B2 · Can, want, must
Modals in the past
« Wouldn't » means refused in English too — and here it is a tense.
At a glance
- Remember
- The Perfeito means: and it happened.
- Form
- (eu) podiaI could (open whether it happened)
- Signal words
- podia
- pude
- queria
- quis
- devia ter
- Trap
- Wrong:Quis um café, se faz favor.Right:Queria um café, se faz favor.
Your turn
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The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Portuguese. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) stem (irregular) tense marker person ending ending for tense and person auxiliary verb negation
| I could (open whether it happened) | (eu) podia |
| you could (open whether it happened) | (tu) podias |
| he / she could, you could (open whether it happened) | (ele / ela / você) podia |
| we could (open whether it happened) | (nós) podíamos |
| you could, plural and formal (open whether it happened) | (vós) podíeis |
| they could, you could (plural; open whether it happened) | (eles / elas / vocês) podiam |
| I could, and it happened | (eu) pude |
| you could, and it happened | (tu) pudeste |
| he / she could, you could, and it happened | (ele / ela / você) pôde |
| we could, and it happened | (nós) pudemos |
| you could, plural and formal, and it happened | (vós) pudestes |
| they could, you could (plural), and it happened | (eles / elas / vocês) puderam |
| I could go (whether I went is left open) | podia ir |
| I could go and I went | pude ir |
| I wanted to speak | queria falar |
| I refused to speak | não quis falar |
| I had to leave, and did | tive de sair |
| he should have said so | devia ter dito |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
The Imperfeito leaves open whether it happened.
Podia ter ido, mas fiquei em casa.I could have gone, but I stayed at home.
The Perfeito says that it happened.
Tive de sair mais cedo.I had to leave earlier.
não quis means refused.
Ele não quis assinar o contrato.He refused to sign the contract.
devia ter plus participle is a reproach.
Devias ter dito alguma coisa.You should have said something.
Example sentences
Queria falar consigo um momento.I would like a word with you.
Não pude ir à reunião, estava doente.I could not go to the meeting, I was ill.
Devíamos ter reservado com antecedência.We should have booked in advance.
Ela não quis dizer o que aconteceu.She would not say what had happened.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Queria is rarely a past tense in conversation. Queria um café means « I would like a coffee » — it is the polite form of quero and the ordinary way to order. Someone who says quero um café is not rude, but is being more direct than most people are.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
With modals the choice of past tense says not when but whether it happened. Podia ir is « I could have gone » — open whether I did. Pude ir is « I could and I went ».
The same with querer: queria falaris a polite wish or an intention that came to nothingquis falaris « I wanted to and tried » And the negative não quis means « I refused ».
That last one you already have. « He wouldn't sign » in English is not about the future and not about a hypothesis: it means he refused. What is new is that here the refusal is carried by a tense rather than by a word — não quis assinar against não queria assinar, which is merely « he did not want to ».
For what could have been and was not, the Condicional or the compound form stands: podia ter ido, devia ter dito — « I could have gone », « he should have said ».
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The verbs on this page, in every form: ter · querer · ir · poder · dever · estar · ficar · dizer