Aspect is not when an action happens (that's tense) but how it unfolds — whether it's starting, continuing, stopping, repeating, or about to begin. Brazilian Portuguese marks aspect with a beautifully rich set of periphrases: a conjugated auxiliary verb plus an infinitive or gerund. Where English often needs a whole extra clause ("she started to," "he was about to," "they did it again"), Portuguese frequently packs the same nuance into a tidy two-verb phrase. This page surveys that system so you can express exactly the shade you mean.
The general shape is always [conjugated auxiliary] + [link] + [main verb], where the link is a preposition (a, de), nothing, or a gerund. The auxiliary carries tense and person; the main verb stays in the infinitive or gerund.
Inceptive: starting an action
These mark the beginning of an action.
- começar a
- infinitive — the neutral, everyday "to start to."
- pôr-se a
- infinitive — "to set about / burst into," slightly more dramatic or literary; suggests a sudden start.
- passar a
Começou a chover bem na hora em que saímos de casa.
It started to rain right when we left the house.
Ao ouvir a notícia, ela se pôs a chorar.
On hearing the news, she burst into tears.
Depois da consulta, passei a comer muito menos açúcar.
After the appointment, I started eating much less sugar (from then on).
The contrast between começar a and passar a is subtle but real: começou a comer menos simply notes the start; passou a comer menos frames it as adopting a new regime that continues.
Continuative: keeping an action going
- continuar a
- seguir
- gerund — "to go on doing," somewhat more formal/literary in Brazil.
- andar
- gerund — "to have been doing (lately)," a wonderfully Brazilian aspect: recent, habitual, ongoing-around-this-period activity.
Mesmo cansada, ela continuou trabalhando até de madrugada.
Even tired, she kept working until dawn.
Apesar das críticas, o projeto segue avançando.
Despite the criticism, the project keeps moving forward.
Ando dormindo muito mal esses dias.
I've been sleeping really badly these days.
Cessative: stopping an action
- parar de
- infinitive — "to stop (doing)," the everyday choice.
- deixar de
- infinitive — "to stop / quit / cease to," often with a sense of giving something up, or (in the negative) of failing to do something one ought.
- cessar de
- infinitive — "to cease," formal/literary.
Parei de fumar faz três anos e nunca mais senti vontade.
I quit smoking three years ago and never felt the urge again.
Ele deixou de me responder as mensagens do nada.
He stopped answering my messages out of nowhere.
The negative of deixar de is idiomatic and worth memorizing: não deixe de = "don't fail to / be sure to."
Não deixe de provar a tapioca quando for ao Nordeste.
Don't miss trying tapioca when you go to the Northeast.
Iterative: repeating an action
This is where Portuguese out-precises English.
- voltar a
- infinitive — "to do again / resume," after an interruption or gap. Implies the action had stopped and now returns.
- tornar a
- infinitive — "to do (once) again," more formal/literary, emphasizing the repetition of the act itself.
- repetir — to repeat (the concrete act).
Depois de anos parada, voltei a estudar piano.
After years off, I took up studying piano again.
Ele prometeu que nunca mais tornaria a mentir.
He promised he'd never lie again.
| Phrase | Nuance | Example |
|---|---|---|
| voltar a fazer | resume after a gap | Voltei a treinar depois da lesão. |
| tornar a fazer | repeat the act (formal) | Não torne a fazer isso. |
| fazer de novo | do again (neutral, colloquial) | Faz de novo, por favor. |
Não treino há meses, mas vou voltar a malhar na segunda.
I haven't trained in months, but I'm going to start working out again on Monday.
Imminent: about to happen
- estar para
- infinitive — "to be about to," with a sense of imminence (and sometimes "to be in the mood / inclined to," in the negative).
- estar prestes a
- infinitive — "to be on the verge of," more formal and emphatic.
- estar a ponto de
- infinitive — "to be at the point of," strong imminence, often emotional.
O filme está para começar, vamos achar nossos lugares.
The movie's about to start, let's find our seats.
A empresa estava prestes a fechar quando recebeu o investimento.
The company was on the verge of closing when it got the investment.
Eu estava a ponto de desistir de tudo.
I was at the point of giving up on everything.
Watch the idiom in the negative: não estou para brincadeira doesn't mean "about to" — it means "I'm not in the mood for games." Context tells you which reading applies.
Resultative: the resulting state
These describe the state that results from an action, blurring the line between aspect and a simple change of state.
- ficar
- adjective — "to become / end up," the workhorse of Brazilian change-of-state expression.
- deixar
- adjective — "to make / leave (something in a state)," the causative counterpart.
Ela ficou muito feliz com a notícia da promoção.
She got really happy at the news of the promotion.
O barulho da obra me deixou irritado o dia todo.
The noise from the construction left me irritated all day.
Putting it together
Real Brazilian speech stacks and chooses among these constantly. The skill is matching the periphrasis to the precise nuance:
Andei pensando em voltar a estudar, mas ainda não comecei a procurar curso.
I've been thinking about going back to studying, but I haven't started looking for a course yet.
That single sentence uses three aspectual periphrases — andar pensando (recent ongoing thought), voltar a estudar (resuming after a gap), começar a procurar (inceptive) — and each one is doing distinct work that English needs more words to convey.
Common Mistakes
❌ Comecei estudar português ano passado.
Incorrect — começar requires 'a' before the infinitive.
✅ Comecei a estudar português ano passado.
I started studying Portuguese last year.
❌ Ele parou a fumar.
Incorrect — parar takes 'de', not 'a'.
✅ Ele parou de fumar.
He stopped smoking.
❌ Voltei estudar piano depois de anos.
Incorrect — voltar (to resume) requires 'a'.
✅ Voltei a estudar piano depois de anos.
I went back to studying piano after years.
❌ Eu estou estudando muito esses dias. (when meaning a recent habitual stretch)
Not wrong, but flat; 'andar + gerund' captures the 'lately' nuance better.
✅ Eu ando estudando muito esses dias.
I've been studying a lot lately.
The two errors English speakers make most are: (1) dropping the linking preposition, because English says "start studying" with no to — but começar, voltar, and passar all demand a, while parar and deixar demand de; and (2) under-using the gerund periphrases (andar fazendo, continuar fazendo) and falling back on plain estar fazendo, which loses the "lately / keep on" nuance that makes speech sound native. Memorize the link as part of the phrase — começar a, parar de, voltar a, deixar de — exactly as on the verb-preposition pairs page.
Key Takeaways
- Aspect = how an action unfolds (starting, continuing, stopping, repeating, imminent), expressed by auxiliary + main verb.
- Inceptive: começar a, pôr-se a, passar a. Continuative: continuar a/-ndo, seguir -ndo, andar -ndo. Cessative: parar de, deixar de.
- Iterative: voltar a (resume) vs. tornar a (repeat the act) — a distinction English lacks.
- Imminent: estar para, estar prestes a, estar a ponto de.
- Andar + gerund ("lately I've been...") is the most underused native-sounding aspect for learners.
- The linking preposition is fixed and obligatory; never drop it.
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Periphrastic Verb Constructions: OverviewA1 — A tour of the verb + verb constructions that dominate spoken Brazilian Portuguese, with the key BR vs. European Portuguese contrasts.
- Verbs with Required PrepositionsB1 — The most important Brazilian Portuguese verb + preposition pairs — gostar de, assistir a, pensar em, contar com, lutar por — grouped by preposition, with notes on which ones colloquial speech drops.
- Andar + Gerúndio: Going Around DoingB1 — How 'andar' + gerund describes recent, ongoing behavior — 'I've been doing X lately' — often with a note of evaluation or mild criticism.
- Começar a / Parar de / Continuar + InfinitivoA2 — Phase-marking verbs in Brazilian Portuguese — começar a, parar de, continuar, voltar a, deixar de — and the prepositions each one takes.
- Advanced Verb TopicsB2 — A map of the advanced verb system in Brazilian Portuguese — defective verbs, aspect, verb-preposition pairs, causatives, and the nuances that separate fluent speakers from advanced learners.