To tell stories in English, you use several past tenses together. The simple past tells the facts, the past continuous sets the scene, the past perfect goes even further back in time, and used to and would talk about habits that stayed in the past.Para contar histórias em inglês, você usa vários tempos do passado juntos. O simple past conta os fatos, o past continuous monta o cenário, o past perfect volta ainda mais no tempo, e used to e would falam dos hábitos que ficaram para trás.
| Tense | Example | Português |
|---|---|---|
| Was / were | I was tired. | Eu estava cansada. |
| Simple Past | I worked yesterday. | Eu trabalhei ontem. |
| Used to | I used to work there. | Eu trabalhava lá (não trabalho mais). |
| Would | We would play outside every day. | Nós brincávamos lá fora todo dia. |
| Past Continuous | I was working when you called. | Eu estava trabalhando quando você ligou. |
| Past Perfect | I had worked there before. | Eu tinha trabalhado lá antes. |
| Past Perfect Continuous | I had been working for hours. | Eu estava trabalhando havia horas. |
A1 Was and were
Was and were are the past of the verb be. They mean “era / estava / foi / esteve”, depending on the context.Was e were são o passado do verbo be. Significam “era / estava / foi / esteve”, dependendo do contexto.
| Affirmative | Negative | Question |
|---|---|---|
| I / he / she / it was | wasn’t | Was I / he / she / it? |
| you / we / they were | weren’t | Were you / we / they? |
- I was happy yesterday. (Eu estava feliz ontem.)
- They weren’t at the party. (Eles não estavam na festa.)
- Were you at school last week? (Você estava na escola semana passada?)
- The concert was amazing! (O show foi incrível!)
A1 Simple past
We use the simple past for actions that were completed at a definite moment in the past.Usamos o simple past para ações concluídas em um momento definido do passado.
| Affirmative | Negative | Question |
|---|---|---|
| I worked | I didn’t work | Did I work? |
| she went | she didn’t go | Did she go? |
- I visited my grandparents last weekend. (Visitei meus avós no fim de semana passado.)
- She didn’t call me yesterday. (Ela não me ligou ontem.)
- Did they finish their homework? (Eles terminaram a lição?)
- We watched a great film on Friday night. (Assistimos a um filme ótimo na sexta à noite.)
Signal words: yesterday, last week, two days ago, in 2005, when I was a child.Palavras-sinal: yesterday (ontem), last week (semana passada), two days ago (dois dias atrás), in 2005 (em 2005), when I was a child (quando eu era criança).
Regular verbs: spelling
| Rule | Example | Past |
|---|---|---|
| most verbs + -ed | play, work | played, worked |
| ending in e + -d | live, like | lived, liked |
| consonant + y → -ied | study, try | studied, tried |
| consonant-vowel-consonant, stressed last syllable: double | stop, plan, prefer | stopped, planned, preferred |
Regular verbs: pronunciation of -ed
| Sound | When | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| /t/ | after p, k, f, s, x, sh, ch | stopped, worked, laughed, fixed, washed, watched |
| /d/ | after vowels and other voiced sounds | played, lived, called, cleaned |
| /ɪd/ | after t and d | wanted, needed, visited, decided |
The most common mistake
The -ed only becomes an extra syllable after t and d: wanted (“WON-tid”). In worked, it sounds like “workt”, not “work-ed”.O -ed só vira uma sílaba extra depois de t e d: wanted (“uónted”). Em worked, o som é “uórkt”, e não “uórked”.
Irregular verbs
Irregular verbs have their own past forms: go → went, see → saw, buy → bought. See the complete list, organized in groups and with audio, in the post Irregular Verbs.Os verbos irregulares têm formas próprias no passado: go → went, see → saw, buy → bought. Veja a lista completa, organizada por grupos e com áudio, no post Irregular Verbs.
Did + base verb
In negatives and questions, did already shows the past, so the main verb goes back to the base form: ✗ She didn’t went. ✓ She didn’t go. ✗ Did you saw it? ✓ Did you see it?Na negativa e na pergunta, o did já mostra o passado, então o verbo principal volta à forma base: ✗ She didn’t went. ✓ She didn’t go. ✗ Did you saw it? ✓ Did you see it?
A2 Used to
Used to describes past habits and states that no longer exist.Used to descreve hábitos e estados do passado que não existem mais.
- I used to go to the beach every summer. (Eu ia à praia todo verão.)
- She didn’t use to like coffee. (Ela não gostava de café.)
- Did they use to live here? (Eles moravam aqui?)
- My dad used to play football every Saturday. (Meu pai jogava futebol todo sábado.)
used to + base verb
A past habit: “costumava”.Um hábito do passado: “costumava”.
I used to get up early. (Eu costumava acordar cedo.)
be used to + -ing
Being familiar with something: “estar acostumado”.Estar acostumado com algo.
I’m used to getting up early. (Estou acostumada a acordar cedo.)
A2 Would for past habits
Would is more common in stories and memories. Use it only for repeated actions, never for states.Would é mais comum em narrativas e memórias. Use só para ações repetidas, nunca para estados.
- When I was a child, I would play outside every day. (Quando eu era criança, brincava lá fora todo dia.)
- My grandmother would tell us stories every night. (Minha avó nos contava histórias toda noite.)
- On Sundays, my dad would make pancakes for everyone. (Aos domingos, meu pai fazia panquecas para todo mundo.)
- In the summer, we would swim in the river near my uncle’s farm. (No verão, a gente nadava no rio perto do sítio do meu tio.)
Used to
Actions and states.Ações e estados.
I used to play football. ✓ (Eu jogava futebol.)
I used to live in London. ✓ (Eu morava em Londres.)
Would
Only repeated actions.Só ações repetidas.
I would play football every Saturday. ✓ (Eu jogava futebol todo sábado.)
✗ I would live in London. (Use used to live.)
Would needs a context
Would only works when the past context is already clear. Start with used to or a time expression (When I was a child…), then continue with would.Would só funciona quando o contexto do passado já está claro. Comece com used to ou com uma expressão de tempo (Quando eu era criança…) e depois continue com would.
A2 Past continuous
An action in progress at a moment in the past, often interrupted by another action (simple past).Uma ação em andamento num momento do passado, muitas vezes interrompida por outra ação (simple past).
- I was reading when the phone rang. (Eu estava lendo quando o telefone tocou.)
- They weren’t watching TV at that time. (Eles não estavam vendo TV naquela hora.)
- While I was cooking, the kids were playing. (Enquanto eu cozinhava, as crianças brincavam.)
- What were you doing at 8 o’clock last night? (O que você estava fazendo às 8 horas ontem à noite?)
Want to compare it with the simple past?
See the post Past Simple x Past Continuous.Veja o post Past Simple x Past Continuous.
B1 Past perfect
The “past of the past”: an action that happened before another past action.O “passado do passado”: uma ação que aconteceu antes de outra ação passada.
- I had already eaten when they arrived. (Eu já tinha comido quando eles chegaram.)
- She hadn’t seen that film before. (Ela nunca tinha visto aquele filme.)
- Had you finished before the class started? (Você tinha terminado antes de a aula começar?)
- The film had already started when we got to the cinema. (O filme já tinha começado quando chegamos ao cinema.)
When she arrived, he left.
He left when she arrived: one action right after the other.Ele saiu quando ela chegou: uma ação logo depois da outra.
When she arrived, he had left.
He had already left before she arrived.Ele já tinha saído antes de ela chegar.
B1 Past perfect continuous
It highlights the duration of an action up to a moment in the past.Destaca a duração de uma ação até um momento do passado.
- I had been studying for two hours when she called. (Eu estava estudando havia duas horas quando ela ligou.)
- They had been waiting for ages when the bus arrived. (Eles estavam esperando havia muito tempo quando o ônibus chegou.)
- Her eyes were red because she had been crying. (Os olhos dela estavam vermelhos porque ela tinha chorado.)
- The ground was wet because it had been raining all night. (O chão estava molhado porque tinha chovido a noite toda.)
Go deeper
See the post Past Perfect vs. Past Perfect Continuous.Veja o post Past Perfect vs. Past Perfect Continuous.
Common Mistakes
Avoid these
✗ She didn’t went to school. ✓ She didn’t go to school.Depois de didn’t, o verbo fica na forma base.
✗ I have visited Rome two years ago. ✓ I visited Rome two years ago.Com ago, yesterday e last, use o simple past.
✗ I would live in London. ✓ I used to live in London.Would não é usado para estados como live, be e have.
✗ She used to goes to the gym. ✓ She used to go to the gym.Depois de used to, use o verbo base.
✗ I was read when you called. ✓ I was reading when you called.O past continuous precisa do verbo com -ing.
✗ She has already left when I arrived. ✓ She had already left when I arrived.Para uma ação anterior a outra no passado, use o past perfect.
Quick Summary
| Tense | Use | Example | Português |
|---|---|---|---|
| was / were | past of be | We were at home. | Estávamos em casa. |
| simple past | finished action, definite time | I called her yesterday. | Liguei para ela ontem. |
| used to | old habits and states | I used to be shy. | Eu era tímida. |
| would | repeated actions in stories | We would swim every day. | A gente nadava todo dia. |
| past continuous | action in progress | It was raining when I left. | Estava chovendo quando saí. |
| past perfect | earlier past action | The film had started. | O filme já tinha começado. |
| past perfect continuous | duration before a past moment | I had been waiting for an hour. | Eu estava esperando havia uma hora. |
Practice Time
Quiz