Verbs: The Imperfect IndicativeNot too difficult eh? Right then, let’s start to make things a little more complicated. Another tense that has to do with the past is the ‘imperfect indicative’. Basically, this refers to an action that took place in the past, but was ongoing for a period of time and where the time of completion of the action is not specified. It is precisely because of this lack of a specified time that the tense is called ‘imperfect’. Some examples: ‘he was walking’; ‘they were shouting’; ‘we were playing’.
This tense is used a lot more frequently in Portuguese than it is in English – often, we just use the preterite even if the action we are referring to was more of an ongoing process than an event or accomplishment. In Portuguese though, the distinction is clear, so whenever you are talking about something that extended over an indefinite period of time – as opposed to an event or something that was accomplished – you use the imperfect indicative, not the preterite.
| Imperfect indicative tense of the first conjugation regular verb: trabalhar (to work) | trabalhava | trabalhávamos | trabalhavas | trabalháveis | trabalhava | trabalhavam |
| Imperfect indicative tense of the first conjugation regular verb: pensar (to think) | | pensava | pensávamos | | pensavas | pensáveis | | pensava | pensavam |
| Imperfect indicative tense of the second conjugation regular verb: comer (to eat) | comia | comíamos | comias | comíeis | comia | comiam |
| Imperfect indicative tense of the second conjugation regular verb: escrever (to write). | escrevia | escrevíamos | escrevias | escrevíeis | escrevia | escreviam |
| Imperfect indicative tense of the third conjugation regular verb: discernir (to discern). | | discernia | discerníamos | | discernias | discerníeis | | discernia | discerniam |
| Imperfect indicative tense of the third conjugation regular verb: assistir (to attend; to watch) | assistia | assistíamos | assistias | assistíeis | assistia | assistiam |
Irregular imperfect indicatives…
| Imperfect indicative tense of the irregular first conjugation verb: estar (to be) | | estava | estávamos | | estavas | estáveis | | estava | estavam |
| Imperfect indicative tense of the irregular second conjugation verb: ser (to be) | | era | éramos | | eras | éreis | | era | eram |
| Imperfect indicative tense of the irregular third conjugation verb: ir (to go) | | ia | íamos | | ias | íeis | ia | iam |
This tense is also used when you want to refer to something that used to happen. You can either use appropriate conjugation of the verb in the imperfect tense directly, or use the appropriate conjugation of the verb ‘costumar’ in the imperfect, followed by the infinitive of the verb you are referring to (so ‘Eu costumava trabalhar aqui’ and ‘Eu trabalhava aqui’ could both be used to mean ‘I used to work here’).
So the following sentences all make use of the imperfect indicative tense when translated into Portuguese:
I used to work here in those days I was working here in those days I worked here in those days
Note how the last sentence uses the preterite in English, but because it refers to an ongoing past action, would be translated as the imperfect indicative (in this case, ‘trabalhava’) in Portuguese.
Note also, the difference between the words ‘foi’ (preterite) and ‘era’ (imperfect indicative) – and their equivalents for the other ‘persons’ of their respective tenses. This is often the source of confusion, because both words are usually translated as ‘was’ in English, and both come from the verb ‘ser’. The rule is exactly the same as for the other verbs though – ‘foi’ is used for an event or accomplished action, and ‘era’ relates to an action or process which occurred over an indefinite period of time in the past. So…
A exposição foi boa | The exhibition was good (referring to a known time period) | Era um homem bom | He was a good man (over an unspecified period of time) |
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