Breakdown of A menina às vezes fica triste quando não tem nada para fazer.
ter
to have
fazer
to do
quando
when
não
not
para
to
a menina
the girl
às vezes
sometimes
ficar
to get
triste
sad
nada
nothing
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Questions & Answers about A menina às vezes fica triste quando não tem nada para fazer.
What does às vezes mean in this sentence and why is it used here?
às vezes translates to sometimes. It’s an adverbial phrase of frequency placed before the verb to indicate that the girl only occasionally becomes sad.
Why is the verb ficar used instead of estar to describe the girl’s state?
ficar is often used to express a change of state or the process of becoming something—in this case, becoming sad. While estar describes a temporary condition, ficar emphasizes that the state of sadness arises when a certain situation occurs.
Why is the subject pronoun not explicitly mentioned in quando não tem nada para fazer?
In Portuguese, subject pronouns are commonly omitted because the verb conjugation already indicates who is performing the action. The verb tem makes it clear that the subject is a menina from the main clause, so there’s no need to repeat it.
How does the clause quando não tem nada para fazer function within the sentence?
This clause is an adverbial clause of time, introduced by quando (meaning when). It specifies the condition under which the main clause occurs—in other words, the girl becomes sad specifically when she has nothing to do.
What is the origin and structure of the contraction in às vezes?
The expression às vezes is formed by the contraction of the preposition a with the feminine plural definite article as, which precedes vezes (meaning times). This contraction is standard in Portuguese and gives the phrase its meaning of sometimes.