Holiday Letter (A2) | Portuguese (Portugal) Grammar

A short email from Mariana to her friend Ana, sent from the Algarve the day she got back. The email tells the story of a week's holiday — where she went, what she did, what the weather was like, and what the best moments were. Behind the breezy surface it is doing serious grammatical work: it deploys the full European Portuguese past-tense system, most importantly the contrast between the pretérito perfeito simples (the "preterite") and the pretérito imperfeito (the "imperfect"), and it showcases the -ámos ending that is one of the most distinctive orthographic features of PT-PT.

This is the tense contrast that every A2 learner must internalise. If you hear a Portuguese person tell a story about their weekend, about their last holiday, about the day they met their partner — it is these two tenses, braided together, doing all the work.

The letter

De: mariana@... Para: ana@... Assunto: Finalmente, férias!
Olá, Ana!
Como estás? Ontem voltei do Algarve e ainda estou em modo de férias. Fui com o Pedro para Lagos, ficámos numa casinha perto da praia e adorámos tudo.
Na segunda-feira chegámos a meio da tarde. Estava um calor incrível, devia haver uns trinta e cinco graus, e havia pouca gente na praia porque toda a gente se tinha escondido do sol. Fomos logo à água — estava fresquinha, mesmo o que precisávamos.
Passámos a semana entre a praia e os cafés da marginal. De manhã fazíamos a mesma rotina: tomávamos o pequeno-almoço na esplanada, caminhávamos até à praia e ficávamos lá até ao almoço. À tarde, quando estava demasiado calor, voltávamos para casa e descansávamos.
Um dia alugámos um carro e fomos até Sagres. Vimos o farol, comemos uns percebes num restaurantezinho à beira-mar e apanhámos o pôr do sol no Cabo de São Vicente. Foi das coisas mais bonitas que já vi.
Na quinta-feira, houve uma trovoada enorme — choveu toda a noite. Ficámos em casa a ver um filme e acabámos por adormecer no sofá. No dia seguinte, o tempo estava outra vez perfeito.
Voltámos ontem, já saudosos. Tenho tantas fotografias para te mostrar! Quando é que nos juntamos para um café?
Um beijinho grande, Mariana

Grammar in action

Opening: Como estás? Ontem voltei do Algarve e ainda estou em modo de férias.

Como estás? — the standard informal greeting, using tu. A formal letter would use Como está? with você/o senhor/a senhora.
Ontem = "yesterday" — the classic trigger for the preterite. The preterite is the tense for a completed, bounded past event. Voltei = "I came back / I returned", 1st-person singular preterite of voltar.
Voltei do Algarve — note the contraction de + o = do. Regional names in Portugal often take the definite article: o Algarve, o Alentejo, o Ribatejo, a Beira, os Açores, a Madeira. Saying voltei de Algarve is ungrammatical.

Ontem voltei do Algarve.

Yesterday I came back from the Algarve.

Paragraph 1: Fui com o Pedro para Lagos, ficámos numa casinha perto da praia e adorámos tudo.

Fui — 1st singular preterite of ir (identical in form to the preterite of ser; context disambiguates).
Ficámos, adorámos — 1st plural preterite of ficar and adorar. Note the acute accent on the -á-. This is the crown-jewel orthographic feature of European Portuguese: the 1st plural preterite of regular -ar verbs is written falámos, chegámos, ficámos, adorámos, while the present indicative is falamos, chegamos, ficamos, adoramos (no accent). The vowel is phonologically different too: open [a] in falámos, closed [ɐ] in falamos. Under AO90, Portugal retained this accent; Brazil dropped it and writes falamos for both tenses. See Regular -ar Preterite.
Uma casinha — diminutive of casa. Not "small house"; the suffix signals affection: "a lovely little house".
Para Lagos — the preposition para (rather than a) marks a longer, more decisive destination. Fui a Lagos = quick trip; Fui para Lagos = I went for the whole holiday.

Ficámos uma semana em Lagos.

We stayed a week in Lagos. (preterite — completed stay)

No domingo ficamos em casa.

On Sundays we stay home. (present — habitual)

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The acute accent on -ámos is not optional. Nós falámos ontem (preterite: "we spoke yesterday") versus Nós falamos todos os dias (present: "we speak every day"). In European Portuguese the spelling does the work of a whole time-adverb; drop the accent and you collapse two tenses into one.

Paragraph 2: Na segunda-feira chegámos a meio da tarde. Estava um calor incrível…

Chegámos — another -ámos preterite. A punctual past event: arrival.
Estava um calor incrível — imperfect of estar. Weather and ongoing conditions sit in the imperfect because they describe the scenery around the action. Portuguese uses estar with weather: está calor, está frio, está vento.
Devia haver uns trinta e cinco graus = "there must have been about thirty-five degrees". Imperfect devia softens to "probably / must have". Uns
- number = "about".
Havia pouca gente — havia is the impersonal imperfect of haver ("there was / were"). Present: há. Preterite: houve. Background → imperfect.
Toda a gente se tinha escondido — pluperfect (tinha escondido = "had hidden"). The reflexive se is in proclisis because of the topic toda a gente.

Estava um calor insuportável.

It was unbearably hot. (imperfect — describing ongoing weather)

Havia muita gente na praia.

There were lots of people on the beach. (imperfect — background)

Houve um problema.

There was a problem. (preterite — one-off event)

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The rule of thumb: preterite for events that happened, imperfect for the situation around them. "It was hot, there were few people, and then we jumped in the water" is four clauses — three imperfects (scene-setting) and one preterite (action). Get this pattern wired in and you will narrate like a native.

Paragraph 2 (continued): Fomos logo à água — estava fresquinha, mesmo o que precisávamos.

Fomos — preterite of ir, 1st plural. A punctual action: we jumped in.
Logo = "straight away, right away".
Estava fresquinha — imperfect + diminutive. Not "slightly cool" but "nicely cool", warm in the way only a diminutive can convey.
Precisávamos — imperfect of precisar. Background desire. Precisámos (preterite) would shift the meaning to "it was exactly what we needed at that moment". See Imperfect vs. Preterite.

Paragraph 3: Passámos a semana… De manhã fazíamos a mesma rotina…

Passámos — -ámos preterite. The whole week as one closed span.
De manhã = "in the morning(s)". Habitual time-frame → imperfect. (Compare da manhã = "a.m." — às oito da manhã.)
Fazíamos, tomávamos, caminhávamos, ficávamos, voltávamos, descansávamos — a pile-up of habitual imperfects. English renders these with used to or would. See Imperfect: Habitual Past.
Tomávamos o pequeno-almoço — pequeno-almoço = PT-PT for "breakfast" (BR uses café da manhã). Tomar is the standard collocation: tomar o pequeno-almoço, tomar um café.
Na esplanada — the outdoor terrace of a café, a beloved piece of Portuguese café culture.

De manhã tomávamos o pequeno-almoço na esplanada.

In the morning we would have breakfast on the terrace.

Caminhávamos até à praia todos os dias.

We would walk to the beach every day.

Paragraph 4: Um dia alugámos um carro e fomos até Sagres.

Um dia signals a break in the habitual pattern — a one-off event. Verbs switch back to preterite: alugámos, fomos, vimos, comemos, apanhámos.
Até Sagres — até = "up to / as far as". Adds distance and destination overtone over plain a Sagres.
Vimos — preterite of ver. (Not to be confused with vimos, 1st plural present of vir.)
Uns percebes = barnacles, a rocky-coast Algarve delicacy.
Num restaurantezinho — em + um = num. The -zinho suffix attaches rather than -inho after a stressed vowel.
Apanhámos o pôr do sol — apanhar with timing = "we caught the sunset". Circumflex on pôr distinguishes the noun (sunset) from the infinitive pôr (to place).
Foi das coisas mais bonitas que já vi — "it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen". Já vi has lifetime-experience meaning. See Preterite: Common Uses.

Foi das melhores viagens que já fizemos.

It was one of the best trips we've ever made.

Paragraph 5: Na quinta-feira, houve uma trovoada enorme — choveu toda a noite.

Houve uma trovoada — preterite of haver. One single thunderstorm on one specific day → preterite. (Compare havia trovoadas todas as noites = imperfect, habitual.)
Choveu toda a noite — preterite of chover. Toda a noite = "the whole night" bounds the event. If the sentence had said chovia (imperfect), it would suggest the rain was the background to something else happening.

Paragraph 5 (continued): Ficámos em casa a ver um filme e acabámos por adormecer no sofá.

A ver um filme — the a + infinitivo structure as an adverbial modifier of ficar. PT-PT's equivalent of the English -ing participle. See Estar a + Infinitivo.
Acabámos por adormecer = "we ended up falling asleep". Acabar por + infinitivo = "to end up (doing)". Adormecer = "fall asleep" (event); dormir = "sleep" (state).

Ficámos em casa a ver um filme.

We stayed in watching a film.

Acabámos por adormecer no sofá.

We ended up falling asleep on the sofa.

Closing: Voltámos ontem, já saudosos. Tenho tantas fotografias para te mostrar!

Saudosos — adjective from saudade, the famously hard-to-translate noun for the bittersweet ache of missing something. Já saudosos = "already missing it".
Para te mostrar — infinitive clause with enclitic indirect object te.

Sign-off: Um beijinho grande, / Mariana

Um beijinho (literally "a little kiss") is the warm sign-off between female friends and between a woman and a close male friend. Men sign off with Um abraço to other men. Formal letters end with Com os melhores cumprimentos or Atenciosamente.

Um beijinho grande, / Um abraço, / Com os melhores cumprimentos,

Informal hug from a woman / informal hug from a man / formal.

Things to notice

The preterite/imperfect spine

Look at the verbs again as a skeleton. Every time Mariana advances the plot, she uses the preterite. Every time she paints a scene, she uses the imperfect.

Preterite (events)	Imperfect (scenes, habits)
voltei, fui, ficámos, adorámos	estava um calor
chegámos, fomos logo à água	havia pouca gente
passámos a semana	fazíamos, tomávamos, caminhávamos…
um dia alugámos, fomos, vimos, comemos	estava demasiado calor
houve trovoada, choveu, ficámos	o tempo estava perfeito
voltámos	—

The -ámos accent

Count the accents in the letter: ficámos, adorámos, chegámos, passámos, alugámos, apanhámos, ficámos, acabámos, voltámos. Every single 1st-plural preterite of an -ar verb carries the acute. This is not optional orthography in PT-PT — it marks both the tense and the open vowel.

Past-time adverbs

Ontem = yesterday → preterite
Na segunda-feira / na quinta-feira = on Monday / on Thursday → preterite for specific-day events
De manhã / à tarde = in the morning(s) / in the afternoon(s) → imperfect if habitual within a past frame
No ano passado / há dois anos = last year / two years ago → preterite
Antigamente / naquela altura = back then / in those days → imperfect

Common mistakes

❌ Ontem falamos sobre isso.

In PT-PT this spelling reads as present, not past.

✅ Ontem falámos sobre isso.

Yesterday we spoke about it. (preterite — acute accent needed)

❌ Enquanto eu cheguei à praia, chovia.

Preterite for 'while' is wrong — enquanto takes imperfect for simultaneous background.

✅ Quando cheguei à praia, estava a chover.

When I arrived at the beach, it was raining.

❌ Todos os dias fizemos a mesma rotina.

Preterite with habitual time expression — wrong.

✅ Todos os dias fazíamos a mesma rotina.

Every day we used to do the same routine.

❌ Voltei de Algarve.

Missing definite article — regional names take it.

✅ Voltei do Algarve.

I came back from the Algarve.

❌ Foi uma das coisas mais bonitas que eu já tinha visto.

Mixes tense frames awkwardly — the pluperfect needs a past anchor.

✅ Foi das coisas mais bonitas que já vi.

It was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

Key takeaways

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The preterite drives the story forward ("I arrived, I went, I ate, I returned"). The imperfect paints the scene ("it was hot, there were people, we would have breakfast"). Every Portuguese narrative works by weaving these two tenses together. The preterite/imperfect contrast is the A2/B1 grammar hurdle for every romance-language learner — once it clicks, a huge amount of fluency unlocks.

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The acute accent on -ámos is a PT-PT signature. Brazilian Portuguese dropped it; Portuguese kept it under AO90. Writing falamos when you mean falámos is not a typo — it is a tense collapse. Train your fingers early.

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Portuguese letters to friends open with Olá! and close with Um beijinho (among women, or woman-to-close-male-friend), Um abraço (man-to-man, or to a friend), or just Até breve. Formal letters open Exmo./Exma. Senhor(a) and close Com os melhores cumprimentos. Mixing the registers is a clear marker of a learner.