Adverbs of Time | Portuguese (Brazil) Grammar

Time adverbs (advérbios de tempo) anchor an action in time: when did it happen, how often, how soon. Most of them are everyday words you will use in your first conversations — hoje, ontem, amanhã, agora. But a few small ones, especially já and ainda, carry a range of meanings that English splits across several different words, and getting them right is one of the things that makes you sound fluent rather than translated.

The everyday anchors

These are the workhorses. Learn them as a block:

Portuguese	English	Portuguese	English
hoje	today	cedo	early
ontem	yesterday	tarde	late
amanhã	tomorrow	logo	soon
agora	now	antes	before
sempre	always	depois	after / later
nunca	never	então	then

Hoje eu não vou trabalhar.

I'm not working today.

A gente se fala depois, tá?

We'll talk later, okay?

Note the spelling of amanhã: the tilde on the final -ã is mandatory, and the -nh- is the Portuguese "ny" sound. Dropping the tilde is a real error, not a typo — amanha is not a word.

já: already, now, right away

Já is the single most useful — and most slippery — time adverb in the language. Its core meaning is "by this point," but that translates into English in three different ways depending on context.

1. Already (the action is complete, sooner than you might expect):

Eu já fiz o almoço.

I've already made lunch.

Você já comeu?

Have you eaten already / yet?

2. Right now / right away (immediacy, often with a future):

Já vou!

I'm coming right now!

Pode deixar que eu faço já.

Don't worry, I'll do it right away.

3. With negation, "no longer / not anymore" — já não or, more colloquially in Brazil, não... mais:

Ela já não mora aqui.

She no longer lives here.

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In Brazil, the everyday way to say "not anymore" is usually não... mais (ela não mora mais aqui), while já não (ela já não mora aqui) sounds slightly more formal or literary. Both are correct; the mais version is what you will hear on the street.

The thing to internalize is that English uses already, yet, now, and right away as separate words, while Portuguese funnels all of them through já. When you want any of those meanings, reach for já first.

ainda: still, yet

Ainda is the partner of já. Where já says "this has happened by now," ainda says "this is continuing" or "this has not happened by now."

1. Still (an ongoing state):

Eu ainda estou esperando o ônibus.

I'm still waiting for the bus.

2. Not yet (ainda não):

A gente ainda não decidiu.

We haven't decided yet.

3. Even / still more (with comparatives):

Esse é ainda melhor que o outro.

This one is even better than the other.

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The clean pairing to memorize: já = "by now (it's done)", ainda = "by now (it's still going / not done)". So já cheguei ("I've arrived") versus ainda não cheguei ("I haven't arrived yet"). They are opposite sides of the same time-window logic.

nunca vs jamais: never and never-ever

Both mean "never," but they are not perfectly interchangeable. Nunca is the neutral, everyday word. Jamais is more emphatic and more formal/literary — closer to English "never ever" or "not in a million years." Using jamais in casual chat sounds dramatic, which is sometimes exactly the effect you want.

Eu nunca fui ao Nordeste.

I've never been to the Northeast.

Jamais vou esquecer o que ele fez por mim.

I will never ever forget what he did for me.

Note that nunca and jamais are themselves negatives, so when they come before the verb you do not add não: nunca fui (not não nunca fui). When the negative word follows the verb, you do need não: não fui nunca.

sempre: more than just "always"

Sempre usually means "always," but in Brazil it has a second, very common colloquial use: confirming that a plan is still on, equivalent to "after all" or "in the end."

Eu sempre tomo café sem açúcar.

I always drink coffee without sugar.

Você sempre vai à festa?

Are you still going to the party (after all)?

That second meaning catches learners off guard — the question is not asking whether you always go to parties, it is checking whether the plan is still on.

Register: atualmente, antigamente, recentemente

For more formal or written time-framing, Portuguese uses -mente adverbs. Atualmente (currently — and a classic false friend: it does not mean "actually") frames the present; antigamente (in the old days) frames a vague past; recentemente (recently) the near past.

Atualmente, ela mora em São Paulo.

She currently lives in São Paulo.

Antigamente, ninguém trancava a porta.

In the old days, nobody locked their door.

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Atualmente is a false friend: it means "currently / nowadays," NOT "actually." To say "actually," Brazilians use na verdade or na real (informal). So Na verdade, eu não concordo = "Actually, I don't agree."

Placement

Time adverbs are flexible and can open the sentence, sit right before the verb, or follow it — but já, ainda, sempre, and nunca tend to cluster close to the verb, usually just before it in everyday speech. The fine-grained placement rules (and what changes in formal writing) are covered on the dedicated placement page.

Ele sempre chega atrasado.

He always arrives late.

Amanhã eu te ligo, prometo.

I'll call you tomorrow, I promise.

Common Mistakes

❌ Você já comeu ainda?

Incorrect — mixing 'já' and 'ainda' in the same question; pick one.

✅ Você já comeu?

Have you eaten yet?

❌ Atualmente eu não sei a resposta.

Incorrect if you mean 'actually' — 'atualmente' means 'currently'.

✅ Na verdade, eu não sei a resposta.

Actually, I don't know the answer.

❌ Eu não nunca fui lá.

Incorrect — a preverbal 'nunca' already negates; don't add 'não'.

✅ Eu nunca fui lá.

I've never been there.

❌ Amanha a gente conversa.

Incorrect — 'amanhã' needs the tilde on the final vowel.

✅ Amanhã a gente conversa.

We'll talk tomorrow.

The já / ainda mix-up in the first pair is the most common one for English speakers, because English allows "yet" to appear in both kinds of question (have you eaten yet? / aren't you finished yet?). In Portuguese, an affirmative "have you done X" question uses já (já comeu?), and only the negative "haven't you done X yet" uses ainda não (ainda não comeu?).

Key Takeaways

Master the pair: já = "by now, done/now" and ainda = "still / not yet."
já covers English already, yet, now, and right away.
nunca is neutral "never"; jamais is emphatic, formal "never ever."
A preverbal nunca/jamais does not take não.
atualmente = "currently," a false friend for "actually" (use na verdade).
Don't drop the tilde on amanhã.

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