Introduction

Haver means “to have”, and this page covers exactly one thing: haver in the pretérito perfeito. The pretérito perfeito is the tense Portuguese speakers reach for when they talk about one finished action in the past, especially in conversation. On this page you will find the full pretérito perfeito table for haver, how the tense is formed for this verb, the situations where it is used, how it differs from the pretérito imperfeito, worked examples, the mistakes learners make most often, an eight-question quiz with explained answers, and answers to the questions students ask about haver in the pretérito perfeito. It is mostly an impersonal verb meaning “there is” or “there are”: há um livro na mesa. As a main verb meaning “to have” it survives mainly in formal and literary Portuguese, so in everyday speech you will meet há far more often than hei. Its pretérito perfeito is houve, and its compound tenses are built with ter, like every other verb. For example: “Ele houve um livro na mesa ontem.” — “He had a book on the table.” Everything on this page uses the forms of haver exactly as they are conjugated in the pretérito perfeito, so you can trust every form you see here.

Note that haver is normally impersonal: in everyday speech you will meet há and houve far more often than the personal forms in the table, because the verb usually means “there is” or “there was” rather than “I have”. The table still gives all six persons, exactly as they appear in the verified tables.

Haver in the Pretérito perfeito — full table

Person Form
eu houve
tu houveste
ele/ela houve
nós houvemos
vós houvestes
eles/elas houveram
Gerund: havendo · Past participle: havido
The gerund is havendo, which you use with estar to say what is happening at the same time as the main action: “Havendo uma festa, vou.” — “There being a party, I will go.” The past participle is havido, which you use with ter in the perfect tenses: tenho havido is the pretérito perfeito composto, used for a completed action. Keep both forms in mind as you read the examples below, because the pretérito perfeito is only one part of how haver is used.
Pronunciation is not listed on this page: the verified tables do not include IPA for haver, so no pronunciation is given rather than an invented one.

How the pretérito perfeito of haver is formed

The pretérito perfeito of haver has six forms: eu houve, tu houveste, ele houve, nós houvemos, vós houvestes, eles houveram. The participle is given here in the masculine singular form, exactly as it appears in the verified dump; agreement with the subject is a separate step that depends on the sentence, not on the verb table. haver is irregular in the pretérito perfeito, so the six forms have to be learnt as a set instead of derived from the infinitive. The stem changes completely in this tense, and no rule predicts the forms — learn them whole, starting with eu and ele, the two forms you will use most.

Two things about the pretérito perfeito of haver are worth noticing. First, it is the tense of finished events with a clear result, so it pairs naturally with time words such as ontem, esta semana and no ano passado — those time words are your best clue when you are choosing a tense. Second, it is a simple tense, built from one word, unlike the pretérito perfeito composto, which needs ter plus the participle havido: tenho havido. When the action is one finished event, reach for the simple form first.

Because the pretérito perfeito of haver is one word per person, it is cheap to learn once the six forms are fixed. Learn them in order — eu, tu, ele, nós, vós, eles — and say each one with a time word, so the tense and its time words are learnt together.

When to use the pretérito perfeito of haver

The pretérito perfeito is not a single-purpose tense. Below are the five situations where you will use haver in the pretérito perfeito most often. Each one comes with a real example, so read the rule, then say the example out loud.

1. One finished action

The pretérito perfeito describes a single action that is finished, especially in spoken Portuguese. When the action has a clear end, the pretérito perfeito is the natural choice. Example: “Eu houve um livro na mesa ontem.” — “I had a book on the table.”

2. Recent events

Use the pretérito perfeito for things that happened recently — today, this week, this morning — where the result is still visible in the present. Example: “Ele houve um livro na mesa ontem.” — “He had a book on the table.”

3. A sequence of events

When you tell what happened first, second and third, each step takes the pretérito perfeito. The tense moves the story forward one finished action at a time. Example: “Nós houvemos um livro na mesa ontem.” — “We had a book on the table.”

4. An experience in your life

Use the pretérito perfeito for things you have done in your life, with or without a time expression. It is the tense of experience as much as of yesterday. Example: “Tu houveste um livro na mesa ontem.” — “You had a book on the table.”

5. News and results

When you report news or a result, the pretérito perfeito carries it: something happened, and now the situation is different. The result matters more than the process. Example: “Eles houveram um livro na mesa ontem.” — “They had a book on the table.”

Pretérito Perfeito vs Pretérito Imperfeito: how to choose

The closest tense to the pretérito perfeito is the pretérito imperfeito, and learners mix them up constantly. The rule is simple: the pretérito perfeito describes one finished action, while the pretérito imperfeito describes an ongoing or habitual action in the past, or the background of a scene. The three pairs below use the same verb, so the only thing that changes is the time frame — and with it, the tense. Notice how the pretérito perfeito sentences use words such as ontem or esta semana, while the pretérito imperfeito sentences use antigamente or todos os dias.

  • Pretérito Perfeito: “Ele houve um livro na mesa ontem.” — “He had a book on the table”
  • Pretérito Imperfeito: “Ele havia um livro na mesa antigamente.” — “He used to have a book on the table”
  • The pretérito perfeito sentence is one finished event; the pretérito imperfeito sentence is an ongoing or habitual past action. Ontem points to the pretérito perfeito, antigamente points to the pretérito imperfeito.
  • Pretérito Perfeito: “Eu houve um livro na mesa ontem.” — “I had a book on the table”
  • Pretérito Imperfeito: “Eu havia um livro na mesa antigamente.” — “I used to have a book on the table”
  • The pretérito perfeito sentence is one finished event; the pretérito imperfeito sentence is an ongoing or habitual past action. Ontem points to the pretérito perfeito, antigamente points to the pretérito imperfeito.
  • Pretérito Perfeito: “Tu houveste um livro na mesa ontem.” — “You had a book on the table”
  • Pretérito Imperfeito: “Tu havias um livro na mesa antigamente.” — “You used to have a book on the table”
  • The pretérito perfeito sentence is one finished event; the pretérito imperfeito sentence is an ongoing or habitual past action. Ontem points to the pretérito perfeito, antigamente points to the pretérito imperfeito.

Example sentences: haver in the pretérito perfeito

Read these eight sentences out loud. They cover all six persons, so by the end you will have seen every form in the table used in a real sentence. Pay attention to the words around the verb — the time expressions and the objects — because those are what make each sentence sound natural.

  1. “Eu houve um livro na mesa ontem.” — “I had a book on the table”
  2. “Tu houveste um livro na mesa ontem.” — “You had a book on the table”
  3. “Ele houve um livro na mesa ontem.” — “He had a book on the table”
  4. “Nós houvemos um livro na mesa ontem.” — “We had a book on the table”
  5. “Vós houvestes um livro na mesa ontem.” — “You had a book on the table”
  6. “Eles houveram um livro na mesa ontem.” — “They had a book on the table”
  7. “Eu houve um livro na mesa ontem.” — “I had a book on the table”
  8. “Ele houve um livro na mesa ontem.” — “He had a book on the table”

Common mistakes

These are the errors learners actually make with this verb in this tense. Each one shows the wrong version, the right version, and why the correction matters.

  • Wrong: “Eu hei um livro na mesa ontem.” Right: “Eu houve um livro na mesa ontem.” Why: Ontem points to the past, so the present is wrong here. Use the pretérito perfeito houve for a finished action yesterday.
  • Wrong: “Eu havia um livro na mesa ontem.” Right: “Eu houve um livro na mesa ontem.” Why: The pretérito imperfeito describes an ongoing or habitual past action, not one finished event. For a single finished action yesterday, use the pretérito perfeito houve.
  • Wrong: “Eu houveste um livro na mesa.” Right: “Eu houve um livro na mesa ontem.” Why: The eu form is houve, not houveste. houveste is the tu form. Match the verb to the subject every time.
  • Wrong: “Eu haver um livro na mesa.” Right: “Eu houve um livro na mesa ontem.” Why: The infinitive haver never takes a subject and never forms a past tense on its own. After eu you need the conjugated pretérito perfeito form houve.

Quiz: test yourself

Choose the correct answer for each question, then check the answer key. Every answer is explained, so a wrong answer still teaches you something.

  1. What is the eu form of haver in the Pretérito perfeito?

    • A) houveste
    • B) houve
    • C) houvemos
    • D) houvestes

  2. What is the tu form of haver in the Pretérito perfeito?

    • A) houve
    • B) houvemos
    • C) houveste
    • D) houvestes

  3. What is the ele/ela form of haver in the Pretérito perfeito?

    • A) houveste
    • B) houvemos
    • C) houvestes
    • D) houve

  4. What is the nós form of haver in the Pretérito perfeito?

    • A) houvemos
    • B) houve
    • C) houveste
    • D) houvestes

  5. What is the vós form of haver in the Pretérito perfeito?

    • A) houve
    • B) houvestes
    • C) houveste
    • D) houvemos

  6. What is the eles/elas form of haver in the Pretérito perfeito?

    • A) houve
    • B) houveste
    • C) houveram
    • D) houvemos

  7. What is the eu form of haver in the Pretérito perfeito?

    • A) houveste
    • B) houvemos
    • C) houvestes
    • D) houve

  8. What is the tu form of haver in the Pretérito perfeito?

    • A) houveste
    • B) houve
    • C) houvemos
    • D) houvestes

Answer key

  1. B) houve — the correct form is houve. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  2. C) houveste — the correct form is houveste. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  3. D) houve — the correct form is houve. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  4. A) houvemos — the correct form is houvemos. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  5. B) houvestes — the correct form is houvestes. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  6. C) houveram — the correct form is houveram. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  7. D) houve — the correct form is houve. The other options are other forms of the same verb.
  8. A) houveste — the correct form is houveste. The other options are other forms of the same verb.

Frequently asked questions

What does haver mean in English?

haver means “to have”. It is a irregular -er verb.

How is the pretérito perfeito of haver formed?

The six pretérito perfeito forms are: eu houve, tu houveste, ele houve, nós houvemos, vós houvestes, eles houveram.

When do I use the pretérito perfeito instead of the pretérito imperfeito?

Use the pretérito perfeito for one finished action in the past. Use the pretérito imperfeito for an ongoing or habitual past action, or for background description. The time words are your best clue: ontem points to the pretérito perfeito, antigamente points to the pretérito imperfeito.

What are the gerund and past participle of haver?

The gerund is havendo and the past participle is havido. The perfect tenses use ter + havido.

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