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Portuguese Perfect vs. Imperfect Tense: Know When to Use Either

The Portuguese Perfect and Imperfect past tenses (aka Pretérito Perfeito and Pretérito Imperfeito in Portuguese) are often a headache for language learners whose native tongue doesn’t make this distinction within the Past tense (that’d include English).

What’s the difference between the two?

The Portuguese Perfect and Imperfect past tenses imply different temporal qualities. While the Perfect tense denotes time-framed and completed actions, the Imperfect tense spreads out over time implying continuity or repetitive actions. 

Confused?

Let’s look at this short snippet where the Perfect and Imperfect are marked in blue and red respectively: 

Eram mais ou menos 13h quando o meu pai chegou a casa. Eu estava a comer o almoço e ele sentou-se ao meu lado sem dizer uma palavra. Eu senti que qualquer coisa estava mal. O meu pai era uma pessoa bastante faladora e aquele silêncio não era normal. Decidi então perguntar-lhe: “O que é que se passa?” Ele permaneceu calado e eu estava a ficar assustado. Passado um momento lá disse que …

It was around 1 pm when my father got home. I was having lunch and he sat by my side without saying a word. I felt that something was wrong. My father was a talkative person and such silence didn’t fit him. I then decided to ask him: “What’s going on?”  He remained silent and I was getting scared. After some moments he finally said that…

After reading the snippet and paying closer attention to the colored verb forms, can you now relate to the definition above?

It’s fine if you are still lost. Whether we use the Perfect or Imperfect tenses depends on temporal nuances that are often subtle and it might take you some time to wrap your head around it.

In what follows, we will take a closer look at it and hopefully, things will start to settle in. Read on.

Break Free from the Tyranny of the Present Tense.

To simplify, I am using the terms ‘Perfect’ and ‘Imperfect’ tenses to denote Pretérito Perfeito and Pretérito Imperfeito respectively. 

You may also come across the term ‘Preterite’ instead of Perfect tense (Pretérito Perfeito).

Perfect tense

We use the Perfect tense to talk about completed actions. Normally, the English counterpart is the Past Simple or the Present Perfect (depending on how sharply the sentence is time-situated). 

Let’s start with conjugation. 

Conjugation

Regular verbs

As you may know, there are three groups of regular verbs in Portuguese: -ar, er, -ir

Regular conjugation means that the verb forms follow a regular conjugational pattern which I am marking in bold:

ANDAR
(walk)
VIVER
(live)
INSISTIR
(insist)
euandeiviviinsisti
tuandastevivesteinsististe
você
ele, ela
andouviveuinsistiu
nósandamosvivemosinsistimos
vocês
ele, ela
andaramviveraminsistiram

Reading tips! Learn more about Portuguese regular verbs and their conjugation patterns:
Portuguese Regular Verbs and Conjugation Patterns in the Present Tense
Portuguese Regular Verbs and Conjugation Patterns in the Past Tense

Irregular verbs

There are a handful of commonly used verbs that are irregular. You may want to keep an eye on these: 

SER
(be)
IR
(go)
ESTAR
(be)
TER
(have)
eufuifuiestivetive
tufostefosteestivestetiveste
você
ele, ela
foifoiesteveteve
nósfomosfomosestivemostivemos
vocês
ele, ela
foramforamestiveramtiveram

Learn more about Portuguese high-frequency (and irregular) verbs: Portuguese Must-Know Irregular Verbs.

Note that the verbs ser and ir share the same conjugation forms in the Perfect tense. It is then the context determining which verb is being used. Ir is usually followed by a preposition of movement, whereas ser is normally followed by an adjective or a pronoun: 

ir
Ontem fui ao cinema.

I went to the cinema yesterday.
foste às compras?
Have you already done the groceries?

ser
Ontem fui irresponsável.

Yesterday I was irresponsible.
Não foi ela, foste tu!
It was not her, it was you!

Also, the verbs estar and ter have similar verb forms, the only difference being that es-prefix in estar. In everyday spoken language, however, people often drop that -es. Mind that lest you become confused.

Here are a few more commonplace verbs that are irregular in the Perfect tense:

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