Finalmente chegamos.

Breakdown of Finalmente chegamos.

chegar
to arrive
finalmente
finally

Questions & Answers about Finalmente chegamos.

Why is there no word for we in Finalmente chegamos?

Portuguese often drops subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows who the subject is.

In chegamos, the ending -amos tells you the subject is we (nós). So:

  • Finalmente chegamos. = We finally arrived.
  • Finalmente nós chegamos. = also possible, but nós is usually unnecessary unless you want emphasis or contrast.

This is very common in Brazilian Portuguese.

What tense is chegamos here?

Here, chegamos is most naturally understood as the preterite: we arrived.

So in this sentence:

  • Finalmente chegamos. = We finally arrived.

A very important detail: for -ar verbs, the nós form in the present and the preterite is often the same in spelling:

  • chegamos = we arrive
  • chegamos = we arrived

Context tells you which one it is. With finalmente, the past meaning is the most likely one.

What is the infinitive of chegamos?

The infinitive is chegar, meaning to arrive.

A few useful forms are:

  • eu chego = I arrive
  • você chega = you arrive
  • nós chegamos = we arrive / we arrived
  • eles chegam = they arrive

In your sentence, chegamos comes from chegar.

Is finalmente used the same way as finally in English?

Usually, yes. Finalmente often matches English finally very closely.

In this sentence, it adds the idea that something took time, effort, or delay:

  • Finalmente chegamos. = We finally arrived.

That said, finalmente can sound a little more formal or narrative in some contexts. In everyday speech, Brazilians may also use words like:

But finalmente is completely correct and natural.

Can I say Chegamos finalmente instead?

Yes, you can, but Finalmente chegamos is the more natural order for this kind of sentence.

Compare:

  • Finalmente chegamos. = the adverb is highlighted first; very natural
  • Chegamos finalmente. = also possible, but sounds a bit more literary or stylistically marked

Putting finalmente first is a very common way to emphasize the feeling of relief or completion.

Why use chegar instead of a verb like go?

Because Portuguese normally uses chegar for arrive / get there.

So:

  • chegar = to arrive
  • ir = to go
  • vir = to come

If you say:

  • Finalmente chegamos. = We finally arrived.

But:

  • Finalmente fomos. would mean We finally went, not we finally arrived

So chegar is the right verb when the focus is the endpoint of the trip.

How do you pronounce Finalmente chegamos in Brazilian Portuguese?

A simple English-friendly approximation is:

fee-nahl-MEN-chee sheh-GAH-moos

A few pronunciation notes:

  • finalmente
    • the stress is on men: final-MEN-te
  • ch in chegamos sounds like sh
  • g before a is a hard g, like in go
  • the stress in chegamos is on ga: che-GA-mos

A more accurate Brazilian pronunciation would be roughly:

fee-naw-MEN-tchee sheh-GAH-moos

The exact sound varies a bit by region.

Do I need a comma after Finalmente?

Usually, no comma is necessary in a short sentence like this:

  • Finalmente chegamos.

But you may also see:

  • Finalmente, chegamos.

That comma adds a small pause and can make the sentence feel a little more dramatic or deliberate. In everyday writing, the version without the comma is very common.

Could I add nós and say Finalmente nós chegamos?

Yes, grammatically that is correct. But most of the time, native speakers would simply say:

  • Finalmente chegamos.

Adding nós can sound more emphatic, especially if you are contrasting we with someone else:

  • Eles não chegaram, mas nós chegamos. = They didn’t arrive, but we did.

So in a neutral sentence, leaving out nós is more natural.

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