Recusaste

Recusaste is a verb form in Portuguese, representing the second-person singular preterite (simple past) of the verb recusar. It translates to “you refused” or “you declined” in English and is used to describe a completed action in the past. The form is most commonly found in European Portuguese and in regional varieties of Brazilian Portuguese that preserve the tu-conjugation.

Usage and nuance

Recusar means to refuse, reject, or decline something. In casual speech, recusaste commonly appears when addressing someone informally using the pronoun tu. In many Brazilian contexts, the more widespread form with you is você recusou, while tu recusaste is regional. The preterite form can also appear in writing to convey a narrative past or formal dialogue. Although recusar has a broad sense of refusal, the exact legal sense of “recusar” or “recusal” (disqualifying someone from a proceeding) is typically expressed with related nouns such as recusa or recusaçao, and in legal contexts, specialized terminology may be used.

Conjugation (partial)

- Present: eu recuso, tu recusas, ele/ela recusa, nós recusamos, vós recusais, eles/elas recusam

- Preterite (example form): eu recusei, tu recusaste, ele recusou, nós recusamos, vós recusastes, eles recusaram

- Past participle: recusado

- Gerund: recusando

Etymology

Recusar derives from Latin recusare and entered Portuguese via Old French recuser, with the sense progressively expanding from “to refuse” toward related notions of rejection or disqualification in various contexts.

See also

Recusar; Recusal (English-language legal term); Recusa (refusal in Portuguese).