Grammar Focus: The Imperfeito (Imperfect tense) to describe habits, repeated past actions, and ongoing states — "she would always...", "every night there was..."
A Historia
Quando me mudei para o apartamento na Rua das Flores, os primeiros dias eram calmos. A dona Fatima, a minha vizinha do andar de cima, parecia uma senhora simpatica — sorria no elevador, perguntava sempre se eu precisava de alguma coisa.
When I moved into the flat on Rua das Flores, the first days were calm. Dona Fatima, my upstairs neighbour, seemed like a friendly lady — she would smile in the lift, she would always ask if I needed anything.
Mas depois comecou. Todas as noites, por volta das onze horas, ouvia um barulho estranho. Parecia que ela arrastava moveis pela sala. Havia um bater ritmico no chao — tum, tum, tum — que durava ate a meia-noite. Eu tentava dormir. Nao conseguia.
But then it started. Every night, around eleven o'clock, I would hear a strange noise. It seemed like she was dragging furniture across the living room. There was a rhythmic banging on the floor — thud, thud, thud — that would last until midnight. I would try to sleep. I couldn't manage it.
Numa quarta-feira, finalmente bati na porta dela. Ela abriu com um sorriso. "Boa noite, vizinho! Entre, entre." A sala estava cheia de caixas. No meio da sala havia uma maquina de costura enorme, e ela estava a costurar um vestido de flamenco.
On a Wednesday, I finally knocked on her door. She opened it with a smile. "Good evening, neighbour! Come in, come in." The living room was full of boxes. In the middle of the room there was an enormous sewing machine, and she was sewing a flamenco dress.