Portuguese · Elementary (A2) · Chapter 1 of 12
Talking about the past
Falando do passado
Say what you did yesterday or last weekend with the Brazilian preterite, use a gente for “we” and say when something happened.
In this chapter you'll learn to
- Say what you did yesterday or last weekend
- Use the preterite of regular verbs and of ir, ser, fazer, ter and estar
- Use a gente, the everyday spoken “we”
- Say when something happened: ontem, no sábado, há dois dias
Listen
On Monday morning at an office in Campinas, Vanessa asks her colleague Marcelo about his weekend. Listen to the whole dialogue first, then line by line.
Vanessa
Bom dia, Marcelo. E aí, como foi o fim de semana?
Good morning, Marcelo. So, how was your weekend?
Marcelo
Foi ótimo. A gente passou o fim de semana no sítio de um amigo, perto de Atibaia.
It was great. We spent the weekend at a friend's place in the country, near Atibaia.
Vanessa
Que legal! E o que vocês fizeram?
How nice! And what did you do there?
Marcelo
No sábado a gente passeou o dia todo e à noite fez um churrasco.
On Saturday we walked around all day, and in the evening we had a barbecue.
Vanessa
E quando vocês voltaram?
And when did you come back?
Marcelo
Ontem à noite. Cheguei em casa muito cansado. E você, o que fez?
Last night. I got home really tired. What about you, what did you do?
Vanessa
No sábado fui à praia em Santos com a minha irmã. A gente saiu cedo e voltou à noite.
On Saturday I went to the beach in Santos with my sister. We left early and came back in the evening.
Marcelo
Que bom! E ontem?
Nice! And yesterday?
Vanessa
Ontem não fiz nada. Almocei na casa dos meus pais e dormi a tarde toda.
Yesterday I didn't do anything. I had lunch at my parents' house and slept all afternoon.
Marcelo
Você já foi a Atibaia?
Have you ever been to Atibaia?
Vanessa
Não, nunca fui. É bonito?
No, I've never been. Is it nice?
Marcelo
Muito. Foi um fim de semana muito divertido.
Very. It was a really fun weekend.
Understand
The preterite of regular verbs
For finished actions in the past, like what you did yesterday or last weekend, Portuguese uses the (the “preterite”). Take off -ar, -er or -ir and add the endings below. It covers both “I spoke” and “I have spoken”: means “Have you eaten yet?”. Careful: is not “I have spoken”; it means “I've been speaking lately” and comes in B1.
The form is the same as in the present (, , ); words like make the meaning clear. Some verbs change their spelling in the form to keep the same sound: (to arrive, to get somewhere) → , (to stay) → , → .
| Person | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| / / / | |||
| / / |
- Almocei na casa dos meus pais.I had lunch at my parents' house.
- Eles voltaram ontem.They came back yesterday.
- Dormi a tarde toda.I slept all afternoon. (from *dormir*, to sleep)
Ir, ser, fazer, ter and estar, and a gente
These common verbs are irregular in the preterite. (to go) and (to be) share the same forms: (I went to the beach), (It was great).
From now on you'll hear (literally “the people”), the everyday spoken “we” from the pronoun table in A1 chapter 1. It always takes the / form of the verb, in every tense: , , , never a gente fomos. () is used in more formal situations and in writing.
| Person | / | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| / / / | ||||
| / / |
When did it happen? And já
For “ago”, put or before the length of time: or (two days ago). Both are common in speech. (last) agrees with the noun: (last month), (last week).
with the preterite means “ever” or “already”: (Have you ever been to Atibaia?). Answer (Yes, I have), (Not yet) or (I've never been).
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
| yesterday | |
| the day before yesterday | |
| last night, yesterday evening | |
| on Saturday (this past Saturday) | |
| last weekend | |
| last week | |
| last year | |
| two days ago |
More in the grammar: Subject pronouns: eu, você, a gente… · Ter and haver: have, there is, ago · The preterite (pretérito perfeito)
New words
- e aí?so?, how's it going? · informal, very common
- o fim de semana passadolast weekend · = How was your weekend? = to spend the weekend
- a gentewe (informal) · with the / form:
- o sítiosmall farm, place in the country · masculine
- passearto walk around, to go out and about · preterite: ,
- o dia todoall day · also : all afternoon
- voltarto come back, to go back
- ontem à noitelast night, yesterday evening
- cansado / cansadatired
- sairto go out, to leave · preterite: , , ,
- ontemyesterday
- na casa de…at …'s house · : at my parents' house
- jáever, already · Have you ever been?
- divertido / divertidafun
Practise
1.How do you say “I went to the beach”?
2.Complete with the preterite of ().
We came back last night.
3.Complete with the preterite of ().
What did you do on Saturday?
4.Put the words in order.
Tap the words below in the right order.I had lunch at my parents' house.
5.Match the time expressions.
Pick a word on the left, then its meaning on the right.
6.Which sentence means “We had a barbecue”, the way Brazilians usually say it?
0 of 6 exercises done.
Say it out loud
E aí, como foi o fim de semana?
So, how was your weekend?
Listen, then say it out loud, as close to the recording as you can.
Check
Five questions on this chapter. Then mark it as finished to add its words to your review deck.
0 of 5 answered.