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11.1 The imperfeito

There is no difference in the use of the imperfeito between the different roman languages. The Portuguese imperfeito is used the same way as the Italian imperfetto, the French imparfait, the Spanish imperfecto. It is used if an action is repeated continually in the past (He always came late), if an action is interrupted by an other action, in this case we use the continuous form in English (I was reading a book when he suddenly showed up at the door), it is used when the beginning or the end of an action in the past are unknown or irrelevant (When I met him last time he worked as an engineer => It is irrelevant when he started to work as an engineer and whether he still works as engineer). That sounds pretty much like the way the simple past is used in English and concerning the aspect mentionne abover there is no difference between the Portuguese imperfeito and the English simple past. Hhowever there is another aspect to be taken into account, a very relevant one, and concerning this aspect there is a big difference between the Portuguese imperfeito and the English simple past.

In English the simple past is used as well for accomplished actions in a accomplished past: He earned a lot money last year, but this year he earned almost nothing.

simple past to describe an action whose beginning and end is unknown or irrelevant

When I talked to him last time, he was still ill. => Perhaps he is still ill, perhaps he feels better.

accomplished action in an accomplished past

Last year I read a lot of books about this issue. => I don't do that anymore. The action is accomplished in an accomplished past.

The English simple past is therefore used in two completely different contexts and that never ever happens in Portuguese. For an accomplished action in an accomplished past the pasado perfeito simples is to be used. The imperfeito can never be used instead of a perfeito simples and the perfeito simples can never be used instead of the imperfeito.

There is another difference. If an ongoing action is interrupted by another action we use the simple past continuous in English.

I was sleeping, when the car crashed against the wall.
not: I slept, when.....

Given the fact that the English simple past has so many function it is necessary to use a continuous form in case that we want to describe an ongoing action. In roman languages however, and therefore in Portuguese as well, the imperfeito has less functions and can be used as well to describe ongoing actions in the past. Beside a few rare exception there is no need to use estar + gerundio, the equivalent to the English to be + gerund, in the past. The imperfeito alone can describe an ongoing action interrupted by another action. (Sometimes one can read that English native speakers tend to make an exaggerated use of estar + gerundio because they use it in any context where in roman languages the imperfeito is used. Hard to prove this thesis, but it plausible.)

Given the fact that the English simple past can describe an ongoing action as well as a punctual action we have to choose the continuous form when the ongoing action is interrupted by another action.

We were talking about him when we suddenly heard his voice.
not: We talked about him when we suddenly heard his voice.

The imperfeito is charming, because it is very easy to form, there are very few verbs that are irregular in imperfeito. Actually there are only three of them, ser (to be), ter (to have) and vir (to come) and of these verbs the forms must be learned, because two of them, ser and ter, are the two most important verbs in any language because they serve as well as auxiliary verbs. (That' s actually a rule, valid in all languages. One would expect that the most used verbs are always regular, because people hear them so often, that they know how to conjugate them. However the opposite is true. These verbs are always the most irregular verbs. That's the case as well in English. The simple past of to be is completely irregular in English.)

In Portuguese we distinguish three types of verbs, those who end in -ar (falar = to speak), those who end in -er (vender = to sell) and those who end on -ir (traducir = to translate). The imperfeito is formed by leaving out these endings and adding to the stem, what remains when the endings have been taken away, the respective endings of the imperfeito. To the personal pronoun você and the personal pronoun o senhor correspond both the English personal pronoun you, however there is a difference. In Brasilian Portuguese the situation is very simple. Você corresponds to you, in other words it is used whether there is a closer, more intimate relationship to the person we talk to or not. In Portuguese the situation is somehow complicated, see chapter five. In theory você is something in between intimate relationship and only formal relationship, but it seems that some people get angry if they are adressed with você, so the best thing to do, in Portugal, is not to use it at all. If there is a close relationship, if we talk to a friend or a member of the family, the better choice in Portugal is tu. If we talk to someone completely unknown or in a more formal context, we use o senhor / a senhora.

	verbs ending in -ar		verbs ending in -er		verbs ending in -ir
	Portuguese	german	Portuguese	german	Portuguese	german
	falar = to speak, stem: fal		vender = to sell, stem: vend		traduzir = translate, stem: traduz
eu	falava	I spoke	vendia	I sold	traduzia	I translated
tu	falavas	you spoke	vendias	you sold	traduzias	you translated
ele, ela o senhor, a senhora você	falava	he / she / it spoke you spoke	vendia	he / she / it spoke you spoke	traduzia	he / she / it spoke you spoke
nós	falávamos	we spoke	vendíamos	we spoke	traduzíamos	we spoke
eles elas vocês os senhores, as senhoras	falavam	they spoke you spoke	vendiam	they spoke	traduziam	they spoke you spoke

 

In the following table we see different contextes in which the imperfeito can be used. It can't be used in other contextes. Most of all it can't be used to describe an accomplished action in an accomplished past. The simple past in English can be used as well to decribe an accomplished action in an accomplished past, in other words an action that doesn't have any other impact on the present. (If there is an impact on the present the present perfect is used in English.) The imperfeito can never be used to describe an accomplished action in an accomplished past in Portuguese. To describe an accomplished action in an accomplished past we must use the pefeito simples. (If you speak Spanish or any other roman language: In opposite to all other roman languages in portguese the perfeito simples is used as well to describe an action whose impact can still perceived in the present.)

The imperfeito to describe actions whose beginning and end is unknown or irrelevant

Os índios do Brasil falávam diversas línguas. The indigneous of the Brasil spoke different languages. The indigenous people of Brasil spoke a lot of languages.

Já os egípcios escrevíam as consoantes das palavras. Already the egypts wrote the consonants of the words. She egyptians already wrote the consonants.

Alguns escrevíam de pé, outros escrevíam deitados. Some wrote of foot others wrote lying. Some of them wrote standing upright, others lying on the floor.

two action are performed at the same time

Enquanto uns falávam, nós trabalhávamos . Meanwhile some spoke we worked. While some were chatting, we were working.

Esquecíam-se do mundo, só tinham olhos um para o outro. The forgot of the world only had eyes one for the other. They forgot the world around them and had only eyes for each other.

regular repetion in the past

As agências de viagem fazíam esse trabalho pra você. The agencies of voyages made this work for me. This work was done for me by the travel agencies.

Me lembro que meu pai sempre lía o jornal comendo. Me remember that my father always read the newspaper eating. I remember that my father always read the newspaper.

E cada vez que se lembráva, crescia seu desespero. And every time that himself remember grew his desesperation. Every time he remembered that, his desesperation increased.

Comiam quando sentíam fome. They ate when felt hungry. They ate when they were hungry.

Ongoing action that is interrupted by a punctual action. For the punctual action we use the perfeito simples.

Os nossos filhos já dormíam, quando de repente parou um carro próximo da minha casa. The our children already slept when suddenly stopped a car near of the my house. Our children have been sleeping already when suddenly a stopped near our house.

Ainda estávam estudando quando se conheceram.* Still were studying when themselves knew. They were still studying when they got to know each other.

As duas amigas comíam, quando de repente alguém bateu na porta. The two girlfriends ate when suddenly someone knocked at the door. Thet two girlfriendns were eating when suddenly someone knocked at the door.

Enquanto trabalhávam em seus empregos tradicionais, começaram um novo projeto. While worked in their jobs traditionel started a new project. While they were working in their traditional jobs they started a new project. .

Ainda era noite, quando me levantei. Still was night when me got up. It was still night when I got up.

* With the verb conhecer the meaning changes completely depending whether it is used in imperfeito or pretérito perfeito simples. With imperfeito the meaning is to know (someone / something), with the simple past the meaning is to get aquainted with somebody / something, to meet somebody.

The verbs ter (to have), ser (to be) and vir (come) are completely irregular.

personal pronoun	ter = to have		ser = to be		vir = to come
eu	tinha	had	era	was	vinha	came
tu	tinhas	had	eras	were	vinhas	came
ele, ela	tinha	had	era	was	vinha	came
nós	tinhamos	had	éramos	were	vinhamos	came
eles, elas	tinham	had	eram	were	vinham	came

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