Preparámos a defesa.

Preparámos is the verb preparar in the 1st person plural (we) of the pretérito perfeito simples.

So it means that we completed the action in the past:

• preparámos = we prepared

It is also a regular -ar verb form.

In European Portuguese, the accent in preparámos helps distinguish it from preparamos.

• preparámos = we prepared (past)
• preparamos = we prepare (present)

This is especially useful in Portugal, where the two forms are distinguished in writing and pronunciation.

A native English speaker often notices this because English does not normally use accents like this to separate verb tenses.

Portuguese often leaves out the subject pronoun when the verb ending already makes the subject clear.

Here, preparámos already tells you the subject is we, so nós is not necessary.

• Preparámos a defesa. = natural
• Nós preparámos a defesa. = also correct, but more emphatic

You would usually add nós only if you want contrast or emphasis, for example:

• Nós preparámos a defesa, não eles.

A is the definite article, so a defesa means the defence.

Portuguese uses definite articles more often than English. If you are talking about a specific defence that both speaker and listener can identify, a defesa is the natural choice.

• a defesa = the defence
• uma defesa = a defence

Saying just Preparámos defesa would usually sound incomplete or unnatural in a normal sentence like this.

You can tell because it takes the article a, which is the feminine singular definite article.

• o = masculine singular
• a = feminine singular

So:

• a defesa = feminine singular

This is something learners often need to get used to, because grammatical gender in Portuguese does not always match any logical gender in English.

Usually, preparámos most directly corresponds to we prepared: a completed past action.

However, depending on context, English might sometimes translate it as we have prepared if the result matters now.

The important point is that Portuguese and English do not match tense-for-tense perfectly.

In European Portuguese:

• Preparámos a defesa. often = We prepared the defence.
• In some contexts, it could also be rendered as We have prepared the defence.

But be careful: Portuguese temos preparado does not normally mean the same simple completed action. It usually suggests something more ongoing or repeated, more like we have been preparing.

A rough European Portuguese pronunciation is:

pruh-puh-RAH-moosh uh duh-FEH-zuh

A few useful points:

• preparámos is stressed on rá
• the final -s in preparámos sounds like a z before the following vowel in a
• defesa is stressed on fe

So in connected speech, preparámos a links smoothly together.

Yes, absolutely. It is grammatically correct.

The difference is mainly one of style and emphasis:

• Preparámos a defesa. = neutral, natural
• Nós preparámos a defesa. = more explicit, more emphatic

In Portuguese, especially in everyday speech, the version without the pronoun is often the more natural one unless you want to stress who did it.