The simple past of regular "-ar" verbs
To talk about actions that were completely finished in the past (like "I walked" or "they arrived"), Portuguese uses a tense called the pretérito perfeito.
To conjugate regular verbs ending in -ar in this tense, drop the -ar from the infinitive and add the following past tense endings.
| Pronoun | Ending | Example (falar) |
|---|---|---|
| eu | -ei | falei |
| tu | -aste | falaste |
| ele / ela / você | -ou | falou |
| nós | -ámos | falámos |
| eles / elas / vocês | -aram | falaram |
Notice the acute accent on the nós form (-ámos). In European Portuguese, this accent is required to open the "a" sound and distinguish the past tense from the present tense (-amos).
Past time markers
When talking about completed actions, you will frequently use words that anchor the event in the past. Common time markers include ontem (yesterday), anteontem (the day before yesterday), and já (already).
| Yesterday, I spoke with the teacher (m). | Ontem, falei com o professor. |
| She arrived yesterday. | Ela chegou ontem. |
| Did they already arrive? | Eles já chegaram? |
| They called the office the day before yesterday. | Eles ligaram para o escritório anteontem. |
Using "passado"
To say "last" or "past" when referring to a time period, use the adjective passado. Because it is an adjective, its ending must agree in gender with the noun it describes. For instance, mês (month) and ano (year) are masculine, so you will use passado.
| We worked in this building last month. | Nós trabalhámos neste prédio no mês passado. |
| Did you buy that car last year? | Compraste aquele carro no ano passado? |
