Past: pretérito perfeito

The past tense for completed events. This is the one you will use most.

---

Grammar

1. The regular endings

Respellings: falei fah-LAY · falou fah-LOH · falaram fah-LAH-rowng · comi koh-MEE · comeu koh-MEH-oo · comeram koh-MEH-rowng · abri ah-BREE · abriu ah-BREE-oo

As in the present tense, -er and -ir differ only in the nós form, which you do not produce. Two patterns, not three.

Note that nós falamos is identical in present and past. Context does the work. This is another reason a gente is easier — a gente fala (present) vs a gente falou (past) is unambiguous.

2. Stress is the whole difference

For -ar verbs, present and past differ only in stress and one vowel:

Getting the stress wrong changes the tense. This is worth drilling out loud even though the handbook is not a speaking course — because you need to hear the difference.

3. The irregular verbs

Twelve of them, and they are irregular in an interesting way: the eu and the ele form often differ only in the final vowel, and the stress moves.

Respellings: fui fooey · foi foy · foram FOH-rowng · estive es-CHEE-vee · esteve es-TEH-vee · tive CHEE-vee · teve TEH-vee · fiz fees · fez fehs · pude POO-jee · quis kees · vi vee · viu VEE-oo · veio VAY-oo · dei day · deu deh-oo · soube SOH-bee

ser and ir share the same past tense. Eu fui means both I was and I went. Context always disambiguates:

• Eu fui ao mercado — I went to the market
• Eu fui médico — I was a doctor

4. Spelling changes in the eu form

Sound-preserving, not real irregularities:

Pronounced exactly as expected: pah-GAY, sheh-GAY, fee-KAY, peh-GAY.

5. When to use it

The pretérito perfeito covers both English past tenses:

Portuguese has a compound past (tenho comido) but it means something different — repeated action over a period — and you do not need it. One past tense covers both English forms. This is a simplification.

6. Time words that go with it

---

Examples

Regular -ar

Regular -er / -ir

The irregulars

ser vs ir — same forms

With time words

Questions and negatives in the past

Same rules as chapter 08 and 09 — nothing new.

---

What to take from this chapter

1. Two endings sets: -ei/-ou/-aram for -ar, -i/-eu/-iram for -er and -ir.
2. The stress shift is the tense: FAH-loo present, fah-LAY past.
3. ser and ir share one past. fui, foi, foram.
4. This one tense covers both I ate and I have eaten.
5. pagar → paguei, ficar → fiquei, chegar → cheguei. Spelling only.