- Probably going to be used at the start of your story to locate your story in the timeline of life (e.g., Eu TIREI esta foto quando FUI visitar o meu amigo em Boston- I TOOK this photo when I WENT to visit my friend in Boston].
- The SIMPLE PAST gives you the idea of a ONE-OFF situation. So when you VISITED your friend, you did it ONCE at that particular time.
- Add some more information to your story by giving some more details which also occurred just ONCE. (e.g., Eu CONHECI meu amigo a primeira vez que eu VISITEI EUA. [I MET my friend the first time I VISITED the US.]
- Adding some more information that occurred ONLY ONCE
- Automatically limiting the situation in the time line with a BEGINNING and an END
The IMPERFECT PAST
- Once you have added all the detailed information - that have occurred once - in order for you to keep on telling your story, you will need to DESCRIBE the scenario. So, to describe the scenario you'll need the IMPERFECT.
- You will use the IMPERFECT tense in Portuguese specifically in 4 situations:
- When you are DESCRIBING a situation that OCCURRED MANY TIMES in the past giving you the sense of "I USED TO": e.g. "Lá, euJOGAVA futebol na praia com o Artur e os amigos dele" - [There, I USED TO PLAY football with Artur and his friends".
- When you talk about AGE and TIME in the past you must use the IMPERFECT as well.
- When you want to express an idea which took place at ten o'clock for instance, you will also use the IMPERFECT. e.g. "ERAM dez horasquando o restaurant fechou" - "It WAS ten o'clock when the restaurant closed".
- When you need to differentiate in a sentence two actions in whichONE IS LONGER THAN THE OTHER ONE.
- "O Telefone TOCOU enquanto eu ALMOÇAVA" - ["The phone RANG whilst I WAS HAVING LUNCH".]
- When you are narrating a particular event is for instance: "She WAS already in the party, when we CALLED her." "Ela já ESTAVA na festa quando LIGÁMOS para ela." (in Brazilian Portuguese).
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