Introduction
Understanding the difference between Costumava and Costuma helps English-speaking learners express habits in Portuguese with precision. One form talks about past routines that no longer happen or changed, while the other describes current, regular behavior. This article explains grammar, conjugation, examples, and cultural notes for Brazilian Portuguese learners.
- Overview: habits in Portuguese
- What Costuma means: present habits
- What Costumava means: past habits
- Grammar rules: present vs. imperfect
- Nuances and common confusions
- Real-life Brazilian Portuguese examples
- Cultural notes: habits and routines in Brazil
- Common mistakes and how to avoid them
- Summary of key points
- Conclusion
Overview: habits in Portuguese
In Portuguese, like in English, we often need to talk about routines and habits. Portuguese uses verbs and tense choices to indicate whether a habit happened in the past, continues in the present, or is a general truth. Two key words learners encounter are Costumava and Costuma. Both come from the verb costumar, which means to usually do something or to be accustomed to doing something.
The verb costumar: quick conjugation
The verb costumar is regular in Portuguese. Here are short forms for reference in the indicative mood (present and imperfect past), first person singular and third person singular which are most relevant to this topic:
Eu costumO — I usually (present)
Ele/ela costuma — He/she usually (present)
Eu costumAVA — I used to (imperfect past)
Ele/ela costumAVA — He/she used to (imperfect past)
What Costuma means: present habits
Costuma is the third person singular present tense of costumar, and it is used to describe habits that are true now, repeated actions, or general tendencies. You can translate it as usually, tends to, or is in the habit of.
When to use Costuma
Use Costuma when you want to say someone regularly does something in the present. It implies repetition or routine, not a one-time event. It also works in impersonal constructions with eu and other persons by using the matching conjugation (eu costumo, nós costumamos).
Examples with explanations
Ela costuma chegar cedo ao trabalho.
She usually arrives early to work. — Present habit: she regularly arrives early.
Meu avô costuma ler antes de dormir.
My grandfather usually reads before sleeping. — Ongoing routine that remains true.
Você costuma tomar café com pão?
Do you usually have coffee with bread? — Asking about someone’s current habit.
What Costumava means: past habits
Costumava is the imperfect past tense (pretérito imperfeito) third person singular of costumar. Use it to describe habits or repeated actions in the past that may no longer happen. It often translates to used to or would in English when describing past routines.
When to use Costumava
Use Costumava when describing a past routine, a repeated action in the past, or a past state of affairs. The imperfect emphasizes duration or repetition, not a single completed event. It can suggest that the habit stopped, changed, or is contrasted with the present.
Examples with explanations
Quando eu era criança, eu costumava brincar no quintal.
When I was a child, I used to play in the backyard. — Past repeated action no longer true now.
Antes, ela costumava trabalhar até tarde, mas agora tem um horário fixo.
Before, she used to work late, but now she has fixed hours. — Explicit contrast between past habit and present situation.
No verão passado, nós costumávamos nadar todas as manhãs.
Last summer, we used to swim every morning. — Plural form shows repeated past action during a period.
Grammar rules: present vs. imperfect
To choose between costuma and costumava, decide whether the habit is present or was in the past. The main grammatical distinction is tense: costuma is present indicative; costumava is imperfect indicative. The imperfect is used for ongoing or repeated past actions without a specified endpoint.
Structure with verbs and complements
Both verbs can be followed by an infinitive, a subordinate clause introduced by que, or a direct action. Common patterns:
subject + costumar (conjugated) + infinitive verb
Ele costuma viajar nos feriados.
Ela costumava estudar até meia-noite.
subject + costumar (conjugated) + que + clause (less common, usually to indicate habit with nuance)
Ele costuma dizer que precisa de tempo.
Ela costumava falar que não gostava de frutos do mar.
Negation and questions
Negation follows normal Portuguese rules. Place não before the verb. For questions, intonation or question words work as usual.
Ele não costuma comer carne.
He does not usually eat meat.
Você não costumava fumar?
Did you not use to smoke? / You didn’t used to smoke? — Asking about a past habit.
Nuances and common confusions
English speakers sometimes use used to (past) and usually (present) interchangeably in casual speech. In Portuguese, using costuma instead of costumava changes the time reference. Pay attention to time markers like ontem, antes, agora, hoje, sempre, antigamente, which help decide the correct form.
Time adverbials that signal past vs present
Indicators for past: antigamente, antes, quando eu era criança, no ano passado, há cinco anos. These often pair with costumava.
Indicators for present: hoje, atualmente, agora, sempre que, geralmente. These often pair with costuma.
When context allows both
Sometimes context blurs the line. If you describe a general tendency that spans past and present, you might choose present for emphasis on continuity or imperfect to stress habitual nature over time. For example:
Ele costuma chegar cedo. — He usually arrives early (right now and generally).
Ele costumava chegar cedo. — He used to arrive early (maybe he no longer does).
Real-life Brazilian Portuguese examples
Below are practical sentences you may hear in Brazil, with brief notes to show difference.
Quando morávamos perto da praia, nós costumávamos caminhar toda noite.
Note: clear past habit tied to a past situation.
Ele costuma pedir feijoada aos sábados.
Note: present habit, common food-related routine in Brazil.
Minha mãe costumava fazer bolo de fubá todo domingo.
Note: past family routine, probably nostalgic or changed now.
Hoje ele costuma trabalhar de casa.
Note: present routine reflecting modern work habits in Brazil.
Quando eu estudava, eu costumava estudar na biblioteca até tarde.
Note: educational context, repeated past action.
Colloquial uses and alternatives
In everyday Brazilian speech, people sometimes use verbs like soler in other languages, but Portuguese primarily uses costumar for this meaning. For present habitual actions, simple present without costumar can also convey routine with context: Eu almoço às 12h often stands in for Eu costumo almoçar às 12h.
Cultural notes: habits and routines in Brazil
Brazilians talk about routines and food habits often, and mentioning costumar/costumava appears in conversations about family traditions, regional behaviors, and work-life patterns. Use costuma to describe a friend who regularly goes to a bar after work, or costumava to recall how things were before moving cities or changing jobs.
Politeness and softening statements
Costuma can soften statements about someone else by implying a tendency rather than a fixed rule. For example, Dela costuma ser pontual sounds less harsh than Ela é pontual always, because costumar suggests pattern without absolute judgment.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
1. Mixing present and past markers: If you say ontem and then use costuma, listeners will be confused. Match time adverbials to the verb tense.
2. Overusing costumar: For simple present routines, sometimes the simple present verb without costumar is clearer. Compare Eu trabalho às 9h with Eu costumo trabalhar às 9h; both are correct, but the first is more straightforward.
3. Confusing habitual with single past events: Use pretérito perfeito (e.g., trabalhei, fui) for completed single events, and costumava for repeated past actions.
Summary of key points
Costuma = present habitual action, used for routines that continue now. Costumava = imperfect past habitual action, used for repeated past routines that likely do not hold now. Choose the form based on time reference and adverbials, and remember both can take an infinitive or full clause after them.
Conclusion
Learning the difference between Costumava and Costuma gives you a simple but powerful tool to talk about routines in Brazilian Portuguese. Focus on time context, verb conjugation, and common adverbials. With practice, distinguishing past habits from present ones will become natural and improve both comprehension and fluency.
