BicaUnit 11 of 16A25 lessons · 39 words
The past tense in European Portuguese
O fim de semana passado
Say what you did yesterday, last weekend and last year. This is an A2 unit of the Bica course, in the Portuguese spoken in Portugal: below are all its words, example sentences you can listen to, and the grammar notes.
Words and phrases
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
falei | I spokePast of falar: falei, falaste, falou, falámos, falaram. |
falaste | you spokeThe tu form of the past ends in -aste: falaste, trabalhaste, compraste. |
trabalhei | I worked |
jantei | I had dinner |
comprei | I bought |
fiquei | I stayedFicar → fiquei: the c becomes qu to keep the hard sound. |
ontem à noite | last night |
anteontem | the day before yesterday |
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
gostei | I likedBefore a noun, keep de: Eu gostei do filme. = I liked the film. |
gostaste | did you like |
falámos | we spokeIn Portugal the past takes an accent: falámos. Without it, falamos means "we speak". |
chegar | to arriveCheguei = I arrived (g → gu). Chegar a casa = to get home. |
visitar | to visitNós visitámos o Porto. = We visited Porto. |
na semana passadaalso a semana passada | last week |
no fim de semana passadoalso o fim de semana passado | last weekend |
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
comi | I atePast of comer: comi, comeste, comeu, comemos, comeram. |
comeste | you ate |
bebi | I drank |
saí | I went outPast of sair: saí, saíste, saiu, saímos, saíram. |
dormi | I slept |
conheci | I metPast of conhecer: to meet someone for the first time. |
partir | to leaveFor trains, buses and planes. Partir also means "to break": Parti um copo. |
no ano passadoalso o ano passado | last year |
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
fui | I went / I was (ser: a finished event)Past of both ir and ser: Fui ao Porto. = I went to Porto. |
foste | you went |
foi | wentComo foi? = How was it? |
fomos | we went |
foram | they went |
estive | I was (estar: somewhere, or a temporary state)Past of estar: estive, estiveste, esteve, estivemos, estiveram. |
tive | I had (once, finished)Past of ter: tive, tiveste, teve, tivemos, tiveram. |
ótimoalso ótima | great |
| Portuguese | English |
|---|---|
fiz | I didPast of fazer: fiz, fizeste, fez, fizemos, fizeram. |
fizeste | you did |
vi | I sawPast of ver: vi, viste, viu, vimos, viram. |
já | alreadyIn questions it means "yet" or "ever": Já comeste? = Have you eaten yet? |
ainda não | not yet |
há dois dias | two days agoHá + time = ago: há uma semana, há um ano. |
dei | I gavePast of dar: dei, deste, deu, demos, deram. |
pude | I couldPast of poder: pude, pudeste, pôde, pudemos, puderam. |
Example sentences
- Eu trabalhei muito ontem.I worked a lot yesterday.In the past, the eu form of -ar verbs ends in -ei: trabalhei.
- Eu falei com a Ana ontem à noite.I spoke to Ana last night.Falar com = to talk to someone.
- Tu falaste com o Pedro?Did you talk to Pedro?
- Eu gostei muito!I really enjoyed it!Eu gostei muito! is what people say after a meal, a film or a trip they enjoyed.
- Tu gostaste do filme?Did you like the film?Gostar de + o = gostar do.
- Nós falámos com o professor.We spoke to the teacher.Falámos (past) has an accent; falamos (present) does not.
- Eu comi bacalhau ao almoço.I had salt cod for lunch.Ao almoço = for lunch. Ao jantar = for dinner.
- O que é que tu comeste?What did you eat?-er verbs: comi (I ate), comeste (you ate).
- Ontem à noite eu dormi muito mal.Last night I slept really badly.
- Eu fui ao Porto no sábado.I went to Porto on Saturday.Fui = I went. A visit takes a: ao Porto.
- Onde é que tu foste ontem?Where did you go yesterday?Foste = you went (tu).
- Como foi o teu fim de semana?How was your weekend?Here foi is the past of ser: "it was".
- O que é que tu fizeste no fim de semana?What did you do at the weekend?Fizeste = you did (tu), from fazer.
- Eu não fiz nada.I didn't do anything.Portuguese uses a double negative: não… nada.
- Tu já viste este filme?Have you seen this film?"Have you seen…?" is the simple past in Portuguese, often with já.
Every lesson page has all of its sentences: Yesterday · Did you like it? · Eating & going out · Where did you go? · Already & not yet
Unit notes
The past: -ar, -er and -ir verbs
To say what you did yesterday, last week or last year, Portuguese uses the pretérito perfeito. Take off -ar, -er or -ir and add the endings for eu, tu, ele/ela, nós, eles/elas:
falar: falei, falaste, falou, falámos, falaram
comer: comi, comeste, comeu, comemos, comeram
partir: parti, partiste, partiu, partimos, partiram
A few verbs change their spelling in the eu form to keep the same sound: ficar → fiquei, chegar → cheguei, almoçar → almocei.
- Ontem falei com a minha mãe.Yesterday I talked to my mother.
- Nós comemos sardinhas no sábado.We ate sardines on Saturday.
- O comboio partiu às nove.The train left at nine.
Falámos or falamos?
In Portugal, the nós form of -ar verbs takes an accent in the past: falámos, jantámos, chegámos. Without the accent it is the present: falamos ("we speak"). You can hear it too: the á in falámos is open, like the "a" in "father".
For -er and -ir verbs, the nós form is the same in the present and the past (comemos, saímos), so words like ontem make the meaning clear.
- Ontem jantámos fora.Yesterday we ate out.
- Ao sábado jantamos fora.On Saturdays we eat out.
Fui: ser and ir share the past
Ser (to be) and ir (to go) have exactly the same past forms: fui, foste, foi, fomos, foram. The sentence tells you which one is meant: Eu fui ao Porto ("I went to Porto"), Foi ótimo ("It was great").
Other everyday verbs are irregular too: estar → estive, ter → tive, fazer → fiz, ver → vi, dar → dei, poder → pude. For ele/ela, fazer gives fez and poder gives pôde, with an accent that tells it apart from the present pode.
- Nós fomos à praia.We went to the beach.
- Como foi o jantar?How was dinner?
- Eu estive em casa e fiz o jantar.I was at home and made dinner.
Já and ainda não
Já means "already". In questions it means "yet" or "ever": Já comeste? ("Have you eaten yet?"). Where English says "have you done", Portuguese simply uses the past.
To answer, repeat the verb: Já comi. ("Yes, I have.") Or say Ainda não. ("Not yet.")
Já is one of the words that pull little pronouns in front of the verb: Levantei-me cedo, but Já me levantei.
- Já viste este filme?Have you seen this film?
- Eu ainda não almocei.I haven't had lunch yet.
- Eu já me levantei.I'm already up.
Ontem, na semana passada, há dois dias
Useful words for the past: ontem (yesterday), anteontem (the day before yesterday), ontem à noite (last night), na semana passada (last week), no fim de semana passado (last weekend), no ano passado (last year).
To say "ago", put há in front of the time: há dois dias (two days ago), há uma semana (a week ago), há muito tempo (a long time ago). It is the same há as in "there is".
- Eu cheguei a Lisboa há dois dias.I arrived in Lisbon two days ago.
- No ano passado fomos aos Açores.Last year we went to the Azores.