Verbs: Past Imperfect 2
What it used to be!
Add ‑va to verbs ending in ‑ar, like errar and ficar, to talk about things that used to happen.
A equipe errava demais.
The team used to make too many mistakes.
A casa do meu avô ficava nesta rua.
My grandfather's house used to be on this street.
The verbs in the previous sentences are in the past imperfect form. You can use the imperfect to talk about something that happened in the past for an undetermined period of time.
Eu sempre lembrava do aniversário dela.
I used to always remember her birthday.
I used to be imperfect
The past imperfect form for verbs ending in ‑er and ‑ir, like perder and seguir, ends in ‑ia.
Ele sempre perdia o ônibus.
He used to always miss the bus.
Ela esquecia as chaves.
She used to forget the keys.
Ele seguia as regras.
He used to follow the rules.
O passado é o passado!
We've seen that you can use the imperfect in Portuguese to talk about any event that happened in the past for an undetermined period of time. That may translate to different past forms in English!
Ele me dava muitos presentes.
He used to give me many presents.
Eu via muitos carros da janela.
I saw many cars from the window.
You can also use the verb ir in the imperfect plus an infinitive to talk about something that was going to happen.
Ele dizia que ia chover.
He said that it was going to rain.
Ela ia conhecer o Brasil.
She was going to know Brazil.