Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Brazil): O vento soprava forte, mas eu quase não sentia frio quando brincava. - The wind blew hard, but I hardly felt cold when I played.

soprava is the imperfect tense (3rd person singular) of the verb soprar (“to blow”). In this sentence it describes an ongoing or habitual past action—“the wind was blowing.” We choose the imperfect to set the scene rather than to describe a single, completed event.

Why is soprava in the imperfect tense rather than the preterite?

The preterite (soprou) would imply a one-off, completed action (“the wind blew”). The imperfect (soprava) instead conveys that the wind kept blowing over a period of time, providing background information.

What does quase não sentia frio literally mean, and how would you translate it?

Literally it’s “I almost did not feel cold.” A natural English translation is “I hardly felt cold.” Here quase não functions like “hardly” or “barely” before the verb.

Can you include an article and say quase não sentia o frio?

Yes. In Portuguese you can say eu quase não sentia frio or eu quase não sentia o frio. Both are correct, though omitting the article is slightly more common when talking about general sensations.

What’s the difference between sentir frio, ter frio, and estar com frio?

sentir frio: to feel cold (focus on the sensation)
ter frio: literally “to have cold,” less common but understood similarly
estar com frio: to be cold (focus on the state)
All three can work, but sentir frio emphasizes the sensory experience.

Why is the negative construction quase não sentia rather than não sentia quase?

In Portuguese the adverbial negation quase não must come together before the verb. If you split them or reverse the order, the meaning becomes awkward or changes entirely.

Why are soprava, sentia, and brincava all in the imperfect tense?

They describe simultaneous, ongoing past actions or states. The imperfect is used for:

background descriptions (“the wind was blowing”)
habitual actions (“I used to feel…”)
concurrent events (“while I was playing”).

Could you use estava brincando instead of brincava? What’s the nuance?

Yes. eu estava brincando (past progressive) emphasizes the action in progress, while eu brincava (imperfect) paints it as a background or habitual activity. Both convey “I was playing,” but the gerund form can feel more vivid or immediate.

Is forte here an adjective or an adverb?

Although forte is primarily an adjective, in Portuguese adjectives often function adverbially without changing form. So soprava forte means “it was blowing strongly.” You could also say soprava com força for clarity.