É importante escutar antes de decidir.

It is important to listen before deciding.

Breakdown of É importante escutar antes de decidir.

• ser: to be
• escutar: to listen
• antes de: before
• importante: important
• decidir: to decide

Questions & Answers about É importante escutar antes de decidir.

Why does the sentence use é importante followed directly by escutar (infinitive) instead of inserting a preposition, such as de or para?

This construction follows a common pattern in Portuguese where é importante is often followed immediately by the infinitive of a verb. Unlike English, Portuguese does not use a preposition in this context; it simply employs the structure é + adjetivo + infinitivo to express that something is important.

What is the difference between escutar and ouvir in Portuguese?

Escutar suggests actively listening and paying attention to sound or speech, whereas ouvir can simply mean to hear something. In this sentence, escutar emphasizes the importance of actively listening before making a decision, although using ouvir here would not be incorrect—just slightly less focused on the “active” part of listening.

Why do we use antes de decidir instead of antes decidir?

In Portuguese, expressions like antes de or depois de are typically followed by an infinitive. So, antes de decidir is the standard form meaning “before deciding.” Leaving out de is not grammatically correct in this structure.

Could we say É importante ouvir antes de decidir without changing the overall meaning?

Yes, you could. The accent would be slightly different because ouvir is more general (to hear), while escutar is more focused on paying attention. However, in everyday conversation, both verbs would convey the idea well enough.

Does this construction change if we specify who needs to listen, for example, É importante eu escutar antes de decidir?

It can change slightly. When specifying who is acting (eu, você, ele, etc.), Portuguese often uses the personal infinitive (e.g., escutar → escutar is both the regular infinitive and a form of the personal infinitive). You can say É importante eu escutar or É importante nós escutarmos, but many speakers still use the plain infinitive. Both forms are acceptable in everyday speech.