Past tense (pretérito perfeito): regular verbs

The pretérito perfeito (falei, comi, abri) is the main past tense for completed actions. It translates English “I spoke” and usually also “I have spoken”: Já comi (I’ve already eaten).

Spelling and use

• Verbs in -car, -gar, -çar change the eu-form to keep the sound: ficar → fiquei, chegar → cheguei, começar → comecei.
• The nós-form of -ar verbs looks like the present (falamos); context or words like ontem make it clear. Portugal writes falámos in the past.
• With já (already) and ainda não (not yet) Portuguese uses this tense where English uses the present perfect: Já terminei. Ainda não almocei.
• Typical time words: ontem, anteontem, na semana passada, no ano passado, em 2020, há dois dias.

Examples

• Ontem eu trabalhei até tarde.Yesterday I worked late.
• Vocês já comeram?Have you eaten yet?
• Ela abriu a janela.She opened the window.
• Cheguei em casa às dez.I got home at ten.
• Nós visitamos Salvador no ano passado.We visited Salvador last year.

Common mistakes

• ✗ Ontem eu trabalho muito.✓ Ontem eu trabalhei muito.A finished action yesterday needs the past form trabalhei; adding ontem to a present verb does not make it past in Portuguese any more than in English.
• ✗ Eu falou com ela.✓ Eu falei com ela.-ou is the ending for ele, ela and você; the eu-form of -ar verbs ends in -ei, which English “I spoke / he spoke” does not prepare you for.
• ✗ Eu comei uma pizza.✓ Eu comi uma pizza.-er verbs form the eu-past in -i, not -ei: comi; the -ei ending belongs only to -ar verbs.
• ✗ Eu chegei tarde.✓ Eu cheguei tarde.Before e, g is spelled gu to keep the hard sound: cheguei; English spelling has no rule like this, so the u is easy to forget.
• ✗ Eu tenho já comido.✓ Eu já comi.English “I have already eaten” is not copied with ter: Portuguese uses the simple past with já, because tenho comido has another meaning.