Past time expressions: ontem, semana passada, já

Eu viajei (I travelled) tells someone that you travelled in the past, but not when — yesterday or in 2011, for example. It does not by itself say when you returned. One expression supplies the date: Viajei ontem (I travelled yesterday), Viajei ano passado (I travelled last year).

Já is useful where English builds "have you ever…?": Brazilian Portuguese can use já with the simple past — two letters helping express something that English often conveys with an auxiliary verb.

1. Two questions — and where the answer goes

The calendar expressions in this lesson answer when? or how long ago? Then there is já: in the past-tense examples below, it tells us that something has happened already, or asks whether it has happened yet.

The calendar expression can sit at the front of the sentence or at the end, with the same basic meaning; the front slot puts a little emphasis on the when: Ontem eu peguei o metrô. / Eu peguei o metrô ontem. (Yesterday I took the metro. / I took the metro yesterday.) Já has several possible positions and meanings; section 6 introduces the common patterns used here.

Yesterday and the day before

• "Ontem eu trabalhei até tarde." (Yesterday I worked late.)

• "Anteontem a gente foi ao mercado." (The day before yesterday we went to the market.)

• "Eu dormi mal ontem à noite." (I slept badly last night.)

• "Hoje de manhã eu perdi o ônibus." (This morning I missed the bus.)

Last week, last month, last year

• "Semana passada eu comprei uma bicicleta." (Last week I bought a bicycle.)

• "Ele mudou de emprego mês passado." (He changed jobs last month.)

• "Ano passado eu visitei o Nordeste." (Last year I visited the Northeast.)

Passado commonly follows the noun

English normally puts "last" first; the common Portuguese pattern taught here puts passado after the noun. The reverse order also exists, often in a more formal style:

• ✅ semana passada, mês passado, sexta passada

• ✅ na passada semana, no passado mês — a more formal order

Say the noun, then describe it for the common pattern in this lesson. Both semana passada and na semana passada are valid time expressions.

Choose the expression for the intended time

Weeks, months, years and weekdays can take passado. But do not mechanically use it to translate "yesterday" or "an hour ago":

Portuguese named yesterday after the night, not the day. Ontem comes from Latin ad noctem, "at night". French hier and Italian ieri come from Latin heri, "yesterday", while Spanish ayer comes from ad heri. Brazilian dictionaries record ontem as do lat. ad noctem. Sources: Origem da Palavra · Dicionário Aulete · RAE.

The ontem series can go back one more day. Beside anteontem, dictionaries record trasanteontem — the day before the day before yesterday — with variants trasantontem and tresantontem. The word is still in the dictionaries; its use varies. Sources: Dicio · Priberam.