Pluperfect - Portuguese (Brazil)
Mais-que-perfeito
The "mais-que-perfeito" tense in Portuguese is used to express actions that were completed prior to another past action. It's the equivalent of the pluperfect tense in English. Here’s how it works with regular and irregular verbs.
Regular Verbs with "haver" and "ter"
Haver and ter can be auxiliary verbs in the mais-que-perfeito to indicate actions done before another past action.
Examples with Regular Verbs
- Using "haver": Eu havia falado (I had spoken)
- Using "ter": Nós tínhamos viajado (We had traveled)
Conjugation with "haver"
| Portugese | English |
|---|---|
| eu havia falado | I had spoken |
| tu havias falado | you had spoken |
| ele/ela/você havia falado | he/she/you had spoken |
| nós havíamos falado | we had spoken |
| vós havíeis falado | you (plural) had spoken |
| eles/elas/vocês haviam falado | they/you all had spoken |
Conjugation with "ter"
| Portugese | English |
|---|---|
| eu tinha falado | I had spoken |
| tu tinhas falado | you had spoken |
| ele/ela/você tinha falado | he/she/you had spoken |
| nós tínhamos falado | we had spoken |
| vós tínheis falado | you (plural) had spoken |
| eles/elas/vocês tinham falado | they/you all had spoken |
The Verbs "ser" and "ir"
Both "ser" (to be) and "ir" (to go) share the same conjugation forms in the mais-que-perfeito.
Conjugation
| Portugese | English |
|---|---|
| eu fora | I had been/went |
| tu foras | you had been/went |
| ele/ela/você fora | he/she/you had been/went |
| nós fôramos | we had been/went |
| vós fôreis | you (plural) had been/went |
| eles/elas/vocês foram | they/you all had been/went |
Example: Eles foram ao parque antes do almoço (They had gone to the park before lunch).
Irregular Verbs
Some verbs have irregular forms in the mais-que-perfeito. These need to be memorized as they can deviate significantly from their base forms.
Examples of Irregular Conjugation
- Eu dissera (I had said)
- Nós fizéramos (We had done)
- Eles houveram chegado (They had arrived)
Remember that the use of the mais-que-perfeito is not very common in spoken Brazilian Portuguese, with the periphrastic form (ter/haver + past participle) being favored instead.
Skills
Conjugação do mais-que-perfeito com verbos regulares
Conjugação do mais-que-perfeito com o verbo "ter"
Conjugação do mais-que-perfeito com o verbo "ser"
Conjugação do mais-que-perfeito com o verbo "ir"
Conjugação do mais-que-perfeito com verbos irregulares