Eu sempre escuto o conselho dele antes de tomar uma decisão.

I always listen to his advice before making a decision.

Breakdown of Eu sempre escuto o conselho dele antes de tomar uma decisão.

• eu: I
• o: the
• uma: a
• sempre: always
• escutar: to listen
• antes de: before
• conselho: advice
• dele: his
• a decisão: the decision

Questions & Answers about Eu sempre escuto o conselho dele antes de tomar uma decisão.

Why do we say dele instead of something like de ele?

In Portuguese, dele is a contraction of de + ele and means his (or of him). You can’t simply place de and ele separately in this context, so dele is the standard form.

Why is conselho spelled with an S instead of C (like concelho)?

In Portuguese, conselho (with S) means advice, whereas concelho (with C) means municipality or county. They are different words with different meanings.

Could we use ouvir instead of escutar in this sentence?

Yes, ouvir and escutar can often be used interchangeably. Generally, ouvir can mean just hearing sounds, while escutar implies active listening. In this sentence, both would be acceptable.

Why do we say tomar uma decisão rather than something like fazer uma decisão?

In Portuguese, the verb tomar is commonly used with decisão. You can think of it as take a decision in English, even though in English we say make a decision. It’s just the natural collocation in Portuguese.

How does antes de + infinitive work in sentences like this?

When you use antes de followed by a verb in the infinitive, it expresses the idea of doing something before taking another action. Here, antes de tomar translates to before making (a decision). It’s a common structure in Portuguese.