The simple past tense (Pretérito Perfeito Simples) of ver (to see), ler (to read), and dar (to give) is irregular. Notice that ler and ver have similar endings, while dar uses endings that look like a regular -er verb, despite ending in -ar!
| Pronoun | Ver (to see) | Ler (to read) | Dar (to give) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eu | vi | li | dei |
| Tu | viste | leste | deste |
| Ele / Ela / Você | viu | leu | deu |
| Nós | vimos | lemos | demos |
| Eles / Elas / Vocês | viram | leram | deram |
Ver
Use the past tense of ver to talk about media you watched or things you noticed.
| Yesterday, I saw a very interesting series. | Ontem, vi uma série muito interessante. |
| They saw the error on the computer screen. | Eles viram o erro no ecrã do computador. |
Ler
The past tense of ler describes what you read.
| Did you read the article on that page of the newspaper? | Leste o artigo naquela página do jornal? |
| We read the new novel by that author. | Lemos o novo romance daquele autor. |
| The student read a chapter of the novel. | O aluno leu um capítulo do romance. |
Dar
Use the past tense of dar to talk about giving things to people. Remember that the person receiving the item is the indirect object, often indicated by combining the preposition a (to) with a definite article (like à or ao).
| She gave a ring and a necklace to her sister. | Ela deu um anel e um colar à irmã. |
| Did you give a very expensive perfume to your father? | Vocês deram um perfume muito caro ao vosso pai? |
Bringing It Together
You can easily combine these verbs to describe how you interacted with gifts, books, and media in the past.
| The girl saw the newspaper, but read little. | A rapariga viu o jornal, mas leu pouco. |
| I gave the book to the teacher and she read it. | Dei o livro à professora e ela leu-o. |
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