C1 · Fine points and style
Subject after the verb
« Your mother did » has no equivalent; here the answer is the word order.
At a glance
- Remember
- What is new goes last — the subject included.
- Form
- chegou o RuiRui arrived (new: who)
- Signal words
- chegou
- telefonou
- aconteceu
- falta
- disse
- Trap
- Wrong:Quem ligou? — A tua mãe ligou.Right:Quem ligou? — Ligou a tua mãe.
Your turn
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The form
The patterns at a glance
Each row first says when or what the pattern is used for, then gives an example in Portuguese.
negation
| Rui arrived (new: who) | chegou o Rui |
| Rui arrived (new: that he did) | o Rui chegou |
| your mother called | telefonou a tua mãe |
| « No, » she said | — Não, disse ela |
| something has happened | aconteceu uma coisa |
| there is no bread | falta o pão |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
The subject after the verb is the new information.
Quem pagou? — Pagou o Luís.Who paid? — Luís did.
The subject before the verb is what is already known.
O Luís pagou e foi-se embora.Luís paid and left.
After direct speech the move is compulsory.
— Volto já, disse ele.« I will be right back, » he said.
With verbs of happening the subject goes last.
Chegou uma carta para ti.A letter has come for you.
Example sentences
Ganhou a equipa da casa.The home team won.
Faltam ainda duas assinaturas.Two signatures are still missing.
— Espera, murmurou ela.« Wait, » she murmured.
Rebentou uma trovoada.A thunderstorm broke.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Because English answers with a dummy auxiliary, the learner reaches for word order last and for extra words first — and there are no extra words to reach for. Foi a minha mãe exists as a cleft, but the plain answer is simply Ligou a tua mãe. Move the subject and stop.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Portuguese usually leaves the subject out. When it is there, that is a decision, and where it stands is a second one. O Rui chegou reports; Chegou o Rui answers the question of who arrived.
The subject after the verb is the new information. This is where English does something else entirely: asked « who called? », it answers « your mother did », propping the sentence up with a dummy « did » so that the name can come first and the rest can fall away.
Portuguese has no such prop and needs none. Quem ligou? — Ligou a tua mãe. The new part goes last, and the position is the whole answer. Putting it first — A tua mãe ligou — is grammatical and reads as though the question had not been heard.
After direct speech the move is compulsory: — Não, disse ela. And with the verbs of happening — chegar, acontecer, faltar — it is the rule: Aconteceu uma coisa, Falta o pão.
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The verbs on this page, in every form: pagar · dizer · chegar · voltar · ganhar · faltar