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Que Esportes Você Praticava?

Two friends reminisce about the sports they played as kids — and realize they're now the ones taking their own children to the pool. The imperfeito for childhood habits, the informal a gente, and sports vocabulary.
imperfeito (hábitos no passado) a gente (= nós, informal) vocabulário: esportes aquáticos diminutivo: irmãozinhos
🎧 Língua da Gente · Ep. 28
1
Listen to the episode

Áudio: COERLL · University of Texas at Austin · Também disponível no Apple Podcasts →

2
Read the dialogue

Two old friends trade memories of the sports they used to play as kids.

A: Quando você era jovem, que esportes você praticava?

When you were young, what sports did you play?

B: Bom, eu gostava muito de vôlei, jogava quase que todo dia. E você?

Well, I really liked volleyball, and played almost every day. And you?

A: Eu gostava mais dos esportes aquáticos como a natação e o mergulho.

I liked more the water sports like swimming and diving.

B: É, a gente também, sempre ia para a piscina com meus irmãozinhos.

Yes, we also always went to the swimming pool with my little brothers.

A: E agora somos nós que levamos os filhos para a piscina.

And now we are the ones who bring our children to the swimming pool.

B: E a gente ainda brinca quando pode, né?

And we still play when we can, right?

3
Language focus
Focus 1
Imperfeito para hábitos no passado
English: used to do / would do (repeated past actions)
The imperfeito describes repeated or habitual actions in the past — the Portuguese equivalent of English "used to" or "would": "praticava," "gostava," "jogava," "ia" all describe things that happened regularly, not a single completed event.

-AR (jogar)

eu jogava

ela jogava

nós jogávamos

Irregular (ir)

eu ia

ela ia

nós íamos

Quando você era jovem, que esportes você praticava?
When you were young, what sports did you play? Eu gostava muito de vôlei, jogava quase todo dia.
I really liked volleyball, and played almost every day.
Focus 2
A gente — substituto informal de "nós"
English: we (informal, conjugated like "he/she")
A gente is an extremely common, informal way of saying "nós" (we) in everyday spoken Brazilian Portuguese — but grammatically it's conjugated in the 3rd person singular, like ele/ela: "a gente vai," "a gente brinca."
É, a gente também, sempre ia para a piscina.
Yes, we also always went to the swimming pool. E a gente ainda brinca quando pode, né?
And we still play when we can, right?
Focus 3
Vocabulário de esportes & diminutivo
Sports vocabulary + the diminutive suffix -zinho
Irmãozinhos (from irmãos + -zinhos) uses the diminutive to add warmth and affection — very common when talking about family, especially younger siblings.
Natação — swimming · Mergulho — diving
Piscina — swimming pool · Esportes aquáticos — water sports
Irmãozinhos — little brothers · Brincar — to play (as kids do)
🏊 Culture note Swimming pools and water sports are a huge part of childhood in much of Brazil, given the warm climate — this dialogue's nostalgia about summers at the piscina with siblings is a very relatable, shared memory for many Brazilians.
🔊 Phonology note A gente is often run together quickly in speech, almost sounding like one word: "agente." Listen for this natural contraction rather than two clearly separated words.
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Exercises
Exercise 1 — Comprehension check
Choose the correct answer based on the dialogue.
Exercise 2 — Imperfeito ou a gente?
Fill in each gap with the correct imperfeito form, or with a gente.
1. Quando eu era jovem, eu (praticar) vôlei.
2. Ela (gostar) muito de natação.
3. Nós (ir) à piscina todo fim de semana.
4. também gostava de esportes aquáticos.
5. ainda brinca quando pode.
Exercise 3 — Vocabulário de esportes
Match each Portuguese word to its English meaning.
Exercise 4 — Your turn
Write 4–6 sentences in Portuguese about a sport or activity you used to do as a child. Use the imperfeito, a gente at least once, and one word from Focus 3.
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