Habitual Actions in Imperfect

In English, we often use "used to" or "would" to describe habits. In Portuguese, we simply change the verb ending. The Imperfeito focuses on the duration or the repetition of an action rather than its completion. Imagine you are describing your morning routine from five years ago. You didn't just wake up once; you woke up every day at 7:00 AM. That repetition is exactly what the Imperfeito handles. It also works for background information. If you are telling a story about a rainy day, the fact that it "was raining" provides the setting. It doesn't tell us when the rain started or stopped. It just tells us the state of the world at that moment. Think of it like a grammar traffic light that stays yellow—it’s an ongoing state, not a red light that stops the action.

1. 1Forming the Imperfeito is a breath of fresh air compared to other tenses. Most verbs are perfectly regular! Here is how you build them:
2. 2Start with the infinitive (the ar, er, or ir form).
3. 3Chop off those last two letters to find the stem.
4. 4Add the magic endings.
5. 5For -AR verbs (like falar or morar):
6. 6Eu -> -ava (falava)
7. 7Você/Ele/Ela -> -ava (falava)
8. 8Nós -> -ávamos (Notice the accent! This is the only one that has it.)
9. 9Vocês/Eles/Elas -> -avam (falavam)
10. 10For -ER and -IR verbs (like comer or partir):
11. 11Eu -> -ia (comia)
12. 12Você/Ele/Ela -> -ia (comia)
13. 13Nós -> -íamos (Again, watch that accent!)
14. 14Vocês/Eles/Elas -> -iam (comiam)
15. 15There are only four irregular verbs in the entire tense: ser (to be), ter (to have), vir (to come), and pôr (to put). Yes, only four! Even the most rebellious verbs usually behave themselves in the Imperfeito.

You will reach for the Imperfeito in several real-world scenarios. First, use it for childhood habits. If you played soccer every weekend, say Eu jogava futebol. Second, use it for descriptions. If your old boss was mean, say Meu chefe era chato. Third, use it for age and time in the past. Eu tinha dez anos (I was ten years old) or Eram duas horas (It was two o'clock). Fourth, use it for physical or emotional states. If you were tired after a long flight, use Eu estava cansado. Finally, it’s great for politeness. Instead of saying "I want a coffee," you can say Eu queria um café, which sounds much softer, like "I would like a coffee."

Don't use the Imperfeito for things that happened exactly once and then ended. If you went to the beach last Saturday and came home, that’s a job for the Pretérito Perfeito. If you say Eu ia à praia (I used to go/was going), your friend will wait for you to finish the sentence with "...when suddenly a shark appeared!" It feels incomplete for single, finished events. Also, avoid it for specific durations. If you lived in Brazil for exactly two years, use the Perfeito. If you just want to say you lived there "back in the day," then the Imperfeito is your friend.

The most famous mistake is forgetting the accent on the nós form. Without the accent on falávamos or comíamos, you’ll sound a bit like a robot. Another common slip-up is mixing up the -AR and -ER endings. Remember that -AR verbs love the letter "v" (-ava), while -ER and -IR verbs love the letter "i" (-ia). Also, watch out for the irregular verb ser. Many people try to say eu era-va, but it’s just eu era. It’s short, sweet, and a little weird, just like that one cousin every family has. Finally, don't confuse it with the present tense. Eu como is "I eat now," but Eu comia is "I used to eat."

The big showdown is always Imperfeito vs. Perfeito. Think of the Perfeito as the plot points in a movie: "He arrived, he saw, he conquered." These are completed actions. Think of the Imperfeito as the cinematography: "The sun was shining, he was wearing a cape, he felt brave." One moves the story forward; the other paints the picture. In English, we have many ways to say this: "I used to go," "I would go," or "I was going." In Portuguese, the Imperfeito covers all three of these bases. It’s a multi-purpose tool that simplifies your life once you embrace its flexibility.