Word
Geralmente eu chego cedo, mas hoje estou atrasado porque o relógio não funciona.
Meaning
Usually I arrive early, but today I am late because the clock doesn’t work.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Lesson
Breakdown of Geralmente eu chego cedo, mas hoje estou atrasado porque o relógio não funciona.
eu
I
estar
to be
não
not
hoje
today
Questions & Answers about Geralmente eu chego cedo, mas hoje estou atrasado porque o relógio não funciona.
Can geralmente go in other positions in the sentence, or does it have to come first?
Geralmente is an adverb meaning generally / usually, and it’s quite flexible in position. All of these are possible and natural:
- Geralmente eu chego cedo.
- Eu geralmente chego cedo.
- Eu chego cedo geralmente.
The difference is mainly in rhythm and emphasis, not meaning. Putting geralmente at the very beginning slightly emphasizes the idea of “in general / as a rule.”
Why do we say eu chego if the verb ending already shows the subject? Could we drop eu?
Yes, you can absolutely drop eu:
- Geralmente chego cedo…
In Portuguese, the verb ending in chego already tells us the subject is eu (1st person singular). Portuguese is a “pro‑drop” language, so subject pronouns are often omitted when the meaning is clear.
We include eu to give a bit more emphasis or clarity (especially in speech), but grammatically it’s not required in this sentence.
Why is it chego cedo and not something like chego cedo geralmente or chego mais cedo?