Breakdown of Não quero perder o próximo jogo, então vamos chegar cedo.
o
the
querer
to want
não
not
ir
to go
cedo
early
chegar
to arrive
então
so
próximo
next
perder
to lose
o jogo
the game
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Questions & Answers about Não quero perder o próximo jogo, então vamos chegar cedo.
Why does Portuguese place não before the verb, and not after like in English?
In Portuguese, negation is marked by placing não immediately before the conjugated verb. You cannot put não at the end of a clause as in English. So não quero literally is I don’t want, not I want not.
Why is perder in the infinitive form?
After modal verbs like querer, Portuguese uses the infinitive of a second verb (no “to”). Examples: quero comer = I want to eat, queremos viajar = we want to travel. Here não quero perder = I don’t want to miss/lose.
Why is there an article o before próximo jogo?
Jogo is masculine, so it requires the definite article o. When you qualify it with próximo (next), you keep the article: o próximo jogo = the next game.
What’s the reason for the accent on the ó in próximo?
Words stressed on the antepenultimate syllable (proparoxytone) in Portuguese always carry a written accent. Pró-xi-mo has its stress on pró, so it must be accented.
Why is there a comma before então?
The comma separates two independent clauses joined by the coordinating conjunction então (so). It signals a small pause before introducing the result clause:
Não quero perder…, então vamos chegar cedo.
What’s the function of vamos chegar here? Does it mean we will arrive or let’s arrive?
Portuguese vamos + infinitive can express either the near future (we are going to arrive) or a suggestion (let’s arrive). In conversational context like this, it’s a suggestion: let’s arrive early.
Why is chegar in the infinitive, and not chegarmos?
When you use the periphrastic form vamos + infinitive, the following verb must stay in the infinitive. Saying vamos chegarmos cedo would be ungrammatical; the correct form is vamos chegar cedo.
Why is então written with -ão, and how do you pronounce that ending?
The ending -ão indicates a nasal vowel in Portuguese. Então is pronounced roughly like en-towng (with a nasal “ow” that resonates in the nose), not like a hard “n.”