Eu preciso organizar a minha casa antes da festa.

I need to organize my house before the party.

Breakdown of Eu preciso organizar a minha casa antes da festa.

• eu: I
• a casa: the house
• minha: my
• precisar de: to need
• antes de: before
• festa: party
• organizar: to organize

Questions & Answers about Eu preciso organizar a minha casa antes da festa.

Why do we use preciso instead of preciso de before organizar in this sentence?

In Portuguese, precisar can be followed directly by a verb in the infinitive when expressing the need to do something (for example, Eu preciso organizar). We use precisar de when it is followed by a noun (for example, Eu preciso de ajuda).

Why is the article a used before minha casa instead of just saying minha casa?

Using a minha casa is a common Brazilian Portuguese construction. Both a minha casa and minha casa are correct, but many speakers include the article for natural flow. It doesn’t change the overall meaning—just a stylistic difference.

Why does de contract with a in antes da festa?

In Portuguese, de + a becomes da when a is the feminine definite article. So antes de a festa contracts to antes da festa.

Is it also correct to say Eu preciso arrumar instead of Eu preciso organizar?

Yes, in Brazilian Portuguese, arrumar and organizar can often be used quite interchangeably to talk about tidying or putting things in order. Organizar might emphasize arranging things more systematically, while arrumar might focus on straightening up, but both are understood similarly in everyday use.

How would I pronounce preciso to sound more like a native speaker?

It often sounds like preh-SEE-zoo (with a slightly open “e” in the first syllable, and the final “o” sounding a bit like “oo” in English). Make sure to keep the stress on the second syllable: -SI.