Eu continuo a estudar português porque ele é importante.

I continue to study Portuguese because it is important.

Breakdown of Eu continuo a estudar português porque ele é importante.

• eu: I
• ser: to be
• português: Portuguese
• estudar: to study

Questions & Answers about Eu continuo a estudar português porque ele é importante.

Why is the preposition a used before the infinitive estudar in this sentence?

In Portuguese, certain verbs are followed by a preposition when they link to an infinitive. Here, continuar takes the structure a + infinitive (“a estudar”) to indicate an action that continues. Although many Brazilian speakers might opt for the gerund form (estudando), the construction continuo a estudar is grammatically correct and common in other varieties of Portuguese.

What does the pronoun ele refer to in the clause porque ele é importante?

The pronoun ele refers back to português. In Portuguese, nouns have grammatical genders, and the word português (meaning the Portuguese language) is masculine, so the pronoun ele is used instead of a feminine form.

Is it also acceptable to use the gerund form instead of the infinitive in this sentence?

Yes, it is. You could say Eu continuo estudando português porque ele é importante. Both constructions convey an ongoing action; however, using a estudar is traditionally correct and more common in European Portuguese, while the gerund (estudando) is widely used in Brazilian Portuguese.

Why is português written in lowercase in this sentence, unlike in English?