Portuguese A2: How things were: the imperfeito · Phrases

The pretérito imperfeito describes how things were, what used to happen and what was going on: Quando era pequeno, morava em Braga. Endings: -ava, -avas, -ava, -ávamos, -avam for -ar verbs; -ia, -ias, -ia, -íamos, -iam for -er and -ir verbs. Irregular: ser → era, ter → tinha, ir → ia, pôr → punha.

• era — I was, it was (back then)
• tinha — I had (back then)
• morava — I used to live
• brincava — I used to play
• quando era pequeno — when I was little
• muitas vezes — often
• a infância — childhood
• antigamente — in the old days

• Quando era pequena, morava no Porto. — When I was little, I lived in Porto.
• Antigamente era tudo diferente. — Things used to be different.
• Íamos muitas vezes à praia. — We often went to the beach.
• Estava a chover quando saí. — It was raining when I left.