Past tense of fazer, dizer, and trazer

The simple past tense (Pretérito Perfeito Simples) is used to talk about completed actions. The verbs fazer (to do/make), dizer (to say/tell), and trazer (to bring) are highly irregular in this tense.

Notice how their stems change entirely. Also, for dizer and trazer, the eu and ele/ela/você forms are identical.

PronounFazer (to do/make)Dizer (to say/tell)Trazer (to bring)
Eufizdissetrouxe
Tufizestedissestetrouxeste
Ele / Ela / Vocêfezdissetrouxe
Nósfizemosdissemostrouxemos
Eles / Elas / Vocêsfizeramdisseramtrouxeram

Fazer

Use fazer to express what was done or made.

The dog made a mess when that happened.
O cão fez uma confusão quando isso aconteceu.
We made a lot of noise yesterday.
Nós fizemos muito barulho ontem.
I made a surprise for my mother.
Eu fiz uma surpresa à minha mãe.

Dizer

Use dizer to relay what was said. Notice the double "s" in the past tense stem (diss-).

She didn't tell me the truth yesterday morning.
Ela não me disse a verdade ontem de manhã.
I didn't say anything and I didn't notice the mess.
Eu não disse nada e não reparei na confusão.
You said that the noise happened at night.
Tu disseste que o barulho aconteceu à noite.

Trazer

Use trazer to describe what someone brought with them. Its past tense stem changes completely to troux-.

The boy brought his backpack.
O rapaz trouxe a mochila dele.
They brought the packages through the path.
Eles trouxeram os pacotes pelo caminho.
I brought the sweets to the party.
Eu trouxe os doces para a festa.

Bringing It Together

Because these verbs are so common, you will frequently use them alongside each other to relay a sequence of past events.

They made a lot of noise when they brought the package.
Eles fizeram muito barulho quando trouxeram o pacote.
I ran the errand and he brought the notice.
Eu fiz o recado e ele trouxe o aviso.