Breakdown of Na minha infância, eu brincava aqui.
eu
I
aqui
here
em
in / on / at
meu
my (m/f/pl: meu, minha, meus, minhas)
a
to / at (direction)
a infância
the childhood
brincar
to play (as a child, for fun)
Questions & Answers about Na minha infância, eu brincava aqui.
How does brincava translate to "used to play"?
Brincava is the Pretérito Imperfeito (Imperfect Past) of the regular '-ar' verb brincar (to play). We use this past tense to talk about ongoing, repeated, or habitual actions in the past—exactly what "used to" means in English! For the eu form of a regular '-ar' verb, you just drop the '-ar' and add '-ava'.
Why does the sentence start with Na instead of Em?
Na is a contraction of the preposition em (in) and the feminine definite article a (the). In European Portuguese, it is standard to put a definite article before a possessive word like minha. So, you are literally saying "In the my childhood" (em + a + minha = na minha).
Why did we include eu here? Can I just say "Na minha infância, brincava aqui"?
Yes, you can drop the eu! However, in this specific past tense, the eu (I) form and the ele/ela/você (he/she/formal you) form are identical: brincava. Because of this overlap, native speakers often include the pronoun just to make it absolutely clear who they are talking about.
Could I use brincar to say I used to play football or the piano here?
No, you would need different verbs for those! The verb brincar specifically means to play like a child does—playing with toys, running around, or playing make-believe. To play a sport or a structured game, you use jogar (e.g., eu jogava futebol), and to play an instrument, you use tocar (e.g., eu tocava piano).
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