Also known as the
simple past, the Portuguese preterite tense describes actions that took place in the past and were completed in the past.
It is often confused with the
imperfect tense, which describes on going, past events.
The examples below illustrate the difference with the verb
comer (to eat):
Preterite Ele comeu
He ate. Imperfect Ele comia.
He was eating.
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