Phrase · 📖 Telling a story
Quando eu era pequeno, passava as férias no sítio do meu avô.
When I was little, I used to spend the holidays at my grandpa’s farm.
B1describing past habitsAudio · coming soon
Why every word is where it is
QuandoconjunctionwheneupronounI1st sing. · subjectera1verbwasser · imperfect · 1st sing.pequenoadjectivelittlemasc. · sing.,passava2verbused to spendpassar · imperfect · 1st sing.asdeterminertheo · fem. · pl. · definiteférias3nounholidaysfem. · pl.noprepositionat theem · masc. · sing. · definitesítio4nounsmall farmmasc. · sing.doprepositionof thede · masc. · sing. · definitemeu5determinermy1st sing.avônoungrandfathermasc. · sing..
- eu → era: subject
- eu → pequeno: agreement
- passava → férias: object
- meu → avô: agreement
Word for word: “When I was small, (I) spent the holidays in-the farm of-the my grandfather.”
Why it's built this way
The notes match the numbers above.
- 1era pequeno: ser in the imperfeito for how things were. A girl says pequena. Pretérito imperfeito →
- 2passava: imperfeito for a repeated habit in the past ("used to"). Perfeito vs imperfeito →
- 3as férias = holidays: always plural.
- 4sítio = a small country property in Brazil, not "site" or "place".
- 5do meu avô: an article before the possessive is common. Avô = grandpa, avó = grandma. Possessives & the dele/dela fix →
Variations
- Quando eu era criança, passava as férias no sítio do meu avô.
- Quando eu era pequena, ia todo verão pra casa da minha avó.
- Na minha infância, eu passava as férias no interior.