How this lesson works
After this lesson you can tell a complete story about your past — trips, parties, good days and bad ones.
Today you will learn to say:
"Ontem foi um dia ótimo! Primeiro fui para a praia, então tive um almoço legal, e finalmente fiz muitos amigos!"
"Yesterday was a great day! First I went to the beach, then I had a nice lunch, and finally I made lots of friends!"
📐 Grammar in this lesson
| SER & IR — past (shared!) | fui, foi, fomos, foram — one form, two verbs; context decides |
| ESTAR — past | estive, esteve, estivemos, estiveram |
| TER — past | tive, teve, tivemos, tiveram |
| FAZER — past | fiz, fez, fizemos, fizeram |
| QUERER & PODER — past | quis, quis, quisemos, quiseram · pude, pôde, pudemos, puderam |
| Storytelling connectors | primeiro · então · depois · finalmente · porque |
The 8 steps (±40 min)
| 1 | Review — 6 questions from Lessons 3–5 | 2 min |
| 2 | Words — 22 new: travel, money, opinions, connectors | 5 min |
| 3 | Grammar — the six irregular pasts + connectors | 8 min |
| 4 | Cards — flashcards, multiple choice, typing | 9 min |
| 5 | Dialogue — "How was your trip to Rio?" | 3 min |
| 6 | Summary — the cheat-sheet | 1 min |
| 7 | Test — 30 questions in 3 categories | 8 min |
| 8 | Results — your scores, saved automatically | 1 min |
Step 1 · Warm-up — Lessons 3–5
Regular past, future, and power verbs — the foundations today's lesson builds on.
Step 2 · 54 new words
Travel words, money words, opinion words — and the connectors that glue a story together.
Travel & places ✈️
Money, things & opinions 💰
Storytelling words 📖
Story words 📖 — every one of these turns up in this lição’s história
Don’t drill these like the lists above. Read them once, then meet them again in the story — that second meeting is what makes them stick.
Step 3 · The irregular pasts — small, wild, essential
Six verbs refuse the regular endings. They happen to be the six most useful verbs in the language.
1 · SER and IR share one past — fui, foi, fomos, foram
The strangest fact in Portuguese: "to be" and "to go" have identical past forms. Eu fui = I was AND I went. Context always tells you which: fui professor (I was a teacher) vs fui ao mercado (I went to the market).
| Eu fui ao Rio no ano passado. | fui + place = went |
| A festa foi ótima! | foi + description = was |
| Nós fomos à praia e foi perfeito. | same verb, two jobs |
2 · ESTAR — estive, esteve, estivemos, estiveram
"Was/were (in a state or place)": estive doente = I was sick. Estive em Paris = I was in Paris (visited). The est- root survives; the endings go rogue.
| Eu estive doente na segunda. | temporary state, past |
| Você já esteve no Brasil? | já + estive = have you been |
| Eles estiveram aqui ontem. | location, past |
3 · TER — tive, teve, tivemos, tiveram
"Had": tive uma ideia = I had an idea. Also the past of ter que (had to). One of the highest-frequency words in any conversation about yesterday.
| Eu tive um dia difícil. | tive = I had |
| Ela teve uma ideia ótima. | teve = he/she had |
| Nós tivemos sorte! | ter sorte = to be lucky |
4 · FAZER — fiz, fez, fizemos, fizeram
"Did/made": fiz um bolo = I made a cake; o que você fez? = what did you do? — the single most common question about someone's day.
| O que você fez ontem? | THE daily question |
| Fiz um bolo e fiz café. | fiz = I did/made |
| Eles fizeram uma festa surpresa. | fizeram = they did |
5 · QUERER and PODER — quis and pude
"Wanted" = quis (quis, quis, quisemos, quiseram); "could/managed" = pude (pude, pôde, pudemos, puderam). In the past, these often carry drama: wanted to but could not…
| Eu quis ir, mas não pude. | the classic excuse — learn it whole |
| Ela não quis comer. | não quis = refused |
| Vocês puderam viajar? | puderam = managed to |
6 · Storytelling connectors — gluing the past together
A story is events + glue: primeiro (first) → então (then) → depois (afterwards) → finalmente (finally), with porque (because) explaining why. With these plus the six pasts above, you can narrate any day of your life.
| Primeiro fui ao mercado, depois fiz o jantar. | primeiro → depois |
| Então ela teve uma ideia. | então moves the plot |
| Finalmente dormi, porque estive cansado o dia todo. | finalmente + porque |
7 · The classic slips of Lesson 6
| ❌ Eu fazi tudo | ✅ Eu fiz tudo — fazer refuses the regular -i |
| ❌ Nós fomos tive uma festa | ✅ Nós fomos a uma festa e tivemos… — one conjugated verb per clause |
| ❌ Ela teve na praia | ✅ Ela esteve na praia — being somewhere = estar (estive), having = ter (tive) |
| ❌ Eu não podi ir | ✅ Eu não pude ir — poder past is pude/pôde/pudemos/puderam |
Step 4 · Cards — the repetition engine
Three rounds. Cards you miss come back until you get them.
Round 1 · Flashcards
Step 5 · How was your trip?
Your first full story in the past. Listen first WITHOUT translations — every verb form is from today's grammar.
Did you understand?
🎤 Fala você! — now YOU speak
The step that turns knowledge into conversation. Answer each prompt out loud, in a full sentence — imperfect is fine, silent is not. Then open the model answer, compare, and say the model out loud too.
Show a model answer
Ontem eu fui ao centro e fiz compras.
Yesterday I went downtown and did some shopping.
Show a model answer
No sábado passado eu tive uma festa em casa.
Last Saturday I had a party at home.
Show a model answer
Meu amigo fez o jantar e foi incrível.
My friend made dinner and it was incredible.
Show a model answer
Eu não fiz nada no domingo.
I didn't do anything on Sunday.
Step 6 · Resumo — Lesson 6 on one page
Your cheat-sheet. (Ctrl+P saves it as PDF.)
📐 New grammar — the six irregular pasts
| Verb | eu | você/ele/ela | nós | eles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ser / ir (shared!) | fui | foi | fomos | foram |
| estar | estive | esteve | estivemos | estiveram |
| ter | tive | teve | tivemos | tiveram |
| fazer | fiz | fez | fizemos | fizeram |
| querer | quis | quis | quisemos | quiseram |
| poder | pude | pôde | pudemos | puderam |
Connectors: primeiro · então · depois · finalmente · porque (porque = because, answers "por quê?")
💬 New words (22)
Step 7 · Final test — 30 questions in 3 categories
The irregular pasts plus comebacks from Lessons 4–5.
Step 8 · Your results
Your progress is saved automatically. Sign in and it follows you to any device — phone, laptop, wherever you study next.
Needs more repetition
- Complete the drills and test first.