The construction passar a + infinitivo means to start doing something — and to keep doing it as a new normal. It is one of the most useful aspect markers in Brazilian Portuguese, and one that learners almost never produce on their own, because English has no clean equivalent. We say "started to," but that English phrase is neutral about whether the behavior stuck. Portuguese passar a is not neutral: it announces a permanent shift from not-doing to doing.
Mastering it is a quiet but powerful upgrade. A Brazilian who hears you say passei a estudar todos os dias immediately understands that this is now part of your life, not a one-off. That precision is exactly what makes your Portuguese sound native rather than translated.
The core meaning: a change of state, not just a beginning
The verb passar literally means "to pass" or "to move across." With the preposition a and an infinitive, that crossing-over image becomes figurative: the subject crosses over from one state of behavior into another. Before, you didn't do X; now you do, and that is the new state of affairs.
Depois daquele dia, eu passei a estudar todos os dias.
After that day, I started studying every day (and have kept it up since).
Com o novo chefe, a empresa passou a exigir relatórios semanais.
With the new boss, the company started requiring weekly reports (now a standing rule).
Depois que tive o bebê, passei a acordar às cinco da manhã.
After I had the baby, I started waking up at five in the morning.
In all three, the action did not just begin and end — it became the rule. The new behavior persists. That permanence is the whole point of passar a.
Começar a vs. passar a: the key contrast
This is the contrast that matters. Both translate as "start to" in English, but they say different things.
- começar a + infinitivo — to begin to. Neutral. It marks the onset of an action and says nothing about whether it continued. Comecei a estudar could be true even if you quit ten minutes later.
- passar a + infinitivo — to start (permanently). It marks a change of state. Passei a estudar implies the studying became a lasting part of your routine.
| começar a | passar a | |
|---|---|---|
| Focus | The moment something begins | The shift to a new normal |
| Permanence implied? | No — open whether it lasted | Yes — the behavior persists |
| Typical trigger | — | An event that caused the change |
| Example | Comecei a correr. (I started running — maybe once) | Passei a correr. (Running is now part of my life) |
Comecei a ler aquele livro ontem.
I started reading that book yesterday. (just the onset — nothing about a habit)
Depois da palestra, passei a ler todos os dias.
After the talk, I started reading every day. (it became a habit)
Notice that passar a almost always travels with a trigger: "after that day," "with the new boss," "since the move." The construction implies something happened, and as a result, my behavior permanently changed. Começar a needs no such trigger; it can describe a simple, isolated beginning.
For the neutral aspectual partners — começar a (start), parar de (stop), continuar (continue) — see Começar a / Parar de / Continuar.
Passar a for adopting a new status or label
Beyond habits, passar a marks the moment you start being called something or being treated as something — a change of status. This is extremely common with passar a ser ("to come to be / to now be").
Depois do casamento, ela passou a se chamar Ana Souza.
After the wedding, she started going by Ana Souza.
Com a reforma, esse documento passou a ser obrigatório.
With the reform, this document is now mandatory.
A partir de hoje, o João passa a ser o responsável pela equipe.
As of today, João is now in charge of the team.
Here passar a ser is close to English "now is" or "as of now becomes." It is the natural way to announce a new official status — in contracts, organizational emails, and news. Note the register is neutral-to-formal here, very common in administrative writing.
Tenses: present, preterite, and beyond
The verb passar is fully regular (-ar), so the periphrasis is mechanically easy. Only passar is conjugated; the preposition a is fixed and the lexical verb stays infinitive.
| Tense of passar | Example | Gloss |
|---|---|---|
| Pretérito perfeito | Eu passei a trabalhar de casa. | I started working from home. |
| Presente | A loja passa a abrir aos domingos. | The store now opens on Sundays. |
| Futuro | Você passará a receber por e-mail. (formal) | You will start receiving (it) by email. |
| Pretérito imperfeito | Aos poucos, ele passava a confiar nela. | Little by little, he was coming to trust her. |
A partir do mês que vem, vamos passar a usar o sistema novo.
Starting next month, we'll begin using the new system (for good).
Notice you can even stack it with the periphrastic future: vamos passar a usar ("we're going to start using"). The layered periphrasis is perfectly natural and signals a planned, lasting change.
Common Mistakes
The errors below come straight from English-speaker habits: reaching for "começar" by default, dropping the a, and confusing passar a (start) with passar a + noun or with deixar de (stop).
❌ Depois disso, eu comecei a estudar todos os dias (e nunca mais parei).
Awkward — 'começar a' undersells the permanence you're trying to convey.
✅ Depois disso, eu passei a estudar todos os dias.
After that, I started studying every day (and it stuck).
❌ Ela passou estudar de manhã.
Incorrect — the preposition 'a' is obligatory after 'passar' in this sense.
✅ Ela passou a estudar de manhã.
She started studying in the mornings.
❌ Eu passei estudar muito ontem.
Confusing — 'passar (tempo) + gerúndio' would be 'passei estudando' (I spent the time studying); the infinitive 'passar a estudar' means a permanent habit, which clashes with 'ontem'.
✅ Ontem eu passei a tarde estudando.
Yesterday I spent the afternoon studying. (a different construction: passar + time + gerund)
❌ Com a dieta, passei a comer doce.
Logically odd if you mean you QUIT sweets — 'passar a' means you STARTED. To stop, use 'deixar de'.
✅ Com a dieta, deixei de comer doce.
With the diet, I stopped eating sweets.
The last pair highlights the mirror image of passar a. To mark a permanent stop, Portuguese uses deixar de + infinitivo ("to give up doing / stop doing for good"). Passar a crosses into a behavior; deixar de crosses out of one. They are the two halves of permanent behavioral change.
Ele passou a fumar aos vinte e deixou de fumar aos quarenta.
He took up smoking at twenty and gave it up at forty.
Key Takeaways
- Passar a + infinitivo = to start doing something as a new, lasting normal. The preposition a is obligatory.
- It contrasts with neutral começar a (just the onset, no permanence). Use passar a when a change stuck.
- It usually travels with a trigger: depois daquele dia, com o novo chefe, a partir de hoje.
- Passar a ser announces a new status — common in formal and administrative Portuguese.
- Its opposite is deixar de + infinitivo (to stop doing something for good).
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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.
- 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.
- Vir a + Infinitivo: Eventually / End UpB1 — How 'vir a' + infinitive marks an unplanned culmination — something that eventually came to happen — and why Brazilians prefer 'acabar' in speech.
- 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.
- Ficar vs Tornar-se vs Virar: BecomeB1 — How Portuguese expresses 'become' with ficar (spontaneous/emotional change), tornar-se (gradual/deliberate transformation), and virar (turning into, colloquial).