Sequence markers tell you what order events come in; temporal markers tell you how events sit in time relative to each other — simultaneously, immediately after, gradually, or in a different era altogether. The two groups overlap (both can mean "then"), but a temporal marker stresses the time-relation, not just the position in a list. This page covers the Brazilian Portuguese toolkit for that — and the one feature that trips up every English speaker: several of these markers force the future subjunctive when they point at the future.
The simultaneity markers: quando, enquanto, ao mesmo tempo
Quando (when) marks a point in time; enquanto (while) marks a stretch of time during which something else is true. English uses "when" loosely for both, so learners reach for quando where Portuguese wants enquanto.
Quando eu cheguei, a reunião já tinha começado.
When I arrived, the meeting had already started.
Enquanto você cozinha, eu arrumo a mesa.
While you cook, I'll set the table.
The test: if you can substitute "during the time that," use enquanto. If you mean "at the moment that," use quando. Ao mesmo tempo (at the same time) adds explicit emphasis on co-occurrence, and enquanto isso (meanwhile) bridges two parallel narratives.
Ele falava ao telefone e dirigia ao mesmo tempo.
He was talking on the phone and driving at the same time.
The "as soon as" markers — and the future subjunctive trap
Assim que and logo que both mean "as soon as." They behave identically and are interchangeable. The critical point: when the event is in the future, these markers require the future subjunctive, not the present indicative. English uses the present here ("as soon as I arrive"), so the instinct to use chego is strong and wrong.
Assim que eu chegar em casa, te ligo.
As soon as I get home, I'll call you.
Logo que o jogo terminar, a gente sai.
As soon as the game ends, we'll leave.
Here chegar and terminar are future subjunctive forms, not infinitives — they happen to look identical to the infinitive for regular verbs, which is why learners don't notice the rule until they hit an irregular verb like fizer (from fazer) or for (from ser/ir).
Assim que você puder, me avisa.
As soon as you can, let me know.
When the event is habitual or already happened, you use the indicative as normal:
Assim que ele chega no trabalho, toma um café.
As soon as he gets to work, he has a coffee. (habitual)
Before and after: antes (de/disso) and depois (de/disso)
Antes and depois connect to what came before or after. Three forms matter:
- antes de / depois de + infinitive — "before/after doing something" (same subject).
- antes que + subjunctive — "before" with a different subject and a sense of forestalling.
- antes disso / depois disso — "before that / after that," pointing back at the previous sentence.
Depois de assinar o contrato, percebi o erro.
After signing the contract, I noticed the mistake.
Saí correndo antes que começasse a chover.
I ran out before it started to rain.
Ela perdeu o emprego. Antes disso, já estava com dívidas.
She lost her job. Before that, she was already in debt.
Notice antes que takes the subjunctive (começasse) — it always does, because "before X happens" frames X as not-yet-real. This is one of the few subjunctive triggers with no exceptions.
Gradual change: à medida que and conforme
À medida que means "as / in proportion as" — it links two things that change together, gradually. Conforme is a common synonym in this sense (and also means "according to" elsewhere). English "as" covers both, but it also covers quando and enquanto, so this is a four-way split English collapses into one word.
À medida que envelhecemos, valorizamos mais o tempo livre.
As we get older, we value free time more.
Conforme a água ferve, a pressão aumenta.
As the water boils, the pressure rises.
The keyword is proportion: more of one thing brings more of the other. If there's no gradual co-variation, use quando or enquanto instead. Note the spelling: medida carries no accent, but the fixed phrase à medida que opens with the grave accent à (the crasis of a + a).
Transitions in narrative: então, de repente, naquele momento, nesse meio tempo
These move a story along:
- então — "then / so," the all-purpose narrative pivot (crosses registers).
- de repente — "suddenly," for an abrupt turn.
- naquele momento — "at that moment," to freeze a specific instant.
- nesse meio tempo / nesse ínterim (formal) — "in the meantime / meanwhile."
- entrementes (formal/literary) — "meanwhile," archaic-flavored, found in older or elevated prose.
Estávamos quase dormindo quando, de repente, o alarme disparou.
We were almost asleep when, suddenly, the alarm went off.
O médico saiu. Nesse meio tempo, a família esperava notícias.
The doctor left. In the meantime, the family waited for news.
Entrementes, o reino mergulhava no caos.
Meanwhile, the kingdom was sinking into chaos. (literary)
Use entrementes only when you're deliberately writing in an elevated or literary register; in everyday speech or standard prose it sounds antiquated. Nesse meio tempo is the neutral everyday choice.
Eras: antigamente, hoje em dia, atualmente
These locate events on the timeline of epochs rather than within a single narrative.
- antigamente — "in the old days, back in the day" (a vanished past state of affairs).
- hoje em dia — "nowadays" (the present era, often contrastive with the past).
- atualmente — "currently, at present" (more formal/neutral than hoje em dia).
Antigamente, as pessoas escreviam cartas; hoje em dia, é tudo mensagem.
In the old days people wrote letters; nowadays it's all texting.
Atualmente, a empresa atua em doze países.
The company currently operates in twelve countries. (neutral/formal)
Antigamente specifically frames the past as no longer the case — it's not just "in the past" (no passado) but "back when things were different." That contrastive flavor is why it pairs so naturally with hoje em dia.
Common Mistakes
❌ Assim que eu chego em casa, te ligo.
Wrong mood — a future event after 'assim que' needs the future subjunctive 'chegar'.
✅ Assim que eu chegar em casa, te ligo.
As soon as I get home, I'll call you.
This is the single most common temporal-marker error for English speakers, because English uses the present indicative ("as soon as I get") in exactly this slot.
❌ Quando você cozinha, eu arrumo a mesa.
Means 'whenever you cook' — for the ongoing 'while', use 'enquanto'.
✅ Enquanto você cozinha, eu arrumo a mesa.
While you cook, I'll set the table.
❌ Antes que ele chega, vamos arrumar a casa.
'Antes que' always takes the subjunctive — 'chegue', not 'chega'.
✅ Antes que ele chegue, vamos arrumar a casa.
Before he arrives, let's tidy up the house.
❌ A medida que envelhecemos...
Missing the grave accent — the fixed phrase is 'à medida que'.
✅ À medida que envelhecemos...
As we get older...
❌ Antigamente as pessoas escrevem cartas.
Tense clash — 'antigamente' frames a past state, so use the imperfect 'escreviam'.
✅ Antigamente, as pessoas escreviam cartas.
In the old days, people wrote letters.
Key Takeaways
- quando = a point in time; enquanto = a stretch of time (and sometimes "whereas").
- assim que / logo que / antes que point at the future or the unreal and therefore take the future subjunctive (or, for antes que, always the subjunctive).
- à medida que / conforme mark gradual, proportional change — English "as," but only the proportional kind.
- então, de repente, nesse meio tempo move a narrative along; entrementes is its literary cousin.
- antigamente (vanished past) vs hoje em dia / atualmente (present era) place events across epochs, not within one story.
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Sequence Markers (Primeiro, Depois, Por Fim)A2 — How Brazilian Portuguese orders events and steps in time — primeiro, depois, em seguida, por fim in writing, and the all-purpose 'aí' in speech.
- Prepositions of TimeA2 — The Brazilian Portuguese system of temporal prepositions — em, a/às, de, por, durante, desde, até, há, daqui a — and the crucial daqui-a (future) vs. há (past) split for measuring distance in time.
- Adverbial ClausesB1 — How Brazilian Portuguese builds time, cause, condition, concession, purpose, result and comparison clauses — and why each conjunction picks the indicative or the subjunctive.
- Discourse Markers: OverviewA2 — What discourse markers do, how they link ideas across a text or conversation, and why Brazilian Portuguese sharply splits them between spoken and written registers.