-ava/-avas/-ava/-ávamos/-áveis/-avam
Pretérito Imperfeito -AR Verbs
The Pretérito Imperfeito for -ar verbs is the 'video' of the past. While the Pretérito Perfeito acts like a snapshot of a finished event, the Imperfeito describes what used to happen or what was happening.
How It Works
The Pretérito Imperfeito is essential for storytelling and daily conversation in Portuguese. It serves several distinct functions:
- Habitual Actions: Things you did regularly in the past (e.g., 'I used to play').
- Ongoing Actions: Actions that were in progress when something else happened (e.g., 'I was studying when...'). Note: While the Imperfeito can be used for this, native speakers very frequently use the past continuous (estava + gerund in Brazil, or estava a + infinitive in Portugal) for ongoing past actions.
- Descriptions: Setting the scene, including weather, time, age, and physical/emotional states (e.g., 'It was hot', 'I was tired').
- Politeness: Softening requests to sound more polite. While 'queria' is common everywhere, using 'gostava' as a softener is especially frequent in European Portuguese.
- Hypotheticals (Spoken): In informal speech, it frequently replaces the conditional tense in the result clause of 'if' sentences (e.g., 'Se eu pudesse, eu comprava' [If I could, I would buy it] instead of 'eu compraria').
- Indirect Speech: It is often used to report what someone said they would do, replacing the formal conditional (e.g., 'Ele disse que chegava às cinco' [He said he would arrive at five] instead of 'chegaria').
Morphology:
To conjugate regular -ar verbs, take the stem of the verb (e.g., falar → fal-) and add the endings. Note that the 1st person (eu) and 3rd person (ele/ela/você) forms are identical (-ava). Because of this ambiguity, subject pronouns are used much more frequently in the Imperfeito than in other tenses to avoid confusion.
Regarding pronunciation and spelling, the stress remains on the same thematic 'a' in all forms (fa-LA-va, fa-LA-vas, fa-LÁ-va-mos). However, written accents are required on the nós form (-ávamos) and the vós form (-áveis) purely due to Portuguese spelling rules (-ávamos is a proparoxytone, and -áveis is a paroxytone ending in a diphthong). Also, note that the highly irregular verb estar is completely regular in the Imperfeito and follows this exact -ava pattern.
Register Note: The vós form (-áveis) is archaic in Brazil and standard European Portuguese, though still common in Northern Portugal. In most regions, vocês with the -avam ending is the standard plural 'you'.
Examples (6)
- Antigamente, eu <grammar expression="-ava/-avas/-ava/-ávamos/-áveis/-avam">jogava</grammar> futebol todos os domingos.
In the past, I used to play soccer every Sunday.
Word by Word: Formerly, I played soccer all the Sundays.
This demonstrates a habitual action that happened repeatedly over time using the -ar verb 'jogar'.
- Eu <grammar expression="-ava/-avas/-ava/-ávamos/-áveis/-avam">estudava</grammar> quando o telefone tocou.
I was studying when the phone rang.
Word by Word: I studied when the telephone rang.
Here, the Imperfeito provides the background action that was interrupted by a finished event.
- Nós <grammar expression="-ava/-avas/-ava/-ávamos/-áveis/-avam">morávamos</grammar> em uma casa pequena.
We used to live in a small house.
Word by Word: We lived in a house small.
Notice the mandatory accent on the 'á' in the 'nós' form: morávamos.
- Se eu pudesse, eu <grammar expression="-ava/-avas/-ava/-ávamos/-áveis/-avam">comprava</grammar> aquele carro.
If I could, I would buy that car.
Word by Word: If I could, I bought that car.
In spoken Portuguese, the Imperfeito often replaces the conditional tense in the result clause of hypothetical scenarios.
- Eu <grammar expression="-ava/-avas/-ava/-ávamos/-áveis/-avam">gostava</grammar> de pedir um café, por favor.
I would like to order a coffee, please.
Word by Word: I liked of to-order a coffee, for favor.
The Imperfeito is used as a 'polite past' to soften a request. This specific usage of 'gostava' is particularly common in Portugal.
- Ela <grammar expression="-ava/-avas/-ava/-ávamos/-áveis/-avam">estava</grammar> muito cansada ontem.
She was very tired yesterday.
Word by Word: She was very tired yesterday.
The Imperfeito is used here to describe a physical or emotional state in the past.
Common Mistakes
Forgetting the accent on the 'nós' form.
Nós falavamos muito.Nós falávamos muito.The 'nós' form of -ar verbs in the Imperfeito always requires an acute accent on the 'á' (falávamos, estudávamos, morávamos).
Using the Perfeito for habits.
Eu sempre joguei futebol quando era criança.Eu sempre jogava futebol quando era criança.While 'joguei' is past tense, it implies a single completed event. For 'always' (sempre) or habits, 'jogava' is the correct choice.
Applying -er/-ir endings to -ar verbs.
Eu falaría com ele.Eu falava com ele.Learners often confuse the -ia endings (used for -er and -ir verbs) with the -ava endings used for -ar verbs.
How It Connects
Related Patterns
- -ia/-ias/-ia/-íamos/-íeis/-iam (imperfeito)Pretérito Imperfeito -ER/-IR Verbs
This is the Imperfeito conjugation for -er and -ir verbs, which uses different endings than -ar verbs.
Level 2 - Imperfeito for Background
Explains the specific narrative use of this tense to set the scene in a story.
Level 2 - Imperfeito for Habits
Focuses on using this tense to describe routines and repeated actions in the past.
Level 2 - Imperfeito de Cortesia
Details how this tense is used to make requests sound more polite and less demanding.
Level 6 - -ei/-aste/-ou/-amos/-astes/-aramPretérito Perfeito -AR Verbs
The Pretérito Perfeito is the counterpart to the Imperfeito, used for completed, 'snapshot' actions.
Level 2 - era/eras/era/éramos/eramPretérito Imperfeito De Ser
The irregular Imperfeito form of the verb 'ser', frequently used alongside -ar verbs for descriptions.
Level 2
Words in This Pattern
Practice -ava/-avas/-ava/-ávamos/-áveis/-avam in Bubblegum
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