A2 Completion Path

A2 is the level where the past opens up. At A1 you could say what is true now — eu moro em São Paulo, ela é médica. At A2 you learn to narrate: what happened, what used to happen, what you were doing when something interrupted. You also pick up the machinery that makes speech sound like a real person rather than a phrasebook — object pronouns, reflexive verbs, comparisons, the por/para split, and your very first taste of the subjunctive. This page sequences every A2 topic so you build two skills in parallel: narrating the past and expressing opinions and comparisons.

Prerequisite: finish the A1 Completion Path first. A2 assumes you already control the present indicative, ser/estar, articles, plurals, and the periphrastic future (vou + infinitivo). If any of those feel shaky, patch them before starting here — every section below builds on them.

1. The two past tenses (the heart of A2)

This is the single most important block at A2. Brazilian Portuguese splits the past into the pretérito perfeito (completed, bounded events — fui, comi, cheguei) and the imperfeito (background, habits, ongoing states — era, ia, comia). English collapses both into "I ate / I was eating / I used to eat," so the contrast is genuinely new and worth real practice.

Start with each tense on its own, then study the contrast:

• Pretérito Perfeito Simples Overview — the completed past
• Regular -ar Verbs, Regular -er Verbs, Regular -ir Verbs
• Pretérito Imperfeito Overview — the background past
• Imperfeito: Regular -ar Verbs and Regular -er and -ir Verbs

Then the contrast itself, which is where learners actually struggle:

• Pretérito Perfeito vs Imperfeito: Overview
• Time Marker Triggers — words like ontem vs sempre that tilt you toward one tense
• Imperfeito + Perfeito: Interrupting Actions

The perfeito (cheguei) is the single completed event; the imperfeito (estava cozinhando) is the scene already in progress around it. That pairing — a sharp event against a background — is the core of past narration.

You also need the high-frequency irregular preterites; they are the verbs you reach for constantly:

• Pretérito Perfeito of Ser and Ir (note: fui serves both)
• Pretérito Perfeito of Ter and Haver
• Of Fazer and Dizer, Of Poder and Querer
• Imperfeito of Ser (era) and of Ter, Vir, Pôr

2. The present perfect — and how it is NOT English

Brazilian Portuguese has a pretérito perfeito composto (tenho falado), but it does not mean "I have spoken." It means "I have been speaking repeatedly/lately." This trips up English speakers badly, so learn it as its own thing, not as a translation of the English perfect.

• Pretérito Perfeito Composto: Overview and Formation
• 'Há' / 'Faz' Constructions for Time Duration — how BR says "for two years"

3. Reflexive verbs

A2 introduces the reflexive pronouns me, te, se, nos and the verbs that need them. Some are truly self-directed (me machuquei — I hurt myself), some are change-of-state (levantar-se), and some are just lexically pronominal.

• Reflexive Verbs: Overview
• Reflexive Pronouns: me, te, se, nos
• True Reflexive Verbs, Change-of-State 'Se' Verbs, Reciprocal Reflexive
• Reflexive Pronoun Placement in BR — in speech, BR puts it before the verb: eu me levanto, not levanto-me

4. Object pronouns: direct and indirect

This is where BR diverges sharply from textbook Portuguese. The formal o/a/os/as exist, but in everyday speech Brazilians say vi ele, te vi, or simply drop the object. Learn the colloquial reality alongside the formal forms.

• Direct Object Pronouns: Overview and Placement in BR
• BR Colloquial Direct Object: 'Vi Ele' / 'Te Vi' — what people actually say
• Indirect Object Pronouns and Para Ele / Para Ela
• Comigo, Contigo, Conosco and Emphatic 'Mim'
• Nós vs A Gente — the everyday "we"

5. Demonstratives and possessives (extended)

A1 introduced este/esse/aquele; A2 systematizes them, adds the neuter forms, and teaches the contractions that are mandatory in writing.

• Demonstrative Pronouns: Este, Esse, Aquele
• Este vs Esse in BR: Spoken vs Written and Neuter Isto, Isso, Aquilo
• Demonstrative Contractions: Nesse, Naquele, Disso
• The 'Seu' Ambiguity Problem — why BR prefers dele/dela

6. Comparatives and superlatives

To express opinions you need comparison. A2 gives you the full set.

• Comparative: Regular Forms and Irregular Forms (melhor, pior, maior, menor)
• Relative Superlative and the very Brazilian Absolute Superlative (-íssimo)
• Comparison Structures and Comparison Sentences

7. Prepositions and the por/para split

A2 expands your prepositions and tackles the famous por vs para distinction — broadly, para points toward a destination or purpose, por points to a cause, route, or exchange.

• Por vs Para: Decision Guide (and the choosing/ version)
• Preposition 'Por' and A vs Para
• Até, Entre, Sem, Sobre
• Complete Contractions Reference and Contractions with 'Por' (Pelo, Pela)

8. More question words

• Por Que / Porque / Porquê / Por Quê: Four Forms — the four written forms English speakers always confuse

9. Your first subjunctive

A2 is where the subjunctive door cracks open. You do not master it here — you meet the present subjunctive and learn its most intuitive trigger: verbs of desire (quero que você venha). The point is to recognize the form and the logic; full mastery comes at B1.

• The Subjunctive in BR Portuguese: Overview
• When to Use the Subjunctive: Decision Guide
• Presente do Subjuntivo: Regular -ar Verbs and -er/-ir Verbs
• Subjunctive after Verbs of Desire and Will
• Futuro do Subjuntivo: Formation — BR uses this constantly after se and quando

10. Filling out everyday expression

The vocabulary-and-pattern pages that make A2 conversation real:

• At the Table: Food Expressions, Opinion Expressions, Agreement and Disagreement
• Opinion Markers (Acho Que, Na Minha Opinião) and Sequence Markers
• Há vs Existe vs Tem: There is/are and Saber vs Conhecer

Can-do summary: what A2 gives you

By the end of this path you can:

• Narrate a past experience — tell what happened, set the scene, and describe what you were doing when something interrupted.
• Talk about habits and routines in the past — "when I was a kid, I used to..."
• Compare things and people — bigger, smaller, better, the best, extremely + adjective.
• Express wishes and opinions — "I want you to...", "I think that...", "in my opinion..."
• Use object pronouns naturally the way Brazilians actually do, and handle reflexive verbs.
• Choose por vs para correctly in common cases and use a wider set of prepositions.

Milestones / how to use this path

1. Spend most of your time on Section 1. The perfeito/imperfeito contrast is 40% of A2's difficulty. Do not rush past it.
2. Work top to bottom, but loop back. Sections 3–9 lean on the past tenses and present indicative from A1.
3. Read alongside grammar. After Sections 1–2, read A2 Text: Holiday Letter and Weekend Plans to see the tenses in connected prose.
4. Self-check milestone: can you tell a one-minute story about your last weekend, using at least three perfeito verbs and two imperfeito verbs, and end with an opinion (acho que foi...)? If yes, you are ready for B1.
5. Don't worry about the subjunctive yet. Recognizing quero que venha is enough at A2; B1 is where it becomes a system.