Hey! I’m back again. I was busy settling down in Brazil. Yeah! That’s right. Now I will post directly from Brazil. Just moved to mid west, heart of Brazil. Then You will constantly have posts about the expressions everyone is using and of course every other topic about the beautiful Brazilian Portuguese.
Well… Today we will keep studying the imperfect.
Our tip today is: the past perfect in Portuguese is formed by the verb ter in the imperfect tense + past participle. Simple as that!
Let’s see!
tinha
tinha
tínhamos
tinham
Particípio (-ado, -ido, -ido)
So:
Joseph had studied Portuguese before he moved to Brazil.
Joseph tinha estudado português antes de se mudar para o Brasil.
Suddenly Glynn remembered where she had hidden the keys.
De repente Glynn lembrou onde ela tinha escondido as chaves.
Hey! This is our second part of ’The imperfect and its uses’. Welcome back.
Other role of the imperfect is to replace the conditional tense (would). When I say ‘replace’, it means that the correct verb to use (considering the grammar) is the Futuro do Pretérito (cantaria, comeria, seria, iria etc) which is the conditional tense in Portuguese.
So… A sentence in the conditional has two translations into Portuguese:
- If I were the president of Brazil, I would raise everyone’s wage.
Se eu fosse presidente do Brasil, eu aumentaria o salário de todo mundo. (Here using the correct tense according to the formal grammar)
Se eu fosse presidente do Brasil, eu aumentava o salário de todo mundo(Here using the imperfect, which is the way most Brazilians speak.)
You can even write using the imperfect (aumentava, telefonava, corria, dormia) indicating condition, however if you write something formal, try to use the way formal grammar indicates: Futuro do Pretérito (aumentaria, telefonaria, correria, dormiria).
I’ve been questioned a lot about the imperfect tense in Portuguese. And not without reason.
First, let’s remember the conjugation for regular verbs:
cantar
comer
partir
eu
cantava
comia
partia
ele/elavocê
a gente
cantava
comia
partia
nós
cantávamos
comíamos
partíamos
eles/elas
vocês
cantavam
comiam
partíam
If you ask any Brazilian speaker, the first explanation – and most of the times the only one – they will give you is that the imperfect is used to describe repeated actions in the past, which means that this tense is basically the ‘used to‘ in English.
Maria used to study French. Maria estudava Francês.
Frederico used to visit his grandparents every week. Frederico vistiva seus avós* toda semana.
—–
Curiosity
avó – grandmother / vó - grandma
avô – grandfather / vô - grandpa
avós – grandparents
There is a poem by Arnaldo Antunes about tthese words above which you can try to translate/understand.
Neto e Neta
Neto e neta são netos, no masculino.
Filho e filha são filhos, no masculino.
Pai e mãe são pais, no masculino.
Avô e avó são avós.
—–
Other common way to express the idea of used to is to use the verb costumar which means to be accustomed, to be in the habit of. Then you can use the follow structure:
Subject + verb costumar in the imperfect tense + infinitive of the main verb + …
Como minha vó costumava dizer, em terra de cego, quem tem olho é rei.
As my gradma used to say, in the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king.
Eu costumava jogar futebol todos os dias quando era criança. I used to play football/soccer everyday when I was a child.
Well… This is the first part of our lessons. The next part will come soon. Keep in touch!
Especially during the 70s and 80s, Brazilian production was mainly films with erotic backgrounds, which is some way helped to consolidate the Brazilian stereotype: sensual, cunning and merrymaker.
Nominated for 2 Oscars in 1999
In the 80s, the cinema of Brazil gave signs of development and created, for example, Pixote which was acclaimed in many festivals and was nominated for a Golden Globe.
Definitely from the 90s, our cinema become more varied and the quality better. However we can’t compare our cinema (due the limited production) to Spanish or French cinema, both quite peculiar. I see Brazilian cinema as a young boy who likes to try new things, no shaped personality, but I, for sure, see that he has a great future.
Then it’s showtime.
Check this list out. I just include films which you can find easily in the European market (not sure about other parts of the world).
In no particular order….
- City of God – Cidade de Deus
- Central Station – Central do Brasil
- The Elite Squad – Tropa de Elite
- City of Men – Cidade dos Homens
- Bus 174 – Ônibus 174
- Linha de Passe – Linha de Passe
- The Man of the year – O Homem do Ano
- Who killed Pixote? – Pixote
- Embodiment of Devil – Encarnação do Demônio
- The Year My Parents Went On Vacation – O Ano em Que Meu Pais Saíram de Férias
- Two Deaths of Quincas Wateryell – Quincas Berro d’Água
- Carandiru – Carandiru
- My name ain’t Johnny – Meu none não é Johnny
- The Man who Copied – O Homem que Copiava
- Me, You, Them – Eu, Tu, Eles
- House of Sand – Casa de Areia
I didn’t linked them to any website, so you can use the favourite website to search for reviews, synopsis or prices.
Grab the popcorn, the giant glass of soft drink and have fun!
Aquele abraço!
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Posted by Marcio Ribas
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To start, I’ll give you a list of useful words for this subject.
bycicle - bicicleta (slang: magrela)
car - carro
motorbike - motocicleta, but most of the times shortened to moto
trem - train
VW Beetle is called 'fusca' in Portuguese
tube / underground - metrô
bus or coach - ônibus
ship - navio
lorry / truck - caminhão
on foot – à pé
When talking about means of transport, it’s importante to know that the preposition by (indicating that you are using that form of transport) will be translated into Portuguese as de, which means as well of (Tess of the d’Ubervilles – Tess de d’Ubervilles) and from (I’m from Brazil – Eu sou do Brasil).
Then…
I’m planning a trip to Scotland. We expect to travel 1000 miles by car and 50 miles by bycicle.
Eu estou planejando uma viagem para a Escócia. Nós esperamos viajar mil milhas de carro e 50 milhas de bicicleta.
The suspects fled on foot. Os suspeitos fugiram à pé.
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Hey! I’m back again. I was busy settling down in Brazil. Yeah! That’s right. Now I will post directly from Brazil. Just moved to mid west, heart of Brazil. Then You will constantly have posts about the expressions everyone is using and of course every other topic about the beautiful Brazilian Portuguese.
