Breakdown of Preciso imprimir este arquivo antes que a reunião comece, porque a impressora do escritório é lenta.
ser
to be
este
this
lento
slow
precisar
to need
Questions & Answers about Preciso imprimir este arquivo antes que a reunião comece, porque a impressora do escritório é lenta.
Why does the sentence start with Preciso instead of Eu preciso?
In Brazilian Portuguese, the subject pronoun is often omitted when the verb form already makes the subject clear.
- Preciso = I need
- Eu preciso also means I need
Because preciso is the 1st person singular form, Brazilians usually understand that the subject is eu even when it is not stated. Including eu is possible, but it can sound more emphatic or contrastive depending on context.
Why is imprimir in the infinitive after preciso?
After verbs like precisar, Portuguese commonly uses another verb in the infinitive.
- Preciso imprimir = I need to print
- literally: I need print
This works much like English need to + verb, except Portuguese does not use a separate word equivalent to to here.
Other examples:
- Preciso sair = I need to leave
- Quero estudar = I want to study
What is the difference between este arquivo and esse arquivo?