A menina quis chorar, mas respirou devagar e conseguiu descer as escadas com calma.

Both come from querer (to want), but they express different past ideas.

• quis = preterite: a completed action or moment in the past
  
  • A menina quis chorar = The girl wanted to cry / felt like crying at that moment.
• queria = imperfect: an ongoing, repeated, or background state in the past
  
  • A menina queria chorar = The girl wanted to cry in a more ongoing sense.

In this sentence, quis fits because it presents a specific moment: she had the urge to cry, but then controlled herself.

Also, quis is an irregular form:

• eu quis
• você/ele/ela quis
• nós quisemos
• eles/elas quiseram

This is a very common structure:

• querer + infinitive

So:

• quis = wanted
• chorar = to cry

Together:

• quis chorar = wanted to cry

This works just like English:

• quero sair = I want to leave
• ela quis falar = she wanted to speak
• eles querem comer = they want to eat

The second verb stays in the infinitive.

Portuguese often omits subject pronouns when the subject is clear from context.

Here, the subject is already established as A menina, so repeating ela is unnecessary:

• A menina quis chorar, mas respirou devagar e conseguiu descer...

English usually repeats the subject:

• The girl wanted to cry, but she breathed slowly and managed...

Portuguese often does not:

• A menina quis chorar, mas respirou...

This is very natural in Brazilian Portuguese.

These two words are very commonly confused by learners because they sound similar.

• mas = but
• mais = more

So in this sentence:

• ..., mas respirou devagar... = ..., but she breathed slowly...

Examples:

• Queria sair, mas estava cansado. = I wanted to go out, but I was tired.
• Quero mais água. = I want more water.

Devagar means slowly.

It is an adverb, so it does not change for gender or number.

• respirou devagar = breathed slowly
• andou devagar = walked slowly
• falam devagar = they speak slowly

Unlike adjectives, adverbs stay the same:

• menino calmo / menina calma → adjective changes
• falar devagar → adverb stays the same

Conseguir + infinitive means to manage to do something or to succeed in doing something.

So:

• conseguiu descer = managed to go down
• conseguiu falar = managed to speak
• consegui terminar = I managed to finish

It suggests that doing the action was not completely easy. In this sentence, it gives the idea that going down the stairs required effort or self-control.

Portuguese uses definite articles much more often than English.

So descer as escadas literally looks like go down the stairs, not just go down stairs.

Here, as is:

• feminine plural
• agreeing with escadas

This is very normal in Portuguese:

• abrir a porta = open the door
• lavar as mãos = wash the hands / wash your hands
• subir as escadas = go up the stairs

In English, the article is sometimes optional, but in Portuguese it is usually expected.

Yes, but the meaning can shift slightly.

• descer as escadas = to go down the stairs
• descer a escada can also exist, but often sounds more like descending a specific ladder/staircase, depending on context

In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, as escadas is very common for the stairs as a set of steps.

Compare:

• subir as escadas
• descer as escadas

If you mean a ladder, escada in the singular is also common:

• subir na escada = climb the ladder

So the plural here matches the usual English idea of stairs.

Com calma literally means with calm, but in natural English it usually means:

• calmly
• slowly
• without rushing
• carefully

So:

• conseguiu descer as escadas com calma = managed to go down the stairs calmly

It emphasizes emotional control and steadiness. She did not panic.

This expression is very common:

• Fala com calma. = Speak calmly.
• Vamos com calma. = Let’s take it easy.
• Faça isso com calma. = Do that calmly / take your time.

Because mas introduces a contrast:

• she wanted to cry, but she breathed slowly and managed to go downstairs calmly

In Portuguese, it is very common to put a comma before mas, just like in English before but in many similar sentences.

So the comma helps separate the two contrasting parts:

1. A menina quis chorar
2. mas respirou devagar e conseguiu descer as escadas com calma

Portuguese often uses an article before nouns where English might not focus on one.

• a menina = the girl

This tells us we are talking about a specific girl.

Also notice the agreement:

• a = feminine singular article
• menina = feminine singular noun

Other examples:

• o menino = the boy
• a mulher = the woman
• as meninas = the girls

You can sometimes omit the article in special contexts, but here a menina is the normal form.

A rough pronunciation guide:

• quis → sounds like kees or kis
• chorar → roughly sho-RAHR in much of Brazil
  
  • the ch usually sounds like sh
• conseguiu → roughly kon-seh-GYOO
  
  • the stressed part is giu

A few details:

• quis is short and ends with an s sound
• chorar has stress on the last syllable: cho-RAR
• conseguiu has stress on the last syllable too: con-se-guiu

Brazilian pronunciation varies by region, but those approximations will help a lot.

Yes, and it would still be natural, but the nuance changes.

• quis chorar = she had a specific moment of wanting to cry
• queria chorar = she was in a more ongoing emotional state of wanting to cry

So:

• A menina quis chorar... feels a bit more like a momentary urge
• A menina queria chorar... feels more like background emotion

Both are possible, but quis makes the scene feel more immediate and event-based.