Olá todos! I have a few questions in regards to what I wrote for why I want to learn Portuguese.
The first question is in regards to this sentence: “Ela veio para * os Estados Unidos quando tinha * 7 anos, por isso * não fala muito.”
We use “para” instead of “a” because it is a longer time that my wife is staying there?
The use of “tinha” is the imperfeito form, correct? Is that the form we use when we say what we did at
a certain age in the past?
What does “por isso” mean?
Second question is in regards to this sentence: “Fomos a Portugal para férias há * 5 anos. Depois tivemos dois filhos e não voltámos.”
When we say we went some where “X” number of years ago, we use “há”?
a) That’s correct! When we say Eu vou a/Eu fui a/Eu vim a… , it sounds like it’s just a quick trip and that we’re coming back soon. If you say Eu vou para/Eu fui para/Eu vim para…, that definitely suggests a longer or even permanent duration.
b) Yes, tinha is in the Imperfeito. When you describe things that happened at a certain age, it’s definitely the preferred tense to use. However, if you’re just saying something like “You know, I was once your age too”, you would use the simple past (Eu também já tive a tua idade! - the favorite words of every condescending adult in Portugal ).
c)Por isso = Because of that, for that reason, so, hence, etc. You first used assim, and in terms of meaning, it’s pretty similar, but it doesn’t sound good in this sentence.
That’s right. Há is used to refer to the past. You might hear many people say “…há [X] horas/dias/meses/anos atrás”, but that’s just redundant and you should avoid it. Há is more than enough
).