Portuguese Preterite Tense
Learn how to conjugate verbs in the preterite tense in Portuguese
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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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