Word
A criança tentou esconder o brinquedo, mas a mãe logo descobriu onde ele estava.
Meaning
The child tried to hide the toy, but the mother soon found out where it was.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Lesson
Breakdown of A criança tentou esconder o brinquedo, mas a mãe logo descobriu onde ele estava.
estar
to be
mas
but
tentar
to try
a criança
the child
Questions & Answers about A criança tentou esconder o brinquedo, mas a mãe logo descobriu onde ele estava.
Why is it a criança if the child might be a boy?
Because criança is a grammatically feminine noun in Portuguese, so it normally takes a and feminine agreement:
- a criança
- a criança pequena
- a criança estava cansada
This is about the word’s grammatical gender, not necessarily the child’s real-life sex.
In this sentence, ele does not refer to a criança. It refers to o brinquedo, which is masculine.
Why is it tentou esconder with two verbs?
This is a very common structure in Portuguese:
- tentar + infinitive
So:
- tentou esconder = tried to hide
The first verb, tentou, is conjugated. The second verb, esconder, stays in the infinitive.
Other examples:
- Ela tentou sair. = She tried to leave.
- Nós tentamos ajudar. = We tried to help.
Why isn’t there a preposition after tentou?