Ser Imperfect in Portuguese

Today, we are going to learn the verb Ser Imperfect in Portuguese. What were you like when you were a child? Let’s learn how to say this in Portuguese today!

Conjugating Ser Imperfect in Portuguese

To begin with, let’s learn the conjugation of this very important and irregular verb!

Now listen to the conjugation so you’ll pronounce it correctly!

When to use Ser Imperfect in Portuguese?

We use the ser imperfect in Portuguese to it talk about a past fact, but that was not concluded (imperfect = not perfect, unfinished). It conveys an idea of ​​continuity and duration and can describe a continued action that became a routine. If you’re going to describe how you were as a child, for example, you’ll probably have to use this tense.
Let’s see some examples!

Examples 

Eu era um bom aluno quando criança.
I was a good student when I was a child.

Você era muito magro.
You were very thin.

Oscar Niemeyer era arquiteto.
Oscar Niemeyer was an architect.

Ela sempre era muito simpática com todo mundo.
She was always very friendly with everybody.

Nós éramos bons amigos.
We were good friends.

Vocês eram ruivas. Agora estão loiras. O que aconteceu?
You were red heads. Now you are blonde. What happened?

Elas eram espertas nos tempos de escola.
They were smart at school.

Now it’s your turn!

Change the sentences into the imperfect tense:

1. Eu sou professor de Português
2. Ela é muito inteligente.
3. Você é uma pessoa religiosa?
4. Marta e eu somos casados.
5. Eles são muito bons em samba.
6. Esta caneta é minha.
7. A parede da sala é verde.
8. João e Maria são apaixonados por doces.
9. Eu sou forte mas você não é.
10. Ele é o diretor da Rio & Learn, não é?

What about you? How were you in the past?
Practice by writing a small text telling us how you were in the past. Have Portuguese classes in Rio with us and tell us all about your childhood 😉 !

Want to learn more Portuguese? Check out our YouTube channel to see video Dicas.

That’s it! Today we learned about the imperfect verb ser in Portuguese.
See you in the next Dica!

   
Click in the links below to see more related Dicas
Verb Ser Exercises in Portuguese
Ser Portuguese Conjugation
Simple Past of Ser and Ir in Portuguese
Verb Ser Games

Answers

1. Eu era professor de Português
2. Ela era muito inteligente.
3. Você era uma pessoa religiosa?
4. Marta e eu eramos casados.
5. Eles eram muito bons em samba.
6. Esta caneta era minha.
7. A parede da sala era verde.
8. João e Maria eram apaixonados por doces.
9. Eu era forte mas você não era .
10. Ele era o diretor da Rio & Learn, não era?