Sometimes when reading Portuguese, I find the preposition a used before verbs even when there’s not a known prepositional verb or the estar + a construction used, like what would be used in the phrase estou a aprender a falar português. Instead, I find it used like in the following examples:
Não esperes que seja um fantasma a comê-los! (source)
“por forma a privilegiar a eleição entre pares e reduzir o pendor político das nomeações”. (source)
in that last one there was the preposition before privilegiar but not reduzir.
Now, those examples just use the preposition a, but to the best of my knowledge I had also seen de and com used likely but I can’t immediately find them. But anyways, what’s the general rule to using such prepositions?
@Jemmy, in many cases, prepositions will be added not because of the verb itself, but because the sentence asks for it. You might find that even in English, you’d need those prepositions there as connecting elements. Your last example is one such case:
“…por forma a privilegiar… e reduzir…” → “…in order to favour/prioritise… and reduce…” (preposition required by the sentence before the first verb, but not before the second, because the initial “in order to” is also valid for any other verbs coming in sequentially)
In your first two examples, the preposition + infinitive structure indicates progressiveness, comparable to the English present participle. It’s also why this structure appears in the Portuguese version of the present continuous.
…se forem vocês a pôr… → …if it’s you setting…
…um fantasma a comê-los… → …a ghost eating them…
I can’t think of any cases with com, but with de, you can also generally assume the 1st scenario (preposition required to form a complete sentence). For example:
Tenho de fazer isto. → I have to do this.
O facto de termos pouco tempo não é uma desculpa. → The fact that we have little time is not an excuse.
Olá Joseph,
I also have difficulty with this subject. Can you please look at these examples and help me make sense of them?
Ele aprende a nadar - why do you need the ‘a’ if nadar means “TO swim”? Is this ‘a’ specific to aprender and other verbs? How do you know which ones?
Aceder ao serviço de homebanking.. I would think this might be “Acesso ao serviço de homebanking” or “Aceder o serviço de homebanking”, but do not understand the way it is written. To me it translates to “To access to the service of homebanking”, am I mistaken?
Um caminho a seguir - why is the ‘a’ needed? Does it change the meaning from “a path to follow” to “a path we’re following”?
Thanks in advance for your help. I find that using prepositions properly is one of the hardest parts of learning Portuguese!
Ele aprende a nadar - why do you need the ‘a’ if nadar means “TO swim”? Is this ‘a’ specific to aprender and other verbs? How do you know which ones?
Verbs in English are often presented with the preposition ‘to’ before their infinitive forms. We have kept this in our verb translations for reference, but strictly speaking, the verb is just the verb - no preposition is automatically integrated into its meaning (nadar = swim). So, you still need to add prepositions before them whenever applicable.
Ele aprende a nadar = He learns how to swim
Aceder ao serviço de homebanking.. I would think this might be “Acesso ao serviço de homebanking” or “Aceder o serviço de homebanking”, but do not understand the way it is written. To me it translates to “To access to the service of homebanking”, am I mistaken?
This is a different case from the others, since you don’t have any prepositions before verbs, only after the verb aceder. And that preposition a after aceder is because this verb is prepositional and requires that extra connecting element. So, “Aceder o serviço de homebanking” is not an acceptable alternative. “Acesso ao serviço de homebanking” (Access to the homebanking service) is perfectly fine. As it is, the translation for the current wording would be “Access the homebanking service” (i.e. access used as a verb, not a noun).
Um caminho a seguir - why is the ‘a’ needed? Does it change the meaning from “a path to follow” to “a path we’re following”?
There is no change in meaning. The preposition is needed precisely because you’re saying “A path to follow” - the sentence asks for it
