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What’s up friends from A Dica do Dia. Today, we’re going to talk about the verb used to in Portuguese. What did you used to do when you were a child? What did you used to eat? What did you used to play with?
How to use the verb Used to In Portuguese
We use the verbΒ costumar (used to) plus another verb in the infinitiveΒ to describe actions in which we used to do in the past and, today, we don’t do anymore. This is how we do it:
Β Examples with Used to in Portuguese
Antigamente, eu costumava sair muito Γ noite, com meus amigos.
In the past, I used to goΒ out a lot at night with my friends
Onde vocΓͺ costumava passar o verΓ£o?
Where did you used to spend the summer?
Marta costumava ficar em casa aos domingos com a famΓlia.
Marta used to stay at home on Sundays with her family.
Antigamente, costumava fazer menos calor no Rio de Janeiro.
In the past, in Rio de Janeiro didn’t used to beΒ as hot.
NΓ³s sempre costumΓ‘vamos passar as fΓ©rias no Brasil. Era muito divertido!
We always used to spend the holidays in Brazil. It was so much fun!
VocΓͺs costumavam vir sempre a este bar, nΓ£o Γ©? Por que vocΓͺs pararam?
You used to to always come to this bar, right? Why did you stop?
Eles costumavam ir a pΓ© para o trabalho.
They used to walk to work.
We can also use the verb costumar in other tenses. Let’s learn them all:
Conjugation of Used to in Portuguese
To help you with the conjugation, we marked in bold the part of the verb that changes according to each conjugation of each tense. Take a look!
Indicative
| Present | Past Simple | Imperfect Past |
| Eu costumo | Eu costumei | Eu costumava |
| VocΓͺ costuma | VocΓͺ costumou | VocΓͺ costumava |
| Ele/ ela costuma | Ele/ ela costumou | Ele/ ela costumava |
| NΓ³s costumamos | NΓ³s costumamos | NΓ³s costumΓ‘vamos |
| VocΓͺs costumam | VocΓͺs costumaram | VocΓͺs costumavam |
| Eles/ elas costumam | Eles/ elas costumaram | Eles/ elas costumavam |
| Past pluperfect simple | Past pluperfect composed |
| Eu costumara | Eu tinha costumado |
| VocΓͺ costumara | VocΓͺ tinha costumado |
| Ele/ ela costumara | Ele/ ela tinha costumado |
| NΓ³s costumΓ‘ramos | NΓ³s tΓnhamos costumado |
| VocΓͺs costumaram | VocΓͺs tinham costumado |
| Eles/ elas costumaram | Eles/ elas tinham costumado |
| SimpleΒ Future | ImmediateΒ Future | Future of the past |
| Eu costumarei | Eu vou costumar | Eu costumaria |
| VocΓͺ costumarΓ‘ | VocΓͺ vai costumar | VocΓͺ costumaria |
| Ele/ ela costumarΓ‘ | Ele/ ela vai costumar | Ele/ ela costumaria |
| NΓ³s costumaremos | NΓ³s vamos costumar | NΓ³s costumarΓamos |
| VocΓͺs costumarΓ£o | VocΓͺs vΓ£o costumar | VocΓͺs costumariam |
| Eles/ elas costumarΓ£o | Eles/ elas vΓ£o costumar | Eles/ elas costumariam |
Imperative
| Affirmative | Negative |
| Costume vocΓͺ | NΓ£o costume vocΓͺ |
| Costume ele/ ela | NΓ£o costume ele/ ela |
| Costumemos nΓ³s | NΓ£o costumemos nΓ³s |
| Costumem vocΓͺs | NΓ£o costumem vocΓͺs |
| Costumem eles/ elas | NΓ£o costumem eles/ elas |
Subjunctive
| Present | Imperfect Past | Future |
| Que eu costume | Se eu costumasse | Quando eu costumar |
| Que vocΓͺ costume | Se vocΓͺ costumasse | Quando vocΓͺ costumar |
| Que ele/ela costume | Se ele/ela costumasse | Quando ele/ela costumar |
| Que nΓ³s costumemos | Se nΓ³s costumΓ‘ssemos | Quando nΓ³s costumarmos |
| Que vocΓͺs costumem | Se vocΓͺs costumassem | Quando vocΓͺs costumarem |
| Que eles/elas costumem | Se eles/elas costumassem | Quando eles/elas costumarem |
Other tenses
| Personal infinitive | Gerund | Participle |
| Para costumar eu | Costumando | Costumado |
| Para costumar vocΓͺ | ||
| Para costumar ele/ela | ||
| Para costumarmos nΓ³s | ||
| Para costumarem vocΓͺs | ||
| Para costumarem eles/elas |
This is a regular verb in Portuguese! So it’ll follow the same rules and pattern as the other regular verbs ending in AR.
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Acostumar x Costumar in Portuguese
In Portuguese we have two verbs that are very similar in their form and meaning too:Β acostumar andΒ costumar.Β Today we’ve studied the verb costumar,Β but what is the difference between them?
The verb costumar has the sense of having a consolidated habit, whileΒ acostumar means acquiring (or not) a habit. Take a look at the examples:
Eu nunca me acostumo com a beleza dessa cidade.
I never get used to the beauty of this city.
Com o tempo, me acostumei a comer mais devagar.
Over time, I got used to eating more slowly.
Pay attention to when we use acostumar with a noun, we will use the preposition com.Β And when we use this verb with another verb, we must use the prepositionΒ a after it.
Now it’s your turn!
Now let’s practice the verb used to in Portuguese answering this question:
O que vocΓͺ costumava fazer no passado?
O que vocΓͺ se acostumou a fazer hoje que vocΓͺ nΓ£o fazia antes?
VocΓͺ mudou muito os seus hΓ‘bitos?Β Β
Practice with your friends what they costumavam fazer and today don’t do anymore.
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ThatΒ΄s it!!
See you in the next A Dica do Dia!
Β Β 
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