To describe an ongoing action in the past—what someone was doing—European Portuguese uses the past continuous. This is formed by combining the Pretérito Imperfeito (Imperfect) of estar, the preposition a, and the infinitive of the main verb.
| Pronoun | estar | past continuous |
|---|---|---|
| eu | estava | estava a + infinitive |
| tu | estavas | estavas a + infinitive |
| ele / ela / você | estava | estava a + infinitive |
| nós | estávamos | estávamos a + infinitive |
| eles / elas / vocês | estavam | estavam a + infinitive |
Here is the past continuous in action:
| The police were looking for the thief in the street. | A polícia estava a procurar o ladrão na rua. |
| What were you doing when the crime happened? | O que estavas a fazer quando o crime aconteceu? |
Background Actions and Alibis
The past continuous is perfect for setting a scene or providing an alibi. It tells us what was happening in the background when another event took place.
We frequently use quando (when) to introduce a sudden, interrupting event (usually in the simple past), and enquanto (while) to connect two ongoing actions happening simultaneously.
| While the thief was robbing the bank, she was driving. | Enquanto o ladrão estava a roubar o banco, ela estava a conduzir. |
| The witness was sleeping when the man knocked on the door. | A testemunha estava a dormir quando o homem bateu à porta. |
| They were fleeing when the police arrived there. | Eles estavam a fugir quando a polícia chegou ali. |
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