Eu sempre esqueço de fechar a porta.

I

Breakdown of Eu sempre esqueço de fechar a porta.

• sempre: always
• a porta: the door
• fechar: to close

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?