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Portuguese (Portugal)

In Portuguese, the verb **haver** is used to say "there is" or "there are" (*há*). When talking about the past ("there was" or "there were"), you must choose between two forms depending on the context: **havia** and **houve**.

Like the present tense, both past forms are invariable—they never change to plural, even when talking about multiple things or people.

### Havia: Setting the scene

**Havia** is the *pretérito imperfeito* (past continuous) form. You use it to describe ongoing situations, continuous states, or how things used to be. When recounting a story, **havia** provides the background description—it answers "what was going on?" or "what was the situation like?".

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### Houve: A punctual event

**Houve** is the *pretérito perfeito* (simple past) form. You use it to report specific, completed events or actions that occurred and ended. If an incident happened suddenly, or if you are stating that a specific event took place, you use **houve**. It answers "what happened?".

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### Combining "havia" and "houve"

When telling a story—like recounting a chaotic local town hall meeting—these two forms naturally work together. You use **havia** to set the scene and describe the ongoing atmosphere, and **houve** to state the specific events that broke out as a result.

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There was and there were (houve / havia)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prefix

prep

preposition

pron

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstratives and the verb to be (isto é, o, a)

Subject pronouns and negation (eu, não)

Yes/no questions and question words (quem, o que)

Plural pronouns, articles, and verbs (somos, são, os, as)

Origin and possession (de, do, da)

Introductions (chamar-se)

Indefinite articles (um, uma, uns, umas)

The verb to be for locations (estar)

Contrasting the two verbs to be (ser vs. estar)

Preposition for locations (em, no, na)

Numbers 0 to 10 (zero, um, dois)

The verb to have (tenho, tem)

Regular -ar verbs (falar, trabalhar)

Regular -er verbs (comer, beber)

Regular -ir verbs (abrir, partir)

My, your, and our (o meu, a nossa)

His, hers, and theirs (dele, dela)

Adjective agreement and placement

Days of the week (segunda-feira)

Months of the year (janeiro)

Counting by tens to 100 (trinta, quarenta...)

Telling time (é uma, são...)

Asking about time (quando, a que horas)

The verb to go (ir)

Prepositions of direction (a, para)

Preposition a contractions (ao, à, aos, às)

Prepositions of place (ao lado de, em frente de...)

Demonstratives (este, esse, aquele)

Contractions with demonstratives (neste, desse, daquele)

Asking which and how many (qual, quanto)

Plurals ending in -ão (-ões, -ãos, -ães)

Plurals ending in consonants (-ns, -is, -es)

The verb to like (gostar de)

The verb to need (precisar de)

The verb to want (querer)

The verb can or may (poder)

Expressing obligation (ter de)

Adverbs of degree (muito, pouco)

Quantifiers (muito, pouco)

Comparatives (mais... do que, menos... do que)

Equality comparisons (tão... como)

The preposition com (comigo, contigo)

Coordinating conjunctions (e, mas, ou, porque)

The preposition por (pelo, pela)

Double negation (nunca, nada, ninguém)

Present continuous (estar a)

Near future (ir)

Past tense of regular -ar verbs

Past tense of regular -er and -ir verbs

Past tense of ser and ir (fui, foi)

Direct object pronouns (me, te, o, a, nos, os, as)

Pronoun placement with negatives and questions

Greetings and courtesy (bom dia, obrigado)

Physical states with ter (ter fome, ter frio)

Asking the way (à direita, sempre em frente)

Colours (vermelho, amarelo, cor-de-rosa)

Money and shopping (custar, a moeda)

Getting around (o motorista, a paragem de autocarro)

Weather and seasons (faz calor, o inverno)

Omitting the subject pronoun

Where things are: ficar (Onde fica...?)

Richer questions: que + noun and é que

Numbers above 100 (cento e vinte, mil)

First-person sound changes (durmo, prefiro)

Advice and ability: dever and saber

Asking why: porquê and porque

When one thing happens: quando-clauses

Here and there: aqui, aí, ali (cá e lá)

Formal and plural possessives: o seu, o vosso

Irregular presents: ver, vir, dar

Present irregulars

Reflexive verbs (me, te, se, nos)

Stem-changing reflexives

Attached object pronouns (-lo, -la, -los, -las)

Nasal attached pronouns (-no, -na, -nos, -nas)

Pronoun placement with adverbs

Past tense of fazer, dizer, and trazer

Past tense of ter, estar, poder, and saber

Past tense of querer and vir

Past tense of ver, dar, and ler

Past tense reflexive verbs (-se)

Time elapsed in the past (há)

Question	Answer
the tension	a tensão
general	geral
the assembly	a assembleia
In the past, there was no general tension in this assembly.	Antigamente, não havia tensão geral nesta assembleia.
the resident	o morador
agitated	exaltado
the mayor	o autarca
There were many agitated residents when the mayor arrived.	Havia muitos moradores exaltados quando o autarca chegou.
the uproar	o tumulto
Suddenly, there was an uproar in the assembly.	De repente, houve um tumulto na assembleia.
the protest	o protesto
I asked if there was any general protest.	Perguntei se houve algum protesto geral.
to reject	rejeitar
the vote (voting process)	a votação
The mayor wanted to reject the proposal, but there was no vote.	O autarca queria rejeitar a proposta, mas não houve votação.
There was a lot of tension, and then there was an agitated protest.	Havia muita tensão, e depois houve um protesto exaltado.
Which project did the residents reject in the vote?	Que projeto é que os moradores rejeitaram na votação?
In the past, there were never uproars in these meetings.	Antigamente, nunca havia tumultos nestas reuniões.
There was not a single protest during the long assembly.	Não houve um único protesto durante a longa assembleia.
There was a lot of confusion, but finally there was a general vote.	Havia muita confusão, mas finalmente houve uma votação geral.
There were very agitated residents because the mayor rejected the proposal.	Havia moradores muito exaltados porque o autarca rejeitou a proposta.
The uproar started because there was a lot of tension in the air.	O tumulto começou porque havia muita tensão no ar.
to exist	existir
This word does not exist.	Esta palavra não existe.
There was a castle that no longer exists.	Havia um castelo que já não existe.
to appear, to show up	aparecer
The cat showed up at the door.	O gato apareceu à porta.
A new problem came up.	Apareceu um problema novo.

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