Imperfect Tense

O tempo imperfeito

Introduction

Introdução

Also known as the past continuous, the imperfect verb tense is used to describe events taking place in the past without regards to when the event began or ended.

The imperfect tense describes actions that:
• were happening,
• used to happen,
• or happened regularly in the past and on going.

The preterite is more akin to the English past tense, in that it specifies an exact time the action took place.

The examples below illustrate the difference with the word falar:

Imperfect
Ele falava.
She was talking.

Preterite
Ele falou.
She talked.

Vocabulary

Vocabulário

Play comer
to eat
Play pôr
to place to put (on, down)
Play sair
to leave to exit to go out
Play assistir
to watch to attend

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