Breakdown of Antigamente, as meninas costumavam brincar na rua.
em
in / on / at
a rua
the street
a
to / at (direction)
a menina
the little girl
brincar
to play (as a child, for fun)
antigamente
in the past
costumar
to usually do
Questions & Answers about Antigamente, as meninas costumavam brincar na rua.
How do we form the imperfect tense for costumavam?
Costumavam comes from the regular verb costumar (to tend to / to usually do). To form the imperfect tense for the eles/elas/vocês group, we take off the -ar ending and add -avam. This gives us costumavam.
Why use costumavam brincar instead of just brincavam?
Both can translate to "used to play". The verb costumar followed by an infinitive (like brincar) is specifically used to talk about habits. So costumavam brincar emphasizes that playing in the street was a regular habit or custom. You could also just say brincavam na rua, which has a very similar meaning!
Is antigamente a clue that we should use the imperfect tense?
Yes! Antigamente means "in the past" or "formerly". Because it sets the scene of an ongoing time period in the past rather than one specific completed event, it is almost always followed by the imperfect tense (like costumavam).
Why is it na rua instead of just em rua?
In Portuguese, you almost always need a definite article before the noun for locations like this. We combine the preposition em (in) with the feminine article a (the) to make na. So, na rua means "in the street".
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