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Eu ajudo o grupo a estudar português.

Eu ajudo o grupo a estudar português.
I help the group study Portuguese.
FromLesson 9inHardcore Portuguese (Brazil)

Breakdown of Eu ajudo o grupo a estudar português.

eu
I
português
Portuguese
estudar
to study
ajudar
to help
o grupo
the group

Questions & Answers about Eu ajudo o grupo a estudar português.

Why is there a preposition a before the infinitive estudar?
In Portuguese the verb ajudar, when followed by another verb, requires the preposition a. The pattern is ajudar alguém a fazer algo, so you say ajudo o grupo a estudar.
Why don’t we use ao before grupo, as in ajudo ao grupo?
Ao is the contraction of preposition a + article o. Here o grupo is a direct object of ajudar (no preposition). Contractions only occur when a true preposition precedes a noun (e.g. vou ao grupo).
Why do we need the article o before grupo? Could we just say ajudo grupo?
Most singular, countable nouns in Portuguese require an article. O grupo is “the group.” Saying ajudo grupo is ungrammatical. If you want a general sense, you might use the plural ajudo grupos, but even then articles are common.
Why is there no article before português in estudar português?
After verbs like estudar, falar, aprender, etc., names of languages normally appear without an article. So you say estudar português, not estudar o português, unless you mean a very specific variety or context.
Why is português not capitalized in the sentence?
In Portuguese orthography, names of languages are lowercase (português), unlike English where we write Portuguese with a capital letter.
Can I drop the subject pronoun Eu and just say Ajudo o grupo a estudar português?
Yes. Portuguese is a pro-drop language: the verb ending -o already indicates first-person singular. Omitting eu is more natural unless you want to stress the subject.
What tense and person is ajudo? How could I change the time reference?
Ajudo is first-person singular of the present indicative (eu ajudo = “I help” or “I am helping”). You can switch to other tenses: ajudava (imperfect “I was helping”), ajudarei (future “I will help”), and so on.
Could I say Eu ajudo o grupo a aprender português instead of using estudar? What’s the difference?
Yes. Aprender (“to learn”) highlights the result or acquisition of knowledge, while estudar (“to study”) emphasizes the process or activity. So ajudo o grupo a aprender português means “I help the group actually learn Portuguese,” whereas ... a estudar ... stresses assisting them in their studies.
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