Pretérito Mais-que

This tense acts like a grammar traffic light. It tells your listener which action happened first. Imagine two points on a timeline. Point A is the recent past. Point B is the distant past. This tense lives at Point B. You use it to look back from a past moment. It is like a flashback in a movie. You are already in the past scene. Then, you mention something that happened before that scene. In English, we use "had" plus a verb. In Portuguese, we use ter plus a verb. It is very logical once you see it. You are building a bridge between two past moments. It makes your Portuguese sound much more professional. You will sound like a native speaker in no time.

1. 1Building this tense is like playing with Lego blocks. You only need two pieces. Follow these simple steps:
2. 2Start with the auxiliary verb ter (to have).
3. 3Conjugate ter in the Pretérito Imperfeito.
4. 4Add the Particípio Passado (past participle) of your main verb.
5. 5Here is how ter looks in the Imperfeito:
6. 6Eu tinha (I had)
7. 7Você/Ele/Ela tinha (You/He/She had)
8. 8Nós tínhamos (We had)
9. 9Vocês/Eles/Elas tinham (You all/They had)
10. 10Now, add your main verb's participle. For -ar verbs, use -ado. For -er and -ir verbs, use -ido. For example, falar becomes falado. Comer becomes comido. Sair becomes saído. Put them together: Eu tinha falado. It is that easy! Yes, even native speakers mess this up sometimes. They might use the wrong participle. But you are a pro now. Just remember: tinha + the -do word.

Use this when you need to establish a sequence. It is perfect for explaining why something happened. Imagine you are in a job interview. You tell the boss you were prepared. Why? Because you tinha estudado the company history before the meeting. Or imagine you are ordering food. You tell the waiter you wanted the fish. But your friend tinha pedido the last portion already. It is great for excuses too. "I'm sorry I was late! I tinha perdido my keys." Use it with the word já (already) for extra impact. Eu já tinha saído (I had already left). It adds a nice flow to your sentences. It shows you understand the relationship between events. It is the secret sauce of narrative Portuguese.

Don't use this for a single, isolated past event. If you just ate an apple, use the Pretérito Perfeito. Say Eu comi uma maçã. Don't say Eu tinha comido uma maçã unless there is a "before" context. It feels heavy if you use it for everything. Think of it like a spice. A little bit adds great flavor. Too much ruins the dish. Also, avoid it for habits in the past. For habits, stick to the Pretérito Imperfeito. Don't use it if the order of events is already obvious. If you say "I woke up and then I showered," use the simple past. This tense is for when the sequence needs a little help. It is for the "past before the past," not just any past.

The biggest mistake is forgetting the auxiliary verb ter. You cannot just say the participle alone. Eu comido means nothing. You must say Eu tinha comido. Another mistake is using the wrong participle. Watch out for irregulars like feito (done) or visto (seen). Don't say tinha fazido. That will make a native speaker's ears itch! Also, be careful with the simple form. There is a version like falara or comera. It is the "Simple Pretérito Mais-que-perfeito." You will see it in old books or the Bible. Do not use it in conversation. You will sound like a 19th-century poet. Unless you are at a very fancy gala, stick to the compound version with tinha.

How does this differ from the Pretérito Perfeito? The Perfeito is a completed action. Eu fiz (I did). The Mais-que-perfeito is a completed action before another one. Eu tinha feito (I had done). It is also different from the Pretérito Imperfeito. The Imperfeito describes a background or a habit. Eu fazia (I used to do). Think of the Imperfeito as a video. Think of the Perfeito as a photo. Think of the Mais-que-perfeito as a photo of a photo. It is one step further back. If the Perfeito is the "now" of your story, this tense is the "before."