Não demore muito no banho, pois precisamos sair cedo.

Don't take too long in the shower, because we need to leave early.

Breakdown of Não demore muito no banho, pois precisamos sair cedo.

• não: not
• precisar: to need
• nós: we
• cedo: early
• sair: to leave
• pois: because
• demorar: to take
• muito: much
• o banho: the shower

Questions & Answers about Não demore muito no banho, pois precisamos sair cedo.

How do I conjugate the verb demorar in the imperative form?

When you want to give a command or instruction using demorar, you use its imperative form. For the second person singular (tu) in European Portuguese, it’s não demores, but in Brazilian Portuguese, people typically use você instead, so it becomes não demore. For vocês (plural), it would be não demorem. Essentially, it’s based on the present subjunctive conjugation.

Is it common to say não leve muito tempo no banho instead of não demore muito no banho?

You can use a verb like levar to express spending time on something, so não leve muito tempo no banho can be understood. However, não demore muito no banho sounds more natural and is more commonly heard in everyday Brazilian Portuguese.

Why is pois used here instead of porque?

Pois here functions as a conjunction with a sense closer to “since” or “as,” linking the reason (needing to leave early) to the request (not taking too long in the shower). While porque also means “because,” pois often gives a slightly more formal or explanatory tone. In everyday speech, you might also hear porque or que used in this context.

Could I also say não demore muito tempo no banho?

Yes, you could add the word tempo, as in não demore muito tempo no banho, and people would understand you perfectly. However, it’s quite common in Portuguese to omit tempo and just say não demore, because the idea of time being spent is already implied in the verb demorar.

Why is precisamos used instead of saying something like temos que sair cedo?

Precisar and ter que are often interchangeable for expressing necessity. Precisamos sair cedo and temos que sair cedo both mean you need to leave early. The choice usually depends on personal preference or regional style: precisar sounds a bit more direct about the necessity, whereas ter que can be slightly more casual. Both are grammatically correct.