já(already, yet), ainda não(not yet), or nunca(never) along with the preterite or past perfect tense. There are three contexts in which you will likely use these adverbs with the preterite or past perfect:

• To say that something has or hasn’t happened before:

  Use the preterite tense and the adverbs já(already, yet), ainda não(not yet), or nunca(never) to talk about whether someone has had a first experience of something

  • You’ll use já(already, yet) is in affirmative statements, to say that something has happened before, or happened already

    preterite

    Eu já estive no Brasil.

    I have already been to Brazil.

  • You’ll use ainda não(not yet) or nunca(never) in negative sentences, to say that something hasn’t happened before, or hasn’t happened yet.

    preterite

    Eu nunca estive no Brasil.

    I have never been to Brazil.

    Eu ainda não estive no Brasil.

    I have never been to Brazil.

• To say that something had or hadn’t happened before some past moment:

  Use the past perfect tense and these same expressions já(already, yet), ainda não(not yet), and nunca(never) to talk about whether someone had experienced something before some past moment.

  past perfect

  Eu nunca tinha visto o mar — até hoje.

  I had never seen the sea — until today.

  In the example above, the relation between the past and the present moment is also highlighted by the expression até hoje(until today), which contrasts a past action (never having seen the sea) with the present status of that (until today).

• To talk about whether a common action is complete already or isn’t complete yet:

  The preterite can also be used with these same adverbs to talk about actions that are repeated regularly, but may or not be already complete this time around. For example:

  preterite

  Speaker A:

  Você já chegou ao trabalho?

  Have you already arrived at work?

  → Speaker A is not asking if Speaker B has ever arrived at work, they are asking if it has happened today.

  Speaker B:

  Não, eu ainda não cheguei ao trabalho.

  No, I haven't arrived at work yet.

  → Speaker B arrived at work before, but today they haven’t arrived yet.

  Important

  Já(already, yet) and nunca(never) can also be used with both the past perfect and the preterite in the same sentence. Notice that they also emphasize that something happened earlier or later than expected.

  past perfectpreterite

  Speaker A:

  Você já tinha chegado ao trabalho quando eu te liguei?

  Had you already arrived at work when I called you?

  Speaker B:

  Não, eu ainda não tinha chegado ao trabalho quando você me ligou.

  No, I hadn’t arrived at work yet when you called me.

We use the imperfect tense to describe habitual or repeated actions that took place at an unspecified period of time in the past. This use corresponds to the English simple past (verb-ed) or to the expression “used to” + verb.

Notice that the example above refers to a routine in the past, but the time period is not specific. This means we conjugate the verb in the imperfect!

In Brazilian Portuguese we use the expression acabar de(understood: just) + infinitive to describe actions that just took place, had just taken place, or were just taking place. We say that this describe the “immediate past.”

• acabar de

  preterite

  infinitive

  Acabar de conjugated in the preterite states that some action just happened or was just finished, as in:

  preteriteinfinitive

  Eu acabei de acordar.

  I just woke up. / I’ve just woken up.

• acabar de

  past perfect

  infinitive

  When acabar de is in the past perfect tense, it means that some action had just happened or had just finished when another past action, given in the preterite, took place:

  past perfectinfinitivepreterite

  Eu tinha acabado de acordar quando as crianças entraram.

  I had just woken up when the kids came in.

• acabar de

  imperfect continuous

  infinitive

  Conjugating acabar de in the imperfect continuous means that an action was just happening and was usually in the process of ending, as in:

  imperfect continuousinfinitive

  Eu estava acabando de conferir os pagamentos do mês.

  I was just checking the monthly payments.

When we talk about progressive actions in the past, we can use the preterite continuous or the imperfect continuous.

• The preterite continuous is used to emphasize an ongoing situation that started and finished at a particular time in the past. It is formed from the auxiliary verb estar(to be) in the preterite + a main verb in the gerund (-ndo) form.

  This tense is not often used in Brazilian Portuguese, and, instead, Brazilians tend to use the simple preterite. See below:

  • preterite continuous

    Eu estive pensando sobre o que você me falou.

    I was thinking about what you told me.

    → uncommon
  • preterite

    Eu pensei sobre o que você me falou.

    I was thinking about what you told me.

    → more common in Brazil

• The imperfect continuous is formed with the auxiliary verb estar(to be) in the imperfect + a main verb in the gerund (-ndo) form. As mentioned above, it can be used in combination with a verb in the preterite to talk about an interrupted action.

  imperfect continuouspreterite

  Pedro estava assistindo televisão quando alguém bateu na porta.

  Pedro was watching television when someone knocked on the door.

  Remember that the imperfect continuous may also be replaced by the imperfect, as in:

  imperfectpreterite

  Pedro assistia televisão quando alguém bateu na porta.

  Pedro was watching television when someone knocked on the door.

  However, the imperfect continuous highlights the ongoing nature of the action.

We use the past perfect tense to refer to an action that occurred before another past event or moment. For example: