Breakdown of Havia muito trânsito na rua quando o acidente aconteceu.
muito
much / very
haver
to be (there is / there are)
em
in / on / at
a rua
the street
quando
when
o trânsito
the traffic
acontecer
to happen
o acidente
the accident
Questions & Answers about Havia muito trânsito na rua quando o acidente aconteceu.
Why do we use the Imperfeito for havia but the Perfeito for aconteceu?
This sentence shows exactly how these two past tenses work together. We use the Imperfeito for havia (there was) to set the scene: the heavy traffic was an ongoing, background situation. We use the Perfeito for aconteceu (happened) because the accident was a sudden, completed event that took place during that ongoing scene.
Does havia change to a plural form to mean "there were"?
Does the word muito change depending on the word that comes after it?
Yes, when muito is used to mean "much" or "a lot of," it has to match the noun it describes. Because trânsito is masculine and singular, we use muito. If the noun were feminine, like gente (people), it would become muita gente.
Why do we say na rua instead of just em rua?
In Portuguese, you almost always need to include the word "the" after the preposition em (in/on/at). Na is the mandatory contraction of em + a (the feminine "the" to match rua), so you are literally saying "in the street".
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