Imperfect of Ter

The verb ter (to have) is one of only four verbs that are irregular in the imperfect tense. Its stem changes completely -- from tenho/tens in the present and tive/teve in the preterite to tinh- in the imperfect. This unique stem appears nowhere else in the conjugation of ter. Because ter is the auxiliary verb for all compound past tenses and expresses possession, age, obligation, and states, you will encounter tinha constantly in any narrative or conversation about the past.

Conjugation

PersonFormEnglish
eutinhaI had / I used to have
tutinhasyou had / you used to have
ele / ela / vocêtinhahe/she had; you had
nóstínhamoswe had / we used to have
(vós)(tínheis)(you all had)
eles / elas / vocêstinhamthey had; you all had

The vós form tínheis is archaic and appears only in older texts. Modern European Portuguese uses vocês with the third person plural form tinham.

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The written accent on tínhamos is mandatory -- it marks the stressed syllable. Without it, the stress would shift and the word would be incorrect. As with every imperfect conjugation, the eu and ele/você forms are identical: tinha. Context or the subject pronoun tells you who is speaking.

The stem tinh- bears no resemblance to the present tense (tenho, tens, tem) or the preterite (tive, tiveste, teve). It is a completely unique stem used only in the imperfect. However, the endings (-a, -as, -a, -amos, -am) follow the same pattern as regular imperfect verbs, so once you know the stem, the rest is predictable.

Past possession

The most basic use of tinha is to describe what someone had over an extended or unspecified period in the past.

Tinha um cão quando era criança.

I had a dog when I was a child.

Tinhas carro naquela altura?

Did you have a car at that time?

Os meus avós tinham uma casa grande no Algarve.

My grandparents had a big house in the Algarve.

Past age

Just as in the present, Portuguese uses ter to express age. In the imperfect, this describes how old someone was during a past period or at the time of another event.

Tinha vinte anos quando me casei.

I was twenty when I got married.

Past obligation: tinha de / tinha que

The construction ter de (or ter que) + infinitive carries into the imperfect to describe what someone had to do as a recurring or background obligation.

Tinha de trabalhar todos os dias.

I had to work every day.

Tínhamos que acordar às seis da manhã.

We had to wake up at six in the morning.

Past states

Where English says "I was hungry" or "we were afraid," Portuguese uses ter with a noun -- and in the imperfect, these describe ongoing or habitual states in the past.

Tínhamos medo do escuro.

We were afraid of the dark.

Tinham muita fome quando chegaram a casa.

They were very hungry when they got home.

Tinha as auxiliary -- the compound pluperfect

This is one of the most important uses of tinha. The construction tinha + past participle forms the compound pluperfect (pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto), which expresses what someone had done before another past event. This is the standard way to express the pluperfect in modern European Portuguese.

Já tinha comido quando ele chegou.

I had already eaten when he arrived.

Eles tinham partido antes de eu chegar.

They had left before I arrived.

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The literary pluperfect (comera, partira, saíra) exists as a single-word form but sounds very formal or literary in modern EP. In everyday speech and writing, tinha + past participle is overwhelmingly preferred. You will encounter the literary form in novels and journalism, but in conversation, always use tinha comido, tinha partido, etc.

Tinha vs tive -- imperfect vs preterite

Both translate as "had" in English, but they describe different kinds of past. This is one of the most important contrasts for learners.

  • Tinha (imperfect) = had, as an ongoing state, background, or habit. No clear boundaries.
  • Tive (preterite) = had, as a specific event, a bounded occurrence.
Tinha (imperfect)Tive (preterite)
Tinha um cão. (I had a dog -- for a period)Tive sorte ontem. (I was lucky yesterday -- one-time)
Tinha medo de aranhas. (I was afraid of spiders -- ongoing)Tive medo naquele momento. (I was afraid at that moment -- punctual)
Tínhamos aulas às nove. (We had classes at nine -- habitual)Tivemos um problema sério. (We had a serious problem -- specific event)
Tinha de trabalhar aos sábados. (I had to work on Saturdays -- recurring)Tive de ir ao hospital. (I had to go to the hospital -- one-time)

If the situation was ongoing, habitual, or describes the background of a story, use the imperfect (tinha). If it was a single, completed event, use the preterite (tive).

Tinha vs teria -- imperfect vs conditional

In careful Portuguese, tinha and teria have distinct roles:

  • Tinha = had (factual past): Eu tinha um gato. (I had a cat.)
  • Teria = would have (hypothetical): Eu teria ido se soubesse. (I would have gone if I had known.)

However, in colloquial European Portuguese, tinha frequently replaces teria in conditional contexts, especially in spoken language:

Se soubesse, tinha ido.

If I had known, I would have gone. (colloquial)

This usage is extremely common in everyday EP. You will hear Se tivesse dinheiro, tinha comprado far more often than the grammatically "correct" teria comprado. Be aware of this pattern when listening to native speakers.

Compounds of ter

All verbs derived from ter follow exactly the same irregular imperfect pattern. The prefix attaches to the stem tinh-:

Verbeu / elenóseles
manter (to maintain)mantinhamantínhamosmantinham
obter (to obtain)obtinhaobtínhamosobtinham
conter (to contain)continhacontínhamoscontinham
deter (to detain)detinhadetínhamosdetinham
entreter (to entertain)entretinhaentretínhamosentretinham

A polícia detinha os suspeitos durante horas.

The police used to detain the suspects for hours.

Common mistakes

1. Confusing tinha (imperfect) with tive (preterite). This is the most frequent error. Use tinha for ongoing states and background descriptions, tive for specific, completed events. Saying Tive um cão quando era criança is grammatically possible but shifts the meaning to a bounded event rather than a lasting state -- Tinha um cão is more natural here.

2. Forgetting the accent on tínhamos. Writing tinhamos without the accent on the í is a spelling error. The accent marks the stressed syllable and is mandatory.

3. Using regular endings with the irregular stem. The imperfect of ter uses the stem tinh-, not ter-. Forms like teria (which is the conditional, not the imperfect) or terava do not exist in the imperfect. The correct forms are tinha, tinhas, tinha, tínhamos, tinham.

For the overall imperfect tense system, see Imperfect Overview. For the other key irregular verb in this tense, see Imperfect of Ser. For the present-tense forms of this verb, see Present Indicative of Ter, and for the preterite forms, see Preterite of Ter.

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