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31. Portuguese Preterite Tense (Pretérito Perfeito)
The pretérito perfeito tense (preterite / simple past) expresses an action in the past. It is used to describe events that are finished or completed. It is formed by adding these endings to the stem (remove -ar, -er, or -ir):
-ar verbs | -er verbs | -ir verbs | |||
-ei | -amos | -i | -emos | -i | -imos |
-aste | -astes | -este | -estes | -iste | -istes |
-ou | -aram | -eu | -eram | -iu | -iram |
Vivi em Portugal por dois anos. I lived
in Portugal for two years.
Eles falaram com as crianças. They spoke with the children.
Quem comeu o bolo de chocolate? Who ate the chocolate
cake?
Some verbs are irregular in the preterite tense:
estar - to be | |
eu estive | nós estivemos |
tu estiveste | vós estivestes |
ele/ela/você esteve | eles/elas/vocês estiveram |
ter - to be | |
eu tive | nós tivemos |
tu tiveste | vós tivestes |
ele/ela/você teve | eles/elas/vocês tiveram |
fazer - to do | |
eu fiz | nós fizemos |
tu fizeste | vós fizestes |
ele/ela/você fez | eles/elas/vocês fizeram |
vir - to come | |
eu vim | nós viemos |
tu vieste | vós viestes |
ele/ela/você veio | eles/elas/vocês vieram |
ser - to be AND ir - to go | |
eu fui | nós fomos |
tu foste | vós fostes |
ele/ela/você foi | eles/elas/vocês foram |
saber - to know (facts) | |
eu soube | nós soubemos |
tu soubeste | vós soubestes |
ele/ela/você soube | eles/elas/vocês souberam |
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