The most common form of the past perfect in Brazilian Portuguese is the compound form; this form is generally used in everyday written and spoken language. The simple form, sometimes referred to as the “pluperfect,” is more commonly used in formal or literary contexts.
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What is the past perfect in Brazilian Portuguese?
By: Fabiana Dametto Oliveira Thu Dec 12 2024
The past perfect in Brazilian Portuguese is a verb tense that is used to talk about something that happened further in the past than another past action or moment. There are two forms of the past perfect: a simple form and a compound form (using an auxiliary verb and past participle). For example:
Simple Past Perfect:
Eu já saíra quando ele chegou.
I’d already left when he arrived.
Compound Past Perfect:
Eu já tinha saído quando ele chegou.
I had already left when he arrived.
The past perfect is often referred to as “the past of the past,” and it is commonly used to describe a sequence of past actions, to report speech in the past, to discuss past facts related to the present, and to express wishes in Brazilian Portuguese. Keep on reading this post and let’s get to know more about it!
Table of Contents
How to form the past perfect in Brazilian Portuguese?
In Brazilian Portuguese, the past perfect has two forms: a compound form and a simple form. While the simple form is created using just one verb (e.g. saíra), the compound form is created by combining two verbs (e.g. tinha saído).
ImportantCompound vs. simple forms
Now, let’s review how to form both of these conjugations in detail.
How to form the compound form of the past perfect?
The compound form of the past perfect is constituted by the auxiliary verb ter(to have) in the imperfect, followed by a main verb in the past participle.
'ter' in the imperfectpast participle
O aluno já tinha estudado para a prova.
The student had already studied for the test.
Here is how to conjugate the auxiliary ter in the imperfect:
Subject Pronouns | ter(to have) in the imperfect |
|---|---|
eu(I) | tinha |
tu(you) | tinhas |
você(you, sg.)ele(he, it)ela(she, it) | tinha |
nós(we) | tínhamos |
vós*(you, formal) | tínheis |
vocês(you, pl.)eles, elas(they) | tinham |
In Brazilian Portuguese, the past participle of regular verbs ends in --ado (for -ar verbs) or -ido (for -er, -ir verbs). See the examples below:
estudar → estudado
to study → studied
comer → comido
to eat → eaten
dormir → dormido
to sleep → asleep
However, some past participles are irregularNo definition set for irregularLorem 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.. Check this chart to quickly review how to form verbs in the past participle.
Important
The past perfect in Brazilian Portuguese can actually be formed with another auxiliary verb instead: haver(to have), which is conjugated in the imperfect, as well.
O aluno já havia estudado para a prova.
The student had already studied for the test.
In everyday language, Brazilians tend to use ter more often, whereas haver is used in more formal contexts.
How to form the simple past perfect in Brazilian Portuguese?
The simple form of the past perfect in Brazilian Portuguese is formed by a single verb with a unique set of conjugation endings, as in:
O aluno já estudara para a prova.
The student had already studied for the test.
The simple form of the past perfect is formed according to the steps below:
Start with the third-personNo definition set for third-personLorem 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. pluralNo definition set for pluralLorem 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. form of the verb of the preterite tense:
eles/elas estudaram
Remove the ending -am to isolate the verb stem
estudaram → estudar-
Add the corresponding ending for the past perfect. For that, see the chart below:
Simple past perfect tenseSubject PronounsEndingestudarcomerdormireu(I)-aestudaracomeradormiratu(you)-asestudarascomerasdormirasvocê(you, sg.)ele(he, it)ela(she, it)-aestudaracomeradormiranós(we)-amosestudáramoscomêramosdormíramosvós*(you, formal)-eisestudáreiscomêreisdormíreisvocês(you, pl.)eles, elas(they)-amestudaramcomeramdormiramFor the subjects nós(we) and vós(you, formal), you need to include an accent ( ´ ) on the last syllable of the stem for -ar and -ir verbs and a ( ^ ) for -er verbs.
Important
There are no irregular verbs in the simple past perfect, but because we form this tense by starting with the third person conjugation of the preterite tense, verbs that use an irregular stem in the preterite will use the same irregular stem in the past perfect. For example:
Conjugate dizer(to say) in the irregular third person plural of the preterite:
(eles) disseram
Keep the verb stem:
disser-
Conjugate the verbs with the endings in the past perfect:
eu dissera
tu disseram
você, ele, ela dissera
nós disséramos
vós disséreis
vocês, eles, elas disseram
When to use the past perfect in Brazilian Portuguese?
The main use of the past perfect is to talk about the “past of the past”: an action that concluded before another past action started. For example:
past perfectpreterite
Eles já tinham almoçado quando eu cheguei.
They had already eaten lunch when I arrived.
In the example above, we have two past actions: before eu cheguei(I arrived) took place, another action almoçar(to have lunch) had already happened. This is the action that takes the past perfect.
Tip
It's very common to use the adverbs já(already) and ainda não(not yet) to emphasize that something has already happened or not in the past. Já is used in affirmative sentences, whereas ainda não is used in negative sentences.
Quando vocês chegaram na festa, nós já tínhamos saído.
When you arrived at the party, we had already left.
Quando vocês chegaram na festa, nós ainda não tínhamos saído.
When you arrived at the party, we still hadn't left.
As the examples so far show, it’s common to use the past perfect with another action verb in the preterite. However, we can also use the past perfect with a past action in the imperfect tense too, as in:
imperfect
Eu não sabia que ele tinha estudado medicina.
I didn't know he had studied medicine.
Tip
In everyday language, native speakers often use the past perfect in place of the conditional perfect.
Se eu pudesse, eu não teria ido ao evento.
If I could, I wouldn't have gone to the event.
→ conditional perfectOR (informally)
Se eu pudesse, eu não tinha ido ao evento.
If I could, I wouldn't have gone to the event.
→ past perfect
Just remember that using the past perfect in this way sounds more informal than the conditional perfect.
Let’s look at some specialized ways to talk about the past of the past.
Past perfect + ‘antes de’ + infinitive
It’s common to use the past perfect tense followed by the expression antes de(before) + another verb in the infinitive.
past perfectinfinitive
Eu só tinha pedido água antes de você chegar.
I had only ordered water before you arrived.
It can also be acceptable to use the Brazilian Portuguese personal infinitive after antes de. This is a more advanced grammar topic, but if you feel up to the challenge, check out our other post!
Past perfect + expression of time
Sometimes we use an expression of time, rather than a verb, to represent the more recent past moment that came after the action in the past perfect. For example:
past perfect
Naquele ano, eu já tinha terminado o mestrado.
That year, I had already finished my master's degree.
Naquela hora, eu ainda não tinha estacionado o carro.
At that time, I still hadn't parked the car.
Past perfect of ‘acabar de’ + infinitive
You can use the past perfect of the expression acabar de to indicate something that had just taken place before another past action.
preteritepast perfectinfinitive
Quando vocês chegaram, o filme tinha acabado de começar.
When you arrived, the movie had just started.
You can think of this as the “recent past of the past.”
The past perfect in reported speech
The past perfect is also used in reported speech in Brazilian Portuguese, particularly when reporting what was said about the past in the past. We use this structure when converting direct speech said in the past into indirect speech.
Direct speech | Indirect reported speech |
|---|---|
preterite “Os funcionários fizeram uma greve.” “The employees went on strike.” | preteritepast perfect Ele disse que os funcionários tinham feito uma greve. He said that the employees had gone on strike. |
preterite “Carla limpou a casa.” “Carla cleaned the house.” | preteritepast perfect Eles disse que Carla tinha limpado a casa. They said that Carla had cleaned the house. |
The past perfect for past facts related to the present
In Brazilian Portuguese, we often use the past perfect to imply that a situation has just now changed. For example:
Que delícia! Eu nunca tinha experimentado feijoada!
How delicious! I had never tried feijoada!
Feijoada is a Brazilian black bean stew.
The implication is that at every moment before now, I had not tried feijoada before that moment. The word nunca(never) must be used in this case to show the idea of never having done something before (until the present moment).
This same structure can also be used to say that an experience has already happened before (in addition to the present moment):
Eu já tinha estudado português, mas agora estou estudando novamente.
I had already studied Portuguese, but now I am studying again.
→ At every moment before now, I had studied Portuguese before that moment.
Important
The past perfect is generally used less in Brazilian Portuguese than in English. In sentences like the ones above, native speakers may choose to use the preterite instead of the past perfect, as in:
preterite
Eu já estudei português, mas agora estou estudando novamente.
I already studied Portuguese, but now I'm studying again.
This is common in everyday speech, and it can also happen in combination with another past action described in the preterite, as in:
- preterite
Eles não me avisaram que os funcionários saíram mais cedo.
They didn’t tell me the employees left early.
instead of…
- preteritepast perfect
Eles não me avisaram que os funcionários tinham saído mais cedo.
They didn’t tell me the employees had left early.
The past perfect for expressions of wishes
The simple form of the past perfect is also used in several expressions that we use to wish about something in Brazilian Portuguese. For example:
past perfect
Quem me dera passar um ano viajando pelo mundo!
I wish I could spend a year traveling the world!
Quem me dera(I wish) literally translates to “who had given me,” and it is a common expression used to express that something would be great if it were true. The verb dar(to give) is used in the simple past perfect form: dera. Some other expressions that use the past perfect like this include:
Pudera!(It's obvious!)
Quisera…(I wish)
Tomara...(I hope)
For examples of how to use these expressions, check out this chart of wish expressions with the past perfect!
In summary
As we’ve seen in this post, the past perfect has two forms: the simple form and the compound form. Brazilians rarely use the simple form in everyday language, but it can be used to express wishes or in literary or formal language.
We use the past perfect…
to talk about a past action that happened before another past action
with adverbs like já(already), ainda não(not yet, still), nunca(never), antes de(before), and with other expressions of time
in reported speech
to talk about a past action related to the present
in expressions of wishes and surprise
Now, practice what you know about the past perfect in Brazilian Portuguese with this activity!
