Preterite of Ter | Portuguese (Portugal) Grammar

The verb ter (to have) is irregular in the preterite. Its stem changes completely -- from ter- to tiv- -- and it follows a special stress pattern shared by a small group of "strong" preterite verbs. Since ter is one of the most frequently used verbs in Portuguese, learning these forms early pays off in every conversation about the past.

Conjugation

Person	Form	English
eu	tive	I had
tu	tiveste	you had
ele / ela / você	teve	he/she had; you had
nós	tivemos	we had
(vós)	(tivestes)	(you all had)
eles / elas / vocês	tiveram	they had; you all had

Nothing here is predictable from the infinitive. The stem tiv- replaces ter- entirely, and the endings themselves are those of the "strong" preterite group rather than the regular -er set. You must memorize these forms outright.

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Compare: regular comer gives comi, comeste, comeu, with stress on the ending in the eu and ele forms. Irregular ter gives tive, teve, with stress on the stem. That shifted stress is the hallmark of strong preterites -- listen for it and it will help you recognize them.

Past possession

The most straightforward use: saying what someone had.

Tive um cão quando era criança.

I had a dog when I was a child.

O meu avô teve uma quinta no Alentejo.

My grandfather had a farm in the Alentejo.

Past experiences and states

Portuguese uses ter + a noun for many states where English uses "to be" + an adjective. In the preterite, these describe states that occurred at a specific past moment.

Tivemos sorte.

We were lucky.

Tiveste um bom dia?

Did you have a good day?

Tive febre durante três dias.

I had a fever for three days.

Tiveram muito medo.

They were very afraid.

Obligation in the past: ter de / ter que

Just as in the present, ter de (or ter que) + infinitive expresses obligation. In the preterite it reports what someone had to do.

Tive de sair mais cedo.

I had to leave earlier.

Tivemos que esperar duas horas.

We had to wait two hours.

Ter vs estar in the preterite

Both ter and estar can describe past states, but they pair with different word classes. The pattern is consistent: ter + noun, estar + adjective.

ter + noun	estar + adjective
Tive sorte. (I was lucky.)	Estive doente. (I was sick.)
Tiveram medo. (They were afraid.)	Estiveram cansados. (They were tired.)
Tivemos fome. (We were hungry.)	Estivemos preocupados. (We were worried.)

Both describe temporary past states, but the grammatical structure differs. If the state is expressed as a noun (sorte, medo, fome, sede, febre), use ter. If it is an adjective (doente, cansado, preocupado), use estar.

The "strong" preterite pattern

Ter belongs to a family of verbs whose preterite stems are irregular and whose stress shifts onto the stem in the eu and ele/você forms. Compare with regular verbs, where stress falls on the ending:

Type	eu	ele/você	Stress on
regular: falar	falei	falou	ending
regular: comer	comi	comeu	ending
strong: ter	tive	teve	stem
strong: estar	estive	esteve	stem
strong: fazer	fiz	fez	stem
strong: poder	pude	pôde	stem
strong: saber	soube	soube	stem

Once you notice this stress pattern, recognizing strong preterites in speech becomes much easier. The eu and ele forms sound different from anything in the regular system.

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The strong preterite endings are the same across all verbs in this group: -e, -este, -e, -emos, (-estes), -eram for the eu, tu, ele, nós, (vós), eles forms. Learn them once with ter and you can apply them to estar, poder, saber, and the others.

Compounds of ter

Verbs derived from ter follow exactly the same irregular pattern. If you know tive, you know them all -- just add the prefix.

Ela manteve a calma durante a crise.

She maintained her composure during the crisis.

Obtivemos os resultados na sexta-feira.

We obtained the results on Friday.

A polícia deteve dois suspeitos.

The police detained two suspects.

The most common compounds are: manter (maintain) -- mantive, manteve, mantiveram; obter (obtain) -- obtive, obteve, obtiveram; deter (detain) -- detive, deteve, detiveram; conter (contain) -- contive, conteve, contiveram; entreter (entertain) -- entretive, entreteve, entretiveram.

Common mistakes

1. Applying regular endings. Forms like ~~teri~~ or ~~terou~~ do not exist. The stem changes to tiv- and the endings are those of the strong preterite group, not the regular -er pattern.

2. Confusing tive and teve. Tive is first person (eu), teve is third person (ele/ela/você). Mixing them up changes who the sentence is about. A helpful mnemonic: tive has an i like "I" had.

3. Forgetting the stem change in compounds. Writing ~~manterou~~ or ~~obteri~~ instead of manteve or obtive. Remember: every compound of ter inherits the full irregular pattern.

For the full preterite system, see Preterite Overview. For the present-tense forms of this verb, see Present Indicative of Ter. For another strong preterite verb with a similar pattern, see Preterite of Estar.