Ir Imperfect in Portuguese

What’s up friends! Today we are going to talk about one more use of the Imperfect Past: the verb ir imperfect in Portuguese.

How to use the Portuguese Imperfect Past?

Before we begin our free Portuguese lesson for foreigners today, do you remember how to use the Imperfect Past in Portuguese? If you don’t, or if you have any doubts, just read this Dica.

Now let’s focus on the verb ir. We use the verb ir in the imperfect tense with other verbs in the infinitive to talk about something we wanted to do, or we had the intention to do, but we couldn’t do for some reason. Let’s see the conjugation of ir in the imperfect past. Notice that the second verb never changes:

Conjugation of ir imperfect in Portuguese

We can also use this verb without the infinitive to talk about places that we wanted (or planned) to go to, but for some reason weren’t able to. We’ll also use it to talk about places we used to go when we were children, establishing a routine or habit in the past.

Pronunciation of Imperfect of Ir in Portuguese

It’s time for you to learn how to pronounce this verb! Practice with us repeating after the audios:

Examples

Eu ia sair mas acabou chovendo e, por isso fiquei em casa.
I would have gone out but it rained, so I stayed at home.

Você ia viajar na semana passada, não ia?
You were going to travel last week, didn’t you?

Ela ia à praia, mas acabou ficando em casa. (in this case, it’s not necessary to repeat the verb twice)
She was going to the beach, but she ended up staying at home.

Nós íamos nos encontrar no Botequim Informal.
We would have met each other at Botequim Informal.

Vocês iam se encontrar onde?
Where would you have met?

Eles não iam fazer nada, mas acabaram indo à praia, já que o tempo estava bom.
They weren’t going to do anything, but they ended up going to the beach, as the weather was good.

Quando era criança, eu sempre ia para Teresópolis.
When I was a child, I would always go to Teresópolis.

O cachorro sempre ia atrás dele quando chegava.
The dog would always go after him when he arrived.

Nós íamos para Suíça todo ano.
We would go to Switzerland every year.

Eles iam para a praia, mas choveu.
They would have gone to the beach, but it rained.

Now it’s your turn!

Put the words in the sentences in the correct order:

1. íamos – festa – a – tivemos – mas – Nós – problema – um – para
   _______________________________________________
2. doente – Carlos – para – ia – RioLIVE! – mas – ficou
   _______________________________________________
3. para – viajar – Europa – iam – Eles
   _______________________________________________
4. estudar – cedo – Eu – dormir – mas – ia – tive – que
   _______________________________________________
5. começar – Vocês – hoje – curso – o – iam
   _______________________________________________
6. casa – Eva – ficar – ia – em
   _______________________________________________
7. não – Você – namorada? – sua – ia – ver
   _______________________________________________
8. RioLIVE! – não – para – ia? – hoje – ia – Pablo – a
   _______________________________________________
9. mas – churrasco – sushi – preferimos – Nós – comer – íamos
   _______________________________________________
10. vodka – ia – beber – Eu
    _______________________________________________

Now we know how the imperfect of ir in Portuguese is used.

See you in the next Dica to learn more Portuguese online!
Bye!

   
Click in the links below to see more related Dicas
Imperfect Past in Portuguese
Portuguese Imperfect Irregular Verbs
Portuguese Past tense exercises
Imperfect Subjunctive in Portuguese

Answers

1. Nós íamos para a festa mas tivemos um problema.
2. Carlos ia para a RioLIVE! mas ficou doente.
3. Eles iam viajar para a Europa.
4. Eu ia dormir cedo mas tive que estudar.
5. Vocês iam começar o curso hoje.
6. Eva ia ficar em casa.
7. Você não ia ver sua namorada?
8. Pablo ia para a RioLIVE! hoje, não ia?
9. Nós íamos comer sushi mas preferimos churrasco.
10. Eu ia beber vodca.