Portuguese grammar · Elementary (A2)
The preterite (pretérito perfeito)
How to form the preterite of regular and irregular verbs, and why it covers both “I did” and “I have done” in Portuguese.
When to use it
The , or preterite, is the main past tense for finished actions: (Yesterday I worked late.) It tells what happened, one event after another.
It also covers most uses of the English present perfect (“I have done”): experiences ( Have you ever been to Paraty?), things that have just happened, and things that haven't happened yet ( I haven't had lunch yet.)
Be careful: is not “I have spoken”. It means “I have been speaking lately, again and again”. For a single finished action, always use the preterite.
- No sábado a gente foi à praia.On Saturday we went to the beach.
- Você já comeu?Have you eaten yet?
- Pronto, terminei o relatório.There, I've finished the report.
Regular endings
The forms of regular verbs are the same as in the present: can mean “we speak” or “we spoke”. Context, or a time word like , tells you which. In Portugal the past form is written .
Verbs in -car, -gar and -çar change their spelling in the form to keep the sound: → , → , → .
| Person | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| / / | |||
| / / |
- Eu cheguei às dez e ela saiu às onze.I arrived at ten and she left at eleven.
- Vocês gostaram do filme?Did you like the film?
Irregular verbs
Many common verbs are irregular. and share the same forms: means “I was” or “I went”. In several verbs the and forms are the same: , , , . (he could) has a circumflex to tell it apart from the present .
is both “we saw” (from ) and “we come” (the present of ). The forms are in the verb tables.
| Verb | / / | / / | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| , | ||||
- O que você fez no fim de semana?What did you do at the weekend?
- A festa foi ótima.The party was great.
- Ela não pôde vir porque teve uma reunião.She couldn't come because she had a meeting.
- Eu vi o Marcelo ontem e ele me disse tudo.I saw Marcelo yesterday and he told me everything.
Já, ainda não and nunca
with the preterite means “already” or, in questions, “ever” or “yet”. To answer yes, repeat : To answer no, say (not yet) or (never):
Time words that often go with the preterite: (yesterday), (the day before yesterday), (last night), (on Saturday), (last week), (last year), or (two days ago).
- Você já provou açaí? — Já, adorei.Have you ever tried açaí? — Yes, I loved it.
- Ainda não comprei as passagens.I haven't bought the tickets yet.
- Nunca estive em Manaus.I've never been to Manaus.
- Eles se mudaram há dois meses.They moved two months ago.
Verbs that change meaning
A few verbs describe a single event in the preterite, so their meaning shifts a little. For the background meaning, such as “I knew” or “I wanted”, use the imperfect: , , .
| Preterite | Meaning | Example | Meaning of example |
|---|---|---|---|
| I met (for the first time) | I met Ana in 2019. | ||
| I found out, I heard | I heard the news yesterday. | ||
| I refused | He refused to pay. | ||
| I managed to, I was able to | At last I was able to rest. | ||
| I got, I had (an event) | I had an idea. |