Imperfect Past
The Portuguese word 'pretérito' is an adjective that means 'what has passed.'
It is used instead of the word 'past' in the Portuguese past tenses (pretérito perfeito, pretérito imperfeito, pretérito mais-que-perfeito, etc).
We use the imperfect past (pretérito imperfeito) to talk about:
- Time in the past:
- Eram 10 horas quando… (It was 10 o'clock when…)
- Age in the past:
- Quando tinha 6 anos… (When I was 6 years old…)Notice the verb “ter” (to have) is used to tell the age in Portuguese.
- Descriptions of the past:
- 👩🏫 A minha professora primária era muito simpática. (My elementary teacher was very nice.)
- Prolonged actions in the past:
- ☎️ Antigamente, não tínhamos telemóveis. (In the old days, we didn't have cell phones.)
- Habitual actions in the past:
- 🏊 Quando era jovem praticava desporto. (When I was young I played sports.)
- The future from a past time standpoint:
- 🔮 Eu sabia que ias dizer isso. (I knew you were going to/would say that.)
The rest of this lesson is for members
DailyNata Plus opens this lesson and every other one in the library, going back years.
Era, tinha, fazia. The Portuguese imperfect for age, description, habit and telling the time in the past, and the polite podia and gostava it also gives you.
Written for level A2–B1. Every lesson has its own, anywhere from A1 to B2.
From €12.50/month. Nothing is charged for the first 7 days.