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Ele vai descansar depois de jantar.

Ele vai descansar depois de jantar.
He will rest after having dinner.
FromLesson 2inHardcore Portuguese (Portugal)

Breakdown of Ele vai descansar depois de jantar.

ir
to go
ele
he
descansar
to rest
jantar
to have dinner
depois de
after

Questions & Answers about Ele vai descansar depois de jantar.

Why do we use descansar in its infinitive form here?
In Portuguese, when you use ir (conjugated as vai in this sentence) to express a future action, the main verb stays in the infinitive. So we say Ele vai descansar (he will rest) and not Ele vai descansa or Ele vai descansando.
Why is jantar also in the infinitive after "depois de"?
In Portuguese, when you want to convey "after doing something," you use "depois de + infinitive. So "depois de jantar" literally means "after dining" or "after having dinner." This construction keeps jantar in the infinitive.
Can I say "depois do jantar" instead of "depois de jantar"?
Yes, but it changes the grammatical structure slightly. "Depois do jantar" means "after the dinner," treating jantar as a noun. "Depois de jantar" treats jantar as a verb, meaning "after (he) has dinner." Both are correct but often have a slightly different nuance in usage.
Why does "vai" indicate a future action here?
In Portuguese, the verb ir (to go) + infinitive is used to express the near future. It's very common in everyday speech and functions like "going to" in English. So Ele vai descansar is akin to "He is going to rest."
Why isn't there a reflexive pronoun in "descansar"?
Unlike some verbs that change meaning when made reflexive, descansar simply means "to rest" without needing a reflexive pronoun in modern European Portuguese. You rarely see "descansar-se" in everyday usage, so the standard form is just descansar.
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