encerravas

Encerravas is a verb form in Portuguese, corresponding to the second-person singular imperfect indicative of the verb encerrar. It is used when the subject is the pronoun tu, and the action described is ongoing or repeated in the past.

Origin and form: encerrar is formed with the prefix en- attached to the root cerrar, which in turn traces back to Latin serrare. The form encerravas follows the standard pattern for the second-person singular imperfect in European Portuguese and in varieties that use tu as the subject. The imperfect for other pronouns differs (eu encerrava, ele encerrava), and in Brazilian Portuguese the corresponding everyday usage often uses você, whose imperfect is encerrar the same for third person singular (encerrava).

Usage and regional variation: In European Portuguese, tu encerravas is common in written and spoken language, especially in formal or regional registers. In Brazilian Portuguese, the pronoun you (você) is predominant, and the matching imperfect is encerrarva? No— Brazilian usage normally favors encerrava as the imperfect form with você, rather than encerravas. Therefore, encerrar/encerravas is mainly a feature of contexts that retain tu, or of teaching materials describing traditional conjugation.

Examples:

- Tu encerravas a reunião quando o gerente chegou.

- Se tu encerravas as atividades, avise-me.

In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, one would typically use você encerrava a reunião (you were closing the meeting). Encerrar also covers senses of closing, finishing, or concluding events, processes, or facilities.

See also: encerrar, terminar, fechar.