Portuguese Time Adverbs Explained With Today, Tomorrow, and Yesterday

Introduction

Understanding time adverbs is essential for talking about when things happen in Portuguese. This article explains how to use the basic temporal adverbs hoje, amanhã, and ontem in Brazilian Portuguese, with clear grammar rules, examples, and common usage notes to help beginner and intermediate learners sound natural.

What are time adverbs?

Time adverbs (advérbios de tempo) are words that tell us when an action takes place. The most basic and frequently used in everyday conversation are hoje (today), amanhã (tomorrow), and ontem (yesterday). They can appear in different positions in a sentence and affect verb tenses and the meaning of a sentence.

Basic meanings and simple examples

Here are the core meanings and sample sentences for each adverb. Notice how the verb tense often matches the time adverb.

Hoje — today

Hoje indicates actions happening during the current day.

Examples:
Eu estudo hoje às 18h.
Hoje está chovendo.
Vamos ao cinema hoje à noite.

Amanhã — tomorrow

Amanhã points to the day after today and usually pairs with future or near-future forms.

Examples:
Eu vou trabalhar amanhã.
Amanhã teremos uma reunião.
Você vem aqui amanhã de manhã?

Ontem — yesterday

Ontem refers to the day before today and typically requires past forms of the verb.

Examples:
Eu estudei ontem à noite.
Ontem fez muito calor.
Nós fomos ao parque ontem.

Position of time adverbs in a sentence

Time adverbs are flexible in Portuguese. Their position can change but rarely changes the core meaning; it often affects emphasis or flow.

Initial position (for emphasis)

Starting a sentence with a time adverb emphasizes when something happens.

Examples:
Hoje eu preciso sair cedo.
Amanhã ele chega cedo.
Ontem encontrei um amigo.

Mid-position (common in spoken Portuguese)

Placing the adverb after the subject is very common in conversational Portuguese.

Examples:
Eu hoje trabalho até mais tarde.
Ela amanhã vai viajar.
Nós ontem comemos fora.

End position (neutral and common)

Ending a sentence with the time adverb is neutral and widely used.

Examples:
Eu trabalho até mais tarde hoje.
Ele vai viajar amanhã.
Comemos fora ontem.

Verb tense choices with hoje, amanhã, and ontem

Time adverbs guide verb tense selection. Use present or present progressive with hoje, future or near-future with amanhã, and past tenses with ontem. There are exceptions depending on how the speaker frames time.

Using hoje

With hoje, you can use present simple, present continuous, or even future forms when referring to plans or scheduled events.

Examples:
Eu trabalho hoje. (present simple — regular action today)
Estou estudando hoje. (present progressive — action in progress)
Hoje vou viajar para São Paulo. (near-future plan)

Using amanhã

Amanhã commonly pairs with the simple future, periphrastic future with ir + infinitive, or present simple to indicate scheduled events.

Examples:
Eu viajarei amanhã. (simple future — formal)
Vou viajar amanhã. (ir + infinitive — very common in speech)
Amanhã começa a semana de provas. (present used for scheduled events)

Using ontem

Ontem needs a past tense: pretérito perfeito, pretérito imperfeito, or pretérito mais-que-perfeito, depending on aspect and meaning.

Examples:
Eu comprei um livro ontem. (pretérito perfeito — completed action)
Quando eu era criança, eu brincava muito ontem? (This is unnatural: you would not use ontem with imperfect for habitual back then; use ontem only for specific past day events.)
Nós já tínhamos saído ontem quando você ligou. (pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto — past before past)

Nuances and special uses

Beyond basic uses, these adverbs appear in idiomatic expressions, time clauses, and in combination with other temporal words. Pay attention to small differences in meaning and register.

Using hoje for emphasis or contrast

Hoje can contrast with other days or past habits.

Examples:
Eu não como carne hoje, mas comia antes. (contrasting habit)
Hoje sim, amanhã não sei. (emphasis)

Using amanhã in polite requests and planning

Amanhã is common in scheduling and polite arrangements, often with conditional or future forms.

Examples:
Você pode me ajudar amanhã? (polite request)
Se estiver livre amanhã, podemos nos ver. (conditional scheduling)

Using ontem with storytelling and narration

Ontem is useful to anchor stories in time. When narrating past events, keep tenses consistent.

Examples:
Ontem fui ao supermercado e encontrei minha professora. Primeiro conversamos um pouco; depois fomos tomar um café.
Ao usar ontem, prefira pretérito perfeito para ações sequenciais concluídas.

Combining time adverbs with other time words

Often you will combine hoje, amanhã, or ontem with parts of the day, relative expressions, or frequency adverbs to give richer time information.

Parts of the day

Add words like manhã, tarde, noite to specify time of day.

Examples:
Hoje de manhã eu acordei cedo.
Amanhã à tarde temos aula.
Ontem à noite chamei um táxi.

Relative expressions

Combine with expressions like agora, mais tarde, daqui a pouco to refine timing.

Examples:
Eu vou sair agora, mas volto hoje à noite.
Amanhã, daqui a pouco, teremos uma reunião virtual.
Ontem, mais cedo, recebi uma ligação.

Frequency and habitual actions

When talking about routines, use present tenses with hoje or omit specific day adverbs for general habits.

Examples:
Hoje eu corro todas as manhãs. (habit today)
Costumo correr de manhã; ontem corri também. (habit with a past reference)

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Beginners often mismatch tense and adverb position or overuse literal translations from English. Here are frequent errors and fixes.

Mistake: using present tense with ontem for completed past actions

Incorrect: Eu vou ao cinema ontem.
Correct: Eu fui ao cinema ontem.

Mistake: using future simple unnecessarily when ir + infinitive is more common in speech

Incorrect for casual speech: Eu viajarei amanhã.
More natural: Vou viajar amanhã.

Mistake: placing adverb where it sounds unnatural

Both Hoje eu estou cansado and Eu estou cansado hoje are correct. However, mid-sentence placement like Eu hoje estou cansado is less common and can sound awkward depending on emphasis. Choose initial or final position for clarity.

Cultural and colloquial notes

Brazilian Portuguese has many colloquial ways to talk about time. Informal speech favors the simple ir + infinitive for near future and often shortens expressions in casual conversation.

Colloquial reductions

In spoken Brazilian Portuguese, people often drop subject pronouns or shorten verbs when the context is clear.

Examples:
Amanhã vamos? (Are we going tomorrow?) — subject and verb are compact and natural.
Hoje tá tranquilo. (Today it’s calm) — using tá instead of está is informal and very common.

Politeness and scheduling

When arranging meetings, Brazilians frequently use softeners and questions rather than direct commands. Using amanhã with por favor or você pode makes requests polite.

Examples:
Você pode vir amanhã, por favor?
Amanhã, se puder, me avise.

Putting it all together: sample dialogues

Short dialogues help see adverbs in context. Notice tense agreement and natural phrasing.

Dialogue 1:
— Você vai trabalhar hoje?
— Sim, trabalho até às 18h. Depois eu vou ao mercado.

Dialogue 2:
— Vamos almoçar amanhã?
— Claro. Que tal às 12h?
— Perfeito.

Dialogue 3:
— Onde você estava ontem?
— Estive na casa da minha mãe. Jantamos juntos e conversamos muito.

Quick reference: tense pairings

Use this guide when deciding which tense to use with each adverb.

Hoje
– Present simple for regular actions
– Present progressive for ongoing actions
– Ir + infinitive for near-future plans

Amanhã
– Ir + infinitive for spoken future plans
– Present simple for scheduled events
– Simple future for formal writing

Ontem
– Pretérito perfeito for completed actions
– Pretérito imperfeito for background descriptions in the past (but rarely with ontem)
– Pretérito mais-que-perfeito for past-before-past situations

Conclusion

Mastering hoje, amanhã, and ontem gives you a strong foundation for expressing time in Brazilian Portuguese. Remember how each adverb pairs with verb tenses, where to place the adverb for emphasis or flow, and common colloquial patterns. With practice, using these adverbs will become natural in conversation and storytelling.