Trazer in Preterite

Most Portuguese verbs follow a predictable pattern. You take the root and add a suffix. Trazer decided to be different. In the preterite, the stem traz- disappears completely. It is replaced by a new stem: troux-. Think of it as a total makeover. This new stem is used for every single person. Whether it is "I brought" or "they brought," you will see that troux- root. The endings are also slightly different from regular -er verbs. They look more like the endings for other irregulars like dizer or fazer. It is like a secret club of irregular verbs. They all decided to share a similar style.

1. 1To form the preterite of trazer, follow these steps:
2. 2Forget the present tense stem traz- entirely.
3. 3Adopt the irregular past stem troux-.
4. 4Add the specific irregular preterite endings.
5. 5Here is how it looks for each person:
6. 6Eu + trouxe (I brought)
7. 7Você/Ele/Ela + trouxe (You/He/She brought)
8. 8Nós + trouxemos (We brought)
9. 9Vocês/Eles/Elas + trouxeram (You all/They brought)
10. 10Wait, did you notice something? The eu form and the ele/ela form are identical! They are both trouxe. This is a common feature in irregular Portuguese preterites. You will need to use context to know who is doing the bringing. Also, the x is pronounced like an "ss" sound. Think of the word "boss." It is not a "ks" sound like in "taxi."

Use this tense for actions that happened and finished. It is perfect for specific moments in time.

• Social Gatherings: "I brought the wine to the party."
• Work Scenarios: "She brought the reports to the meeting."
• Travel: "We brought too many suitcases on the trip."
• Daily Life: "Did you bring your umbrella today?"

Think of it like a snapshot in a photo album. The action started, it happened, and now it is over. If you are telling a story about a specific day, trouxe is your best friend. It moves the plot forward. It tells people exactly what arrived at the scene.

Do not use the preterite if the action was a habit. If you brought lunch to work every day for five years, use the imperfect tense (trazia). The preterite is for the "one-off" events. Also, be careful with direction. Trazer is only for movement toward the speaker. If you are taking something away from where you are, use levar. Think of it like a grammar traffic light. Trazer is green for "coming here." Levar is red for "going away." If you use trouxe while pointing at the exit, people might look at you funny. It is all about the destination.

Yes, even native speakers mess this up sometimes. The most common error is trying to make it regular. You might hear someone say trazi. This is a grammar crime! There is no trazi in Portuguese. Another mistake is the pronunciation of the x. Many learners try to say "tro-ks-e." Remember, it is a soft "ss" sound. It should sound like trou-sse. Finally, people often mix up the nós form. They might try to say trazemos. But trazemos is the present tense. For the past, you must use trouxemos. It is a small difference, but it changes the whole timeline of your sentence.

Trazer behaves a lot like dizer (to say) and fazer (to do/make).

• Trazer becomes trouxe.
• Dizer becomes disse.
• Fazer becomes fez.

They all have these short, punchy forms in the preterite. They also all share that identical eu and ele/ela form. If you learn one, the others start to feel more natural. It is like learning a dance routine. Once you know the basic steps of the irregulars, you can handle the whole floor. Another contrast is with vir (to come). While vir describes the person moving, trazer describes the person moving *with* an object. They are cousins in the world of movement verbs.