Learn the difference between perfect and imperfect tenses
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Intro |
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| Michael: What is the difference between the perfect and imperfect tense in Portuguese? |
| Ana Clara: And how do I know which one to use? |
| Michael: At PortuguesePod101.com, we hear these questions often. Consider the following situation: Afonso Araujo and Mark Lee talk about food they like. Gustavo Gonzalez Brito says, |
| "When I was younger, I used to eat pizza every day." |
| Afonso Araújo: Quando eu era mais novo, eu comia pizza todos os dias. |
| Dialogue |
| Afonso Araújo: Quando eu era mais novo, eu comia pizza todos os dias. |
| Mark Lee: Ah é? Eu comi pizza ontem. |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Afonso Araújo: Quando eu era mais novo, eu comia pizza todos os dias. |
| Michael: "When I was younger, I used to eat pizza every day." |
| Mark Lee: Ah é? Eu comi pizza ontem. |
| Michael: "Is that so? I ate pizza yesterday." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: In this lesson, you will learn about two verb past tenses in Portuguese in the indicative mood, the: |
| Ana Clara: pretérito perfeito |
| Michael: literally, "past perfect", also known as "preterit", and the: |
| Ana Clara: pretérito imperfeito, |
| Michael: "imperfect (past) tense", or just "imperfect tense". |
| The first one, preterit tense, is used to express an event or action that happened and was completed at a specific time in the past. For example, the verb "to buy": |
| Ana Clara: comprar |
| Michael: When conjugated in the first person singular, the preterit tense will be: |
| Ana Clara: Eu comprei |
| Michael: "I bought". Let's look at it in a sentence: |
| Ana Clara: Eu comprei frutas no supermercado ontem. |
| Michael: "I bought fruits at the supermarket yesterday.". |
| The imperfect tense in Portuguese is used to express an action that happened in the past but over a period of time, which is not specified or unknown, so that there is no certainty of when the action started or ended. In English, the imperfective tense is usually translated as the progressive form or as "used to." |
| The same verb, "to buy", conjugated in the first person singular in this tense will be: |
| Ana Clara: Eu comprava |
| Michael: "I used to buy". Let's have a look at an example of how to use it: |
| Ana Clara: Eu sempre comprava um chocolate depois da aula quando era criança. |
| Michael: "I always used to buy one chocolate after class when I was a kid.". |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let’s take a closer look at the dialogue. |
| Do you remember how Afonso says "When I was younger, I used to eat pizza every day?" |
| Ana Clara: Quando eu era mais novo, eu comia pizza todos os dias. |
| Michael: In this case, the verb "to eat", or: |
| Ana Clara: comer |
| Michael: is conjugated in the first person singular, imperfect tense: |
| Ana Clara: eu comia |
| Michael: "I used to eat". As you've learned, the imperfect tense was used because the action happened in the past over a period of time. |
| The imperfect tense represents an ongoing or a repetitive past action. |
| [Recall 2] |
| Michael: Now, let’s take a look at our second sentence. |
| Do you remember how Mark Lee says "Is that so? I ate pizza yesterday?" |
| Ana Clara: Ah é? Eu comi pizza ontem. |
| Michael: In this case, the same verb "to eat" was conjugated in the first person singular, preterit tense (or "past perfect"): |
| Ana Clara: eu comi |
| Michael: "I ate". As you've learned, this is because the action happened in the past and was fully completed in the past ("yesterday"). |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: In this lesson, you've learned about two verb past tenses in Portuguese: the preterit tense (or literally "past perfect"), which is used to talk about an event or action that happened and was completed at a specific time in the past, and the imperfect tense, used to talk about an event or action that happened in the past over a period of time, representing an ongoing or a repetitive past action. Now, let’s look at some examples. Our first example is: |
| Ana Clara: Ele estudou para a prova ontem. |
| Michael: "He studied for the exam yesterday.". In this case, the verb "to study": |
| Ana Clara: estudar |
| Michael: was conjugated in the third person singular ("he") in the preterit tense: |
| Ana Clara: Ele estudou |
| Michael: "He studied". The action happened and was completed in the past; therefore, we used the preterit tense. |
| The next example is: |
| Ana Clara: Quando ele estava no curso de inglês, estudava todos os dias. |
| Michael: "When he was in the English course, he used to study every day.". In this case, the same verb "to study" was conjugated in the third person singular ("he") in the imperfect tense: |
| Ana Clara: (ele) estudava |
| Michael: "he used to study". This tense was used, as you already know, because it refers to an ongoing or a repetitive past action. |
| Expansion |
| Michael: The imperfect tense can also be used in polite speech to make requests, for example: |
| Ana Clara: Eu queria te pedir para me ajudar com estas tarefas. |
| Michael: Literally, "I wanted to ask you to help me with these tasks.", meaning "I would like to ask you to help me with these tasks.". In this case, the use of the imperfect tense verb: |
| Ana Clara: queria |
| Michael: "wanted", softens the request, making it more polite. |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then, repeat after Ana Clara focusing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how Afonso Says "When I was younger, I used to eat pizza every day?" |
| Ana Clara: Quando eu era mais novo, eu comia pizza todos os dias. |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Ana Clara: Quando eu era mais novo, eu comia pizza todos os dias. |
| Ana Clara: Quando eu era mais novo, eu comia pizza todos os dias. |
| Michael: And do you remember how Mark Lee says "Is that so? I ate pizza yesterday?" |
| Ana Clara: Ah é? Eu comi pizza ontem. |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Ana Clara: Ah é? Eu comi pizza ontem. |
| Ana Clara: Ah é? Eu comi pizza ontem. |
| Cultural Insight |
| Michael: The imperfect tense is also used in storytelling, as it situates the story in an unknown time, such as "Once upon a time...": |
| Ana Clara: Era uma vez… |
| Michael: In this case, the verb "to be", or: |
| Ana Clara: ser |
| Michael: Is always used in the imperfect tense: |
| Ana Clara: era |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We’re here to answer them! |
| Ana Clara: Até a próxima! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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