O Pretérito Imperfeito

The pretérito imperfeito is the Portuguese imperfect tense, used for ongoing past states, habits, descriptions, and background. Where the pretérito perfeito moves the story forward with discrete events, the imperfeito paints the scene.

The contrast between perfeito and imperfeito is the central skill of Portuguese past-tense usage. Almost every Portuguese narrative uses both, weaving foreground actions (perfeito) into a backdrop of states and habits (imperfeito).

This is one of the most stable Romance-language patterns — French imparfait, Italian imperfetto, Spanish pretérito imperfecto, Portuguese pretérito imperfeito all work the same way.

Forms — regular verbs

The pretérito imperfeito is remarkably regular. The endings work for almost all verbs in their conjugation group.

Important notes

• The eu and ele/ela forms are identical. Context distinguishes them.
• Accent marks on nós and vós are mandatory in European Portuguese.
• Brazilian Portuguese maintains the same form but rarely uses vós.

Irregular verbs in the pretérito imperfeito

Only four verbs are irregular in the pretérito imperfeito. Memorise these.

ser

ter

vir

pôr

All others (including estar, ir, fazer, dizer, ver, dar, querer) follow the regular pattern.

When to use the imperfeito

1. Habits and routines in the past

Quando era criança, ia à praia todos os verões. — When I was a child, I went to the beach every summer. Sempre comíamos peixe à sexta. — We always ate fish on Fridays.

The action repeated. There’s no fixed end point in the speaker’s mind.

2. Descriptions of past states

A casa era grande e tinha um jardim. — The house was big and had a garden. Ela tinha cabelos castanhos. — She had brown hair.

Static descriptions, not events.

3. Continuous action in the past (background)

Eu lia quando o telefone tocou. — I was reading when the phone rang.

The imperfeito (lia) is the ongoing background; the perfeito (tocou) is the interrupting event.

4. Mental and emotional states in the past

Estava cansado. — I was tired. Queria ir, mas não podia. — I wanted to go, but I couldn’t. Sentia-me só. — I felt alone.

Internal states almost always take the imperfeito.

5. Polite or hypothetical present (Portuguese habit)

Queria um café. — I would like a coffee. (more polite than quero um café) Podia ajudar-me? — Could you help me?

Used as a softer, more polite alternative to the conditional in everyday speech.

6. Setting the scene in narrative

Era uma noite de inverno. O vento soprava forte. As ruas estavam vazias. — It was a winter night. The wind blew strong. The streets were empty.

Opening lines of stories often pile up imperfeito verbs to establish atmosphere.

Pretérito perfeito vs. pretérito imperfeito

This is the heart of Portuguese past-tense mastery.

Often the two tenses appear in the same sentence:

Eu lia um livro quando ela chegou. — I was reading a book when she arrived.

Imperfeito = background (was reading). Perfeito = interrupting event (arrived).

The construction costumava + infinitive

For habitual past actions, Portuguese commonly uses costumava (used to) + infinitive instead of just the imperfeito:

Costumava ir à praia todos os domingos. — I used to go to the beach every Sunday.

Both forms (costumava ir and ia) are correct. Costumava makes the habitual sense explicit.

Estar + gerund or a + infinitive (past continuous)

For “I was doing” in a specifically continuous sense, Portuguese has two options:

• Brazilian: estava + gerund — Eu estava lendo.
• European: estava a + infinitive — Eu estava a ler.

Both mean I was reading. The imperfeito alone (eu lia) can also mean I was reading in context.

What you don’t need to do

You don’t need to translate every English was -ing with the continuous form. The imperfeito alone covers it.

You don’t need to use vós in modern Portuguese. Vocês covers plural.

You don’t need to memorise every form — only four verbs are irregular.

Common confusions

• Imperfeito = habit/description, perfeito = event. Eu lia (I used to read) ≠ eu li (I read, once).
• Eu and ele/ela same form. Era can mean I was or he was/she was/it was — context decides.
• Queria is polite, quero is direct. Queria um café (I’d like a coffee) is softer than quero um café.
• Brazilian uses estava + gerundio; European uses estava a + infinitive. Both mean past continuous.

Where you’ll meet it in the library

The imperfeito is in every Portuguese narrative paragraph:

• Pinóquio (A1+) — Storica’s adaptation uses the imperfeito to describe Pinóquio’s world (was wooden, lived with Gepetto, went to school).
• Madame Bovary (B2+) — Flaubert’s Portuguese rendering captures Emma’s psychological states almost entirely in the imperfeito. Internal yearning, recurring habits, the bored unchanging present.
• Alice no País das Maravilhas (A2+) — Carroll’s atmospheric openings rely on layered imperfeito verbs.