Posts tagged with "verb tenses"

To have done

Posted by Rachel No Comments
Nov 13 2009

In English, we frequently use the present perfect tense to describe some sort of experience that we had in the past. In Portuguese, this tense is used very infrequently, and instead, the past simple tense is used with já (already).

Let’s take a look at some examples.

Have you gone to Disney World? Você já foi na Disney?
Yes, I have. Sim, já.

They have finished. Já terminaram.

We have eaten there before. Já comemos lá.

I’ve seen that movie. Já vi esse filme.

Have you ever taken a Portuguese class? Você já fez um curso de português?

He’s tried that method. Ele já tentou esse método.

They have left the country. Já deixaram o país.

Portuguese Verb Tenses

Posted by Rachel No Comments
Jun 4 2009

For today’s interactive feature, we’re going to talk about the different verb tenses. The question is: which is the most difficult Portuguese verb tense for you?

There are a few verb tenses that I find tricky, like the future subjunctive tense (for, estiver, etc), since when I’m speaking, I sometimes confuse the eles/elas conjugation with the perfect preterite tense (past simple), since some of the conjugations are similar. But the tense that I find the most difficult is pretérito mais-que-perfeito, which never fails to perplex me. Since it’s not used very often in spoken Portuguese, I try to avoid it.

What about you?

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