Eu sempre esqueço de fechar a porta.

I always forget to close the door.

Breakdown of Eu sempre esqueço de fechar a porta.

• eu: I
• sempre: always
• a porta: the door
• fechar: to close
• esquecer de: to forget

Questions & Answers about Eu sempre esqueço de fechar a porta.

Why is there a de before the infinitive fechar?

In Portuguese, certain verbs that express forgetting, remembering, needing, or trying—like esquecer, lembrar, precisar, tentar—require the preposition de before another verb in the infinitive. So you say esquecer de fechar (“to forget to close”), not esquecer fechar.

Why is esqueço in the present tense? Could I use a past tense instead?

Using esqueço (present indicative, 1st person singular) emphasizes a habitual action: “I always forget.” If you want to talk about a single past event, you could say:

• Eu sempre esquecia de fechar a porta. (imperfect past, “I used to always forget to close the door”)
• Eu esqueci de fechar a porta. (perfect past, “I forgot to close the door” one time)

Can I drop the subject pronoun eu and just say Sempre esqueço de fechar a porta?

Yes. Portuguese is a pro-drop language, so the subject pronoun eu (“I”) is often omitted when the verb ending already shows the person. Both are correct:

• Eu sempre esqueço de fechar a porta.
• Sempre esqueço de fechar a porta.

Why is the adverb sempre placed before the verb? Could I put it elsewhere?

Adverbs of frequency like sempre (“always”) commonly go directly before the main verb. However, you can also place them:

• After the verb: Eu esqueço sempre de fechar a porta. (less common, but still correct)
• At the very beginning: Sempre eu esqueço de fechar a porta. (emphatic, focuses on “I always…”) Positioning affects emphasis but doesn’t change meaning.

Why is there a definite article a before porta? Why not say fechar porta?

In Brazilian Portuguese, you almost always use an article before nouns, even with possession or general statements:

• Fechar a porta = “close the door” (that specific door you know about or use every time)
• Saying fechar porta without an article sounds ungrammatical in most contexts.

How do I pronounce esqueço correctly?

Phonetic guide: /eʃˈkɛ.su/
Breakdown:

• es- sounds like esh in “mesh”
• -que- sounds like keh
• -ço sounds like soo but with a shorter “oo” (think “so”) Accent falls on the second syllable: eh-SKEH-soo.