The Descriptive Past I

Dialog — Where Did You Use to Live?

This unit presents three short dialog exchanges about past habits and places of residence.

Part I

Portuguese	English
Onde você mora?	Where do you live?
Eu moro em Alexandria.	I live in Alexandria.
Onde você morava antes?	Where did you use to live before?
Eu morava em Filadélfia.	I used to live in Philadelphia.
Você nasceu lá?	Were you born there?
Não, eu nasci em Harrisburg, a capital.	No, I was born in Harrisburg, the capital.

Part II

Portuguese	English
Onde é que você trabalhava, Frank?	Where did you use to work, Frank?
Eu trabalhava em Londres, na seção política.	I used to work in London, in the political section.
Você viajava?	Did you travel (regularly)?
Viajava. Aliás, eu viajava muito, na Inglaterra mesmo.	I did. As a matter of fact, I travelled a lot, in England itself.

Part III

Portuguese	English
Você sabe, Ana, que o Jorge falava chinês muito bem?	Do you know, Anna, that George used to speak Chinese really well?
Eu? Que chinês? Eu não falava chinês.	Me? What Chinese? I didn’t speak Chinese!
Você inventa cada uma!	You invent the darnedest things!

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Notes on Grammar

Part I — The Imperfect Tense of -ar Verbs: -ava Endings

Adding the ending -ava to the stem of -ar verbs creates the imperfect tense, used to describe habitual or recurring past actions. Common English translations include “used to,” “would (habitually),” or simple past description.

I-form and He-form share the same ending: -ava.

Neutral Form	Imperfect	English
ficar	ficava	used to stay / would stay
falar	falava	used to speak
trabalhar	trabalhava	used to work
estudar	estudava	used to study
visitar	visitava	used to visit
mandar	mandava	used to send
praticar	praticava	used to practice
voltar	voltava	used to return
chegar	chegava	used to arrive
morar	morava	used to live
viajar	viajava	used to travel
dançar	dançava	used to dance
almoçar	almoçava	used to eat lunch
jantar	jantava	used to eat dinner

Since the I-form and he-form are identical, a noun or pronoun is often needed for clarity:

Portuguese	English
Eu falava inglês.	I used to speak English.
Ele falava inglês.	He used to speak English.
Maria ficava em casa.	Maria would stay home.

We-form: -ávamos (stress on the á).

Portuguese	English
ficávamos	we used to stay
falávamos	we used to speak
trabalhávamos	we used to work
morávamos	we used to live
praticávamos	we used to practice

They-form: -avam (stress on the first a of the ending).

Portuguese	English
ficavam	they used to stay
falavam	they used to speak
trabalhavam	they used to work
moravam	they used to live
viajavam	they used to travel

Summary: -ar Imperfect Endings

	Ending	Example (falar)
eu	-ava	falava
ele/ela	-ava	falava
nós	-ávamos	falávamos
eles/elas	-avam	falavam

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Part II — Noun and Adjective Plurals Ending in -el, -ol, -il, -ul

Words ending in stressed -el → -éis

Singular	Plural	English
hotel	hotéis	hotel(s)
papel	papéis	paper(s)
anel	anéis	ring(s)
pastel	pastéis	pastry/pastries
pincel	pincéis	paintbrush(es)
quartel	quartéis	barracks
coronel	coronéis	colonel(s)

Words ending in stressed -ol → -óis

Singular	Plural	English
espanhol	espanhóis	Spanish
anzol	anzóis	fishing rod(s)
farol	faróis	headlight(s)

Words ending in stressed -ul → -uis

Singular	Plural	English
azul	azuis	blue

Portuguese	English
carro azul	blue car
carros azuis	blue cars
montanhas azuis	blue mountains

Words ending in stressed -il → -is

Singular	Plural	English
civil	civis	civil
gentil	gentis	kind, polite
barril	barris	barrel(s)

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Practice Drills (Selected)

Drill — Imperfect Tense Statements

Say these in Portuguese:

1. I used to work a lot. I would work all day.
2. He used to speak English. He would speak it well.
3. He used to eat lunch early. He’d always eat lunch at eleven.
4. She used to eat dinner late. She’d always eat at ten.
5. I used to stay home. I’d stay with my son.
6. He used to get up early. He’d get up at six.
7. You used to arrive late.

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Translation Drill

1. Where do you live? — I live in Alexandria.
2. Where did you use to live? — I used to live in Philadelphia.
3. Were you born there? — No, I was born in Harrisburg.
4. Where did you use to work? — I used to work in London.
5. Did you travel a lot? — I did. I travelled a lot in England.
6. They are Spanish. → Eles são espanhóis.
7. The mountains are blue. → As montanhas são azuis.
8. He is very kind. → Ele é muito gentil.
9. They are very kind. → Eles são muito gentis.

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Key Vocabulary Summary

Portuguese	English
falava / falávamos / falavam	used to speak (I-he / we / they)
trabalhava	used to work
morava	used to live
viajava	used to travel
estudava	used to study
antes	before, previously
nascer / nasci / nasceu	to be born / I was born / he was born
a capital	capital
a seção	section
político/a	political
Londres	London
a Inglaterra	England
aliás	as a matter of fact
inventar	to invent
chinês	Chinese
o hotel / os hotéis	hotel / hotels
o papel / os papéis	paper / papers
o anel / os anéis	ring / rings
azul / azuis	blue (sing/pl)
espanhol / espanhóis	Spanish (sing/pl)
gentil / gentis	kind, polite (sing/pl)