Past Tense: -er Verbs

Dialog — Reading, Writing, and Sleepiness

This unit’s dialog and comprehension exercises deal with daily routines involving -er verbs in the past — reading, writing, eating, and forgetting.

Portuguese	English
Estou com pressa. Tenho muito que fazer.	I’m in a hurry. I have a lot to do.
Você já tomou café?	Did you have coffee yet?
Não, mas agora não posso.	No, but I can’t right now.
O que é que você vai fazer hoje à noite?	What are you going to do tonight?
Vou escrever umas cartas, ler o jornal e deitar cedo.	I’m going to write some letters, read the paper, and go to bed early.
Como é que ele se chama? Não me lembro.	What’s his name? I don’t remember.
Esqueci! É só que estou cansado. Deitei tarde ontem à noite.	I forgot! It’s just that I’m tired. I went to bed late last night.

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Notes on Grammar

Part I — Past Tense of -er Verbs

Verbs of the -er type have their own set of past tense endings, different from -ar verbs.

I-form: The ending is the stressed vowel -i.

Neutral Form	Past I-form	English
beber	bebi	I drank
comer	comi	I ate
escrever	escrevi	I wrote
esquecer	esqueci	I forgot
ler	li	I read

He-form: The ending is the stressed diphthong -eu.

Neutral Form	Past He-form	English
beber	bebeu	he drank
comer	comeu	he ate
escrever	escreveu	he wrote
esquecer	esqueceu	he forgot
ler	leu	he read
chover	choveu	it rained

They-form: The ending is -eram.

Neutral Form	Past They-form	English
comer	comeram	they ate
beber	beberam	they drank
escrever	escreveram	they wrote
esquecer	esqueceram	they forgot
ler	leram	they read

We-form: The ending is -emos (same as the present tense we-form).

Neutral Form	Past We-form	English
comer	comemos	we ate
beber	bebemos	we drank
escrever	escrevemos	we wrote
esquecer	esquecemos	we forgot
ler	lemos	we read

Summary of -er Past Tense Endings

	Ending	Example (comer)
eu	-i	comi
ele/ela	-eu	comeu
nós	-emos	comemos
eles/elas	-eram	comeram

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Part II — Telling Time

Time is generally expressed using forms of ser plus the hour.

Portuguese	English
São dez horas.	It’s ten o’clock.
São dez e meia.	It’s ten thirty.
São seis e cinco.	It’s 6:05.
São seis e vinte.	It’s 6:20.
São seis e quinze.	It’s 6:15.
São seis e um quarto.	It’s a quarter past six.
São dez para as seis.	It’s ten to six.
São quinze para as seis.	It’s fifteen to six.
É um quarto para as seis.	It’s a quarter to six.
É meio-dia.	It’s noon.
É meia-noite.	It’s midnight.
É uma hora.	It’s one o’clock.

Key rules:

1. After the hour, minutes are added with e: três e dez (3:10).
2. After the half hour, time is commonly expressed as minutes para (before) the next hour: vinte para as cinco (4:40).
3. The half hour is given as meia or trinta; the quarter hour as um quarto or quinze.
4. The word hora(s) is usually omitted unless stating the exact hour.
5. É is used when the following item is singular (é uma hora, é meio-dia); são when plural (são três horas).

Asking and answering about time:

Portuguese	English
A que horas?	At what time?
A que horas você janta?	What time do you eat dinner?
Às oito.	At eight.
Às oito em ponto.	At eight sharp.
À uma.	At one.
Ao meio-dia.	At noon.
À meia-noite.	At midnight.
Está na hora do intervalo.	It’s break time.
Está na hora de sair.	It’s time to leave.

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Part III — Reflexive Verbs (Review and Expansion)

Reflexive verbs use the pronouns me (I) and se (he/she/you) before the verb form.

Portuguese	English
Eu me chamo José. Como se chama o senhor?	My name is José. What is your name?
Eu me levanto cedo. A que horas o senhor se levanta?	I get up early. What time do you get up?
Eu também me deito cedo.	I go to bed early too.
Ontem eu me deitei tarde.	Yesterday I went to bed late.
Eu não me lembro. O senhor se lembra?	I don’t remember. Do you remember?

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The Contraction pelo/pela

The preposition por (“by,” “through,” “around”) contracts with definite articles:

Combination	Contraction	Example
por + o	pelo	pelo túnel (through the tunnel)
por + a	pela	pela cidade (through the city)
por + os	pelos	pelos túneis (through the tunnels)
por + as	pelas	pelas ruas (through the streets)

In time expressions, pela can mean “around, about”:

Portuguese	English
lá pelas duas horas	around two o’clock

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Translation Drill

1. I’m sleepy and hungry.
2. I was in such a hurry!
3. I was in such a hurry that I left my book at home.
4. I read the letter. Right afterwards I read the paper.
5. I went to bed late — around two o’clock.
6. What time did Paulo go to bed? — I don’t remember. Around one o’clock.
7. I remember well. At three thirty!
8. He wasn’t sleepy last night, but he is today.
9. I have a lot to do today.
10. It looks like we’re going to have dinner very late.
11. By the way, Maria, what time are we going to have dinner? — Around about 8:30.
12. I was so hungry that I ate everything.
13. He forgot everything that I said.
14. I don’t remember if he studied or not.
15. Well, let’s study! / Well, let’s work! / Well, let’s practice more!

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Key Vocabulary Summary

Portuguese	English
comi / comeu	I ate / he ate
bebi / bebeu	I drank / he drank
escrevi / escreveu	I wrote / he wrote
esqueci / esqueceu	I forgot / he forgot
li / leu	I read / he read
choveu	it rained
Que horas são?	What time is it?
São … horas.	It’s … o’clock.
É meio-dia.	It’s noon.
É meia-noite.	It’s midnight.
A que horas?	At what time?
em ponto	sharp (time)
meia	half (as in half past)
um quarto	a quarter (of an hour)
para	to/before (in time expressions)
pelo / pela	through the / by the
me chamo	my name is
me lembro	I remember
se deitar	to go to bed
se levantar	to get up
o jornal	newspaper
a carta	letter