Questions & Answers about Eu moro longe da escola.
Moro means “I live” (as in “I reside”).
- It comes from the verb morar = to live / to reside / to dwell.
- Moro is the first person singular, present tense:
- Eu moro = I live
- Você mora = You live
- Ele/Ela mora = He/She lives
Note: morar is used mainly for where you live (reside), not for being alive.
- Eu moro em São Paulo. = I live in São Paulo.
- Ele mora longe. = He lives far away.
Yes. In everyday Brazilian Portuguese it’s very common to drop the subject pronoun when it’s clear from the verb form.
- Eu moro longe da escola.
- Moro longe da escola.
Both mean “I live far from the school.”
Because moro can only be “I live” (first person singular), eu is not necessary for understanding. Speakers often add eu for emphasis or contrast:
- Eu moro longe da escola, mas ela mora perto.
I live far from the school, but she lives close.
Longe de = far from.
When de comes before the definite article a (feminine the), they contract:
- de + a = da
So:
- longe de + a escola → longe da escola
= far from the school
In Portuguese, you usually need the article with specific nouns, even when English doesn’t use “the”:
- Eu moro longe da escola.
Literally: I live far from the school.
Natural English: I live far from (the) school.
- de by itself means roughly of / from.
- da means of the / from the (feminine).
da = de + a (the)
Examples:
- longe de casa = far from home (no article)
- longe da escola = far from the school
- longe do trabalho = far from the job / work
(here do = de + o, masculine the)
Portuguese uses definite articles much more often than English, especially with places:
- da escola = from the school
- do hospital = from the hospital
- da igreja = from the church
Even when English drops “the,” Portuguese usually keeps it. So:
- English: I live far from school.
- Portuguese: Eu moro longe da escola. (literally “from the school”)
You would only drop the article in certain more abstract or idiomatic uses, which are not the case here.
Yes, escola is a feminine noun, so we use:
- a escola = the school
- da escola = de + a escola
If the noun were masculine, you’d use o and do:
- o mercado = the market
- do mercado = de + o mercado → from the market
Examples:
- Eu moro longe da escola. = I live far from the school.
- Eu moro longe do mercado. = I live far from the market.
Here longe functions as an adverb meaning “far (away)”.
- Eu moro longe. = I live far away.
- Ele trabalha longe. = He works far away.
When you specify far from where, you add de:
- longe de casa = far from home
- longe da escola = far from the school
So the structure is:
morar + longe + de + [place]
You cannot say Eu longe moro da escola; that word order is wrong.
The natural pattern is:
- Subject: Eu
- Verb: moro
- Adverb: longe
- Prepositional phrase: da escola
So:
- Eu moro longe da escola. ✅
- Moro longe da escola. ✅
- Eu moro da escola longe. ❌
- Eu longe moro da escola. ❌
Adverbs like longe normally come after the verb, not in the middle of the subject and verb.
Yes, Eu vivo longe da escola is grammatically correct and understandable.
However, there is a nuance:
- morar = to live, in the sense of reside, have your home.
- viver = to live, in a broader sense (be alive, lead your life, and sometimes also “reside”).
For everyday talk about where you live, morar is more common and natural:
- Eu moro longe da escola. ✅ (most natural)
- Eu vivo longe da escola. ✅ (okay, but slightly less common in this specific sense)
Moro can translate to both:
- I live far from the school.
- I am living far from the school. (if context suggests a temporary situation)
Brazilian Portuguese simple present often covers what English expresses with present simple and present continuous.
To be very explicit about a temporary situation, you can also say:
- Estou morando longe da escola. = I am living far from the school (right now / temporarily).
But in many contexts, Eu moro longe da escola is enough.
In Brazilian Portuguese, moro is typically pronounced something like:
- [MOH-ro]
Details:
- mo-: like “mo” in “motel,” with an open o.
- -ro: another o sound, and the r is usually a soft, tapped r here (similar to a quick “d” in American English “ladder”).
So it’s MOH-ro, two clear syllables. (Regional accents may vary slightly.)
Escola is pronounced roughly:
- [es-KO-la]
Syllables:
- es – like “ess”
- CO – stressed syllable, like “koh”
- la – like “la” in “lava” (but shorter)
Stress pattern: es-CO-la (the second syllable).
Yes. Spoken Brazilian Portuguese often forms yes–no questions by intonation alone.
- Você mora longe da escola. = You live far from the school. (statement)
- Você mora longe da escola? = Do you live far from the school? (question, rising intonation)
With eu, you wouldn’t normally ask about yourself like that, but grammatically:
- Eu moro longe da escola?
(Am I living far from the school? – only in special contexts, like checking or repeating what someone implied.)
The important point: the word order stays the same; the rising intonation signals the question.