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Por favor, entre e feche a porta.

Por favor, entre e feche a porta.
Please come in and close the door.
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Questions & Answers about Por favor, entre e feche a porta.

Why are the verbs entre and feche not entra / fecha?

Because this sentence is using the imperative in the você (formal/neutral) style.

  • entre = imperative (for você) of entrar (Entre! = Come in!)
  • feche = imperative (for você) of fechar (Feche a porta. = Close the door.)

If you were speaking in a more informal tu style (common in some regions), you might hear:

  • Entra e fecha a porta. (tu-style; usage varies by region)
So who is being addressed here—you (singular) or you all?

By default, entre / feche address one person using the implied pronoun você (singular).
For multiple people, you’d typically use:

  • Entrem e fechem a porta. (plural imperative)
Is entre also a word that means between? How do I know which one it is?

Yes. entre can be: 1) a verb form (imperative/subjunctive) of entrar: Entre! = Come in!
2) a preposition meaning between/among: entre amigos = among friends

You tell by context and structure:

  • Verb use often appears with commands or with e + another verb: Entre e feche...
  • Preposition use is followed by a noun/pronoun phrase: entre nós, entre duas casas
Why is there a comma after Por favor? Is it required?

It’s common because Por favor is functioning like a discourse marker at the start. The comma helps readability:

  • Por favor, entre e feche a porta.

In casual writing, many people omit it and it’s still understandable:

  • Por favor entre e feche a porta.
Could I place por favor somewhere else in the sentence?

Yes. All of these are natural, with slightly different emphasis:

  • Por favor, entre e feche a porta. (neutral)
  • Entre e feche a porta, por favor. (polite, common in speech)
  • Entre, por favor, e feche a porta. (more segmented/emphatic)
Why does Portuguese use a porta instead of uma porta?

a porta uses the definite article a (= the) because in many situations the door is obvious/known (e.g., the door of the room). Portuguese often prefers a definite article where English might still say the or sometimes omit it.

uma porta (= a/one door) is used when it’s not specific or it’s introducing the door:

  • Feche uma porta, por favor. (close a door—any one)
Does entre e feche mean “come in and close” or “come in, then close”?

It naturally implies a sequence: come in, and (then) close the door. Portuguese often uses e (and) where English might add then.

If you want to be extra explicit, you can add depois:

  • Entre e depois feche a porta.
Is this sentence formal? What’s a more casual version?

It’s polite and neutral, the kind of phrasing you’d use with strangers, customers, or in professional contexts (because it matches você-style commands).

More casual options include:

  • Pode entrar e fechar a porta? (softened; literally “Can you come in and close the door?”)
  • Entra e fecha a porta. (informal, regional; tu-style or casual speech)
Why isn’t it entre na porta or something with em?

Because entrar doesn’t take em in the sense of “enter (a place)”—Portuguese uses entrar without em when the idea is simply “come in.” You can specify the place with em + article:

  • Entre. (Come in.)
  • Entre na sala. (Come into the room.)
    But with porta, you generally don’t “enter in the door”; you “enter (and) close the door.”
Is feche a porta the only way to say “close the door”?

It’s the standard and correct imperative. But you’ll also hear:

  • Fecha a porta. (more informal/tu-style or casual speech)
  • Fechar a porta, por favor. (sounds like a request/instruction; less direct as a command)
  • Pode fechar a porta? (polite request)
How is entre e feche a porta pronounced (roughly)?

A rough, learner-friendly approximation (Brazilian Portuguese) is:

  • Por favor ≈ por fah-VOR (final r often softer in many accents)
  • entre ≈ EN-tree (the en is nasal-ish in many accents)
  • feche ≈ FEH-shee (the ch is like English sh)
  • a porta ≈ ah POR-tah

Stress:

  • faVOR
  • ENtre
  • FEche
  • PORta
Could the verbs entre and feche also be present subjunctive, not imperative?

Formally, yes: entre and feche are also present subjunctive forms. But in this exact structure—starting with Por favor and giving direct instructions—they’re clearly being used as imperatives.

Subjunctive would typically need a trigger like que or another construction:

  • Peço que você entre e feche a porta. (I ask that you come in and close the door.)