Breakdown of Nós éramos muito diferentes, mas tínhamos os mesmos hábitos.
ser
to be
nós
we
muito
much / very
mas
but
ter
to have
mesmo
same
diferente
different
o hábito
the habit
Questions & Answers about Nós éramos muito diferentes, mas tínhamos os mesmos hábitos.
Why do we use éramos instead of fomos for "we were"?
We use éramos (the Pretérito Imperfeito of ser) because we are describing an ongoing state or characteristic in the past. The Pretérito Perfeito (fomos) would be used for a completed, isolated past event.
Is tínhamos a regular conjugation?
No, ter (to have) is highly irregular in the Pretérito Imperfeito. Instead of following the regular rules for "-er" verbs, its stem changes completely to tinh-, making the nós form tínhamos.
Why do both éramos and tínhamos have written accent marks?
In the Pretérito Imperfeito, the nós form always has its spoken stress on the third-to-last syllable. In Portuguese, every word stressed on the third-to-last syllable must have a written accent mark to show you where to put the emphasis.
Why is it diferentes with an "s" at the end?
Adjectives must match the noun or pronoun they describe. Because Nós (we) is plural, the adjective diferente must also be pluralized to diferentes.
Why does mesmos come before the noun hábitos?
Most descriptive adjectives come after the noun in Portuguese. However, mesmo (meaning "same") belongs to a category of adjectives that always come before the noun. It also changes to mesmos here to match the masculine, plural noun hábitos.
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