Portuguese Year 4: Verbs: what used to happen and what we command
Portuguese, Year 4 (Portugal): The imperfect indicative (cantava, comia) and the imperative (canta! não cantes!) of regular and irregular verbs.
Two ways of using a verb
The imperfect (pretérito imperfeito) tells what used to happen or went on for a while, in the past: «Eu brincava no quintal.» (I used to play in the yard.) Verbs in -ar end in -ava, -avas, -ava, -ávamos, -áveis, -avam; verbs in -er and -ir end in -ia, -ias, -ia, -íamos, -íeis, -iam. The imperative gives an order or makes a request: «Come a sopa!» (Eat your soup!) For «tu» it is like the present of «ele» (canta, come, parte); in the negative it changes: «Não cantes!»
The tense of stories, and of orders
The imperfect is the tense of tales and descriptions: «Era uma vez um rei que tinha três filhas.» (Once upon a time there was a king who had three daughters.) It says what things were like and what happened again and again: «Quando era pequeno, ia à praia todos os verões.» (When I was small, I went to the beach every summer.) The imperative is in orders, warnings and recipes: «Lava as mãos!» (Wash your hands!), «Mexe bem.» (Stir well.)
Conjugating step by step
Step 1: cantar → cant- + -ava: eu cantava (I used to sing), nós cantávamos. Step 2: comer → com- + -ia: eu comia, nós comíamos. Step 3: ser and ter are irregular: eu era, nós éramos; eu tinha, nós tínhamos. Step 4: imperative of «comer» for «tu»: «Come!» (Eat!) In the negative: «Não comas!» (Don't eat!)
A negative order changes, and some verbs go their own way
Beware of two mistakes. 1) In the negative, the imperative changes: «Come!» but «Não comas!» («Não come» is something else: “he does not eat”). 2) Some verbs have their own form in the imperfect: ser (era), ter (tinha), vir (vinha) and pôr (punha). And do not forget the accent in «nós cantávamos» and «nós comíamos».
Grandma's stories, recipes and signs
You meet the imperfect when grandma tells stories: «Naquele tempo, não havia telemóveis.» (In those days there were no mobile phones.) And the imperative is everywhere: in recipes («Junta o açúcar.», Add the sugar.), in games («Salta!», Jump!) and when you ask for something: «Ajuda-me, por favor.» (Help me, please.)
Test what you learned
Which of these sentences is in the imperfect (pretérito imperfeito)?
- a) Eu brincava no quintal.
- b) Eu brinquei no quintal ontem.
- c) Eu brinco no quintal.
- d) Eu vou brincar no quintal.
Correct answer: a) Eu brincava no quintal. — Yes: -ava is the imperfect ending of verbs in -ar. It tells what used to happen.
Which is the imperfect of «comer» for «nós» (we)?
- a) comeremos
- b) comemos
- c) comíamos
- d) comiamos
Correct answer: c) comíamos — Yes: com- + -íamos, the imperfect ending of verbs in -er, with an accent on the í.
Mum does not want Rui to eat the cake before dinner. She tells him to stop. What does she say?
- a) Não come o bolo!
- b) Não comas o bolo!
- c) Não comes o bolo!
Correct answer: b) Não comas o bolo! — Yes: the negative imperative for «tu» changes the ending: Come! → Não comas!
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