葡萄牙語完成時態與不完美時態：知道何時使用其中之一

葡萄牙人 完成式和不完美過去式（又名 Pretérito Perfeito and Pretérito Imperfeito 對於母語不區分過去式（包括英語）的語言學習者來說，這往往是一個令人頭痛的問題。

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?

讓我們來看看這個簡短的片段，其中標記了完美和不完美 藍色的 and 紅色的 分別： 

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.

Related Video Lessons

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. 

共軛

規則動詞

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:

讀書小竅門！ Learn more about Portuguese regular verbs and their conjugation patterns:
• 葡萄牙語規則動詞與現在式的變形模式
• Portuguese Regular Verbs and Conjugation Patterns in the Past Tense

不規則動詞

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

Learn more about Portuguese high-frequency (and irregular) verbs: 葡萄牙語必知不規則動詞.

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.
Já 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: