Eu posso limpar a casa cedo, mas você pode me ajudar?

I can clean the house early, but can you help me?

Breakdown of Eu posso limpar a casa cedo, mas você pode me ajudar?

• eu: I
• você: you
• a casa: the house
• mas: but
• poder: to be able to
• limpar: to clean
• cedo: early
• me: me
• ajudar: to help

Questions & Answers about Eu posso limpar a casa cedo, mas você pode me ajudar?

Why do we use posso with eu and pode with você?

In Portuguese, posso is the first-person singular form (I can) of the verb poder, and pode is the third-person singular form used with você, which also means you in Brazilian Portuguese.

Does mas always work like but in English?

Yes, mas generally functions like but in English, contrasting two ideas: in this sentence, Eu posso limpar a casa cedo contrasts with the question você pode me ajudar?

Can I say Você pode ajudar-me? instead of Você pode me ajudar?

Yes, but Brazilian Portuguese commonly places the object pronoun before the verb in everyday speech (Você pode me ajudar?). Você pode ajudar-me? is grammatically correct but sounds more formal or literary.

What does cedo mean exactly, and can I use it differently?

Cedo means early. You could say Eu posso limpar a casa mais cedo (I can clean the house earlier) to emphasize an earlier time than usual. Placing cedo right after a casa is normal, but you can also hear variations like Eu posso limpar cedo a casa, though it’s less common in everyday language.

Why is there no article like a or uma before casa?

In Portuguese, the word casa without an article can simply mean home or the house you live in. When talking about your own home, you typically say em casa (at home) or a casa (the house), but it’s often natural to drop the article, especially if it’s your own home.

How do I form a yes/no question in Portuguese without a special word like do in English?

Portuguese doesn’t use an auxiliary like do for questions. Instead, you raise your intonation at the end of the sentence or add a question word (if necessary). So Você pode me ajudar? becomes a question just by how you say it.