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Not long ago, I wrote about Portuguese regular verbs and conjugation patterns in the present tense. Now it is time to do the same for the past tense – for both the preterite and imperfect conjugations (pretérito perfeito and pretérito imperfeito correspondingly).
As you’ll see, the preterite and imperfect are “less irregular” than the present tense – there are fewer irregular verbs and no spelling adjustments for regular verbs.
Let’s get started.
Here’s the analogous article for the present tense: Portuguese Regular Verbs in the Present Tense.
Note! This article is exclusively about conjugation patterns for the preterite and imperfect tenses. Here’s a read for you in case you want to dive into their usage: Portuguese Perfect vs. Imperfect Tense: Know When to Use Which.
To conjugate Portuguese regular verbs in the preterite tense, remove the infinitive form’s ending – either –ar, –er, or –ir – and add, instead, the following endings to the stem (as marked in bold):
1st conjugation: -ar (falar) | 2nd conjugation: -er (correr) | 3rd conjugation: -ir (domir) | |
Eu | falei | corri | dormi |
Tu | falaste | correste | dormiste |
Ele, ela, você | falou | correu | dormiu |
Nós | falamos | corremos | dormimos |
Vocês | falaram | correram | dormiram |
Eles, elas | falaram | correram | dormiram |
Here’re preterite’s irregular verbs:
eu, tu, ela, nós, vocês/elas | |
ser | fui, foste, foi, fomos, foram |
ir | fui, foste, foi, fomos, foram |
estar | estive, estiveste, esteve, estivemos, estiveram |
ter | tive, tiveste, teve, tivemos, tiveram |
pôr (repor, transpor, compor, etc) | pus, puseste, pôs, pusemos, puseram |
haver | houve (third-person only) |
dar | dei, deste, deu, demos, deram |
fazer | fiz, fizeste, fez, fizemos, fizeram |
querer | quis, quiseste, quis, quisemos quiseram |
dizer | disse, disseste, disse, dissemos, disseram |
poder | pude, pudeste, pôde, pudemos, puderam |
vir | vim, vieste, veio, viemos, vieram |
ver | vi, viste, viu, vimos, viram |
sair | saí, saíste, saiu, saímos, saíram |
cair | caí, caíste, caiu, caímos, caíram |
saber | soube, soubeste, soube, soubemos, souberam |
trazer | trouxe, trouxeste, trouxe, trouxemos, trouxeram |
It is worth noticing that ser and ir share the same verb forms in the preterite (discernment between them is left to context).
Likewise, the verbs ter and estar share a de facto pronunciation. Accordingly, we tend not to pronounce estar’s first syllable – (es)tou, (es)tás, etc. – in everyday life, casual speech.
Reading tips! Make sure you keep an eye out for high-frequency irregular verbs: Portuguese Must-Know Irregular Verbs.
Here’re the conjugation patterns for Portuguese regular verbs in the imperfect tense:
1st conjugation: -ar (falar) | 2nd conjugation: -er (correr) | 3rd conjugation: -ir (domir) | |
Eu | falava | corria | dormia |
Tu | falavas | corrias | dormias |
Ele, ela, você | falava | corria | dormia |
Nós | falávamos | corríamos | dormíamos |
Vocês | falavam | corriam | dormiam |
Eles, elas | falavam | corriam | dormiam |
Notice that the second and third conjugations share the same endings in the imperfect.
Also, the first-person plural of the imperfect tense is always stressed on the third-last syllable, thus the acute accent mark.
Reading tips! Learn more about Portuguese accent marks and word stress: Portuguese Word Stress and Accent Marks.
The imperfect tense has even fewer irregular verbs than the preterite – there are only four of them:
eu, tu, ela, nós, vocês/elas | |
ser | era, eras, era, éramos, eram |
ter | tinha, tinhas, tinha, tínhamos, tinham |
vir | vinha, vinhas, vinha, vínhamos, vinham |
pôr (repor, transpor, compor, etc) | punha, punhas, punha, púnhamos, punham |
Reading tips! Here’re a few more reads about Portuguese verbs that you may want to take a look at:
• Portuguese Gerund: Progressive Tenses and Beyond
• Portuguese Verb Tenses and Moods Explained: A Usage Rundown Anchored to English
• Portuguese Personal Infinitive: What Is It and When to Use It
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