We’ve written about ACABAR de before — because it’s such a useful combination. When you place a de after acabar, it takes on the meaning of, to have just. ACABAR in Portuguese by itself means: to end, to end-up, to finish. Everyone gets these mixed-up (confundida) ~ That DE makes all the difference! Use ACABAR…
Read more...What’s so special about the verbs PARAR & COMEÇAR? For starters you’ve probably noticed that you always have to treat these verbs a little differently. For example, you can’t say “I stopped eating sugar” like this: eu parei comer açucar (NÃO!) — you need to include a de like this: Eu parei de comer açucar….
Read more...The Portuguese infinitive is just the verb itself – unconjugated. These generally translate as “to run, to drink, to love, to do” ETC.
By combining ACABAR with “de” (acabar de) you immediately gain SUPERPOWERS. You’ll be able to say things like: I just arrived; She wound up buying that car, and more! The amazing thing about Portuguese is that you can shape-shift verbs just by adding connector words like “de” or, “a” for example.
Read more...In English, the infinitive form is “to” + the verb. Like this: to dance, to kiss, to spend etc. The Portuguese infinitive is just the verb itself: falar, comer, dormir etc. There’s no need to add a “to”. Every verb is born in its infinitive beauty self-contained and ready for use.
Read more...Just like any verb, you can use ser (to be) in it’s infinitive.
You can combine dever with any verb in the infinitive to express should/must. Like this:
Mudar de ideia Brazilians are a flexible bunch. They love to set dates, appointments, meetings and decisions, often without much hesitation. But it’s all in a constant state of flux. You will discover that it’s partly just their nature to agree to things. It’s actually a very charming trait. But, it also causes a lot…
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