Verbs: Imperfect Tense — Brazilian Portuguese Grammar

The Imperfect Tense, or , describes past actions that were ongoing, habitual, or incomplete. It focuses on the process or duration of an action rather than its beginning or end. Think of it as setting the scene or describing what "used to happen" or "was happening".

Regular Verb Conjugation

The imperfect tense has very consistent endings for regular verbs.

-ar verbs (e.g., - to speak): drop the -ar and add -, -, -, -, -, -.

-er verbs (e.g., - to eat) and -ir verbs (e.g., - to leave): drop the -er/-ir and add -, -, -, -, -, -.

Irregular Verbs

There are only four common irregular verbs in the imperfect tense.

Ser (to be):

Ele era meu melhor amigo na escola.
He was my best friend in school.

Ter (to have):

Nós tínhamos um cachorro chamado Rex.
We had a dog named Rex.

Vir (to come):

Ela sempre vinha nos visitar nas férias.
She always used to come visit us on vacation.

Pôr (to put):

Eu punha o livro na estante.
I would put the book on the shelf.

Primary Uses of the Imperfect

1. Habitual or Repeated Actions in the Past

This tense is used for actions that happened regularly over a period of time, equivalent to "used to" or "would" in English.

Quando eu era criança, eu brincava neste parque todos os dias.
When I was a child, I used to play in this park every day.
Eles viajavam para a praia todo verão.
They would travel to the beach every summer.

2. Ongoing Past Actions (Setting the Scene)

It describes actions that were in progress at a certain point in the past, often without a specified end. It's perfect for describing the background of a story.

Chovia muito e ventava forte.
It was raining a lot and the wind was blowing hard.
As crianças corriam pelo jardim enquanto os adultos conversavam.
The children were running through the garden while the adults were talking.

3. Descriptions of People, Places, and States

Use the imperfect to describe characteristics, feelings, age, or mental states in the past.

A casa era grande e tinha um jardim bonito.
The house was big and had a beautiful garden.
Eu tinha 20 anos e não sabia o que fazer da vida.
I was 20 years old and didn't know what to do with my life.
Ela parecia cansada, mas estava feliz.
She seemed tired, but she was happy.

4. Interrupted Actions

The imperfect describes an ongoing action that was interrupted by another, shorter action (which is usually in the preterite tense).

Eu estava dormindo quando o alarme tocou.
I was sleeping when the alarm went off.
Nós assistíamos a um filme quando a energia acabou.
We were watching a movie when the power went out.

Imperfect vs. Preterite (Pretérito Perfeito)

The choice between these two past tenses changes the meaning of a sentence. The imperfect focuses on the ongoing process, while the preterite focuses on a completed, single event.

Imperfect (Process)

Eu lia o jornal de manhã.
I used to read/was reading the newspaper in the morning. (A habit or an ongoing action).

Preterite (Completed Event)

Eu li o jornal de manhã.
I read the newspaper in the morning. (A specific, completed action on a particular morning).

Imperfect (Description)

Ele estava doente.
He was sick. (Describes his state over a period of time).

Preterite (Event)

Ele ficou doente.
He got sick. (Describes the event of becoming sick).

Use in Polite Requests

In conversational Brazilian Portuguese, the imperfect is often used to make requests or state desires more politely and less directly than the present tense.

Eu queria te pedir um favor.
I would like to ask you a favor. (Softer than Eu quero...).
Você podia me ajudar com esta mala?
Could you help me with this suitcase? (Softer than Você pode...?).

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Brazilian Portuguese course

5 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 180. A few of them, with the words “Verbs: Imperfect Tense” is about in bold:

Não estou atrasada. Cheguei cedo. O trânsito estava normal.
I am not late. I am early. Traffic was normal.
Lesson 279

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