How to use past sentences in Portuguese and Spanish
The past tense in Portuguese and Spanish are quite similar, having several forms, much like in English. Below you'll find each type of past tense along with their grammatical structure in English, a comparison in both languages, and an explanation of how to use them.
simple past
pretérito perfeito simples
pasado simple
past continuous
pretérito imperfeito
pretérito imperfecto
past perfect
pretérito mais-que-perfeito
pretérito pluscuamperfecto
present perfect
pretérito perfeito composto
pretérito perfecto
future in the past
futuro do pretérito
condicional simple
Simple past
This mode is used to describe a completed action in the past, something that has started and ended.
subject + verb in past tense
subject + verb in past tense
subject + verb in past tense
eu caminhei para a escola
walk
caminhar / caminar
verb
walked
caminhei / caminé
verb in simple past tense
Past continuous
The mode past continuous is used to describe an ongoing action in the past, often paired with another event or time reference.
subject + was / were + gerund verb
subject + estava (conjugated) + gerund verb
subject + estaba (conjugated) + gerund verb
eu estava caminhando para a escola
yo estaba caminando a la escuela
The use of was or were to become estava, estavam or estavámos (in Spanish: estaba, estaban, estábamos) depends if the subject is in the plural or singular form.
Singular
estava (eu, ela, ele)
estaba (yo, ella, él)
Plural
estavam (eles)
estaban (ellos)
Plural
estávamos (nós)
estábamos (nosotros)
Past perfect
The past perfect is used to indicate an action that happened before another action in the past.
subject + had + verb in past tense
subject + tinha + verb in past tense
subject + había + verb in past tense
eu tinha caminhado para a escola
yo había caminado a la escuela
Present perfect
This mode can be used to describe an action that started in the past but continues to affect the present or is a repeated action.
subject + have/has + verb in past tense
subject + ter (conjugated) + verb in past tense
subject + tiene (conjugated) + verb in past tense
eu tenho caminhado para a escola
yo he caminado a la escuela
The choice between the verb have follows a similar logic to the was / were, where the subject will determine the correct conjugated verb.
Singular
tenho (eu)
he (yo)
Singular
tem (ela, ele)
tiene (ella, él)
Plural
têm (eles)
tienen (ellos)
Plural
temos (nós)
tenemos (nosotros)
Future in the past
It's used to describe a hypothetical situation or an action that would happen given certain conditions.
subject + conditional verb
subject + conditional verb
eu caminharia para a escola
yo caminaría a la escuela
Exercises
Here are some exercises for practicing Brazilian Portuguese past tenses. Don't forget to conjugate the verbs according to the correct subject.
nós _____ (estudar) quando você ligou. (we were studying when you called.)
eles _____ (ajudar) se soubessem do problema. (they would help if they knew about the problem.)
eu _____ (praticar) português diariamente. (I have been practicing Portuguese daily.)
ela _____ (comprar) um carro novo mês passado. (she bought a new car last month.)
você _____ (assistir) TV quando a luz acabou? (were you watching TV when the power went out?)
ele já _____ (comer) antes de sair de casa. (he had eaten before leaving the house.)
Now some exercises in Spanish. Don't forget to conjugate the verbs according to the correct subject.
Yo _____ (viajar) más si tuviera más dinero. (I would travel more if I had more money.)
Nosotros _____ (leer) muchos libros últimamente. (We have been reading a lot of books lately.)
Los niños _____ (jugar) en el parque cuando empezó a llover. (The kids were playing in the park when it started raining.)
Ellas ya _____ (terminar) el proyecto antes de la fecha límite. (They had finished the project before the deadline.)
Mi hermano _____ (mudarse) a otra ciudad el año pasado. (My brother moved to another city last year.)