Eu aqueço a água para o chá no fogão.

I heat the water for tea on the stove.

Breakdown of Eu aqueço a água para o chá no fogão.

• eu: I
• a água: the water
• em: in
• para: for
• o chá: the tea
• o fogão: the stove
• aquecer: to heat

Questions & Answers about Eu aqueço a água para o chá no fogão.

What is the infinitive form of aqueço, and how do I conjugate it in the present tense?

Aqueço is the 1st person singular (eu) of the irregular verb aquecer (“to heat”). Present indicative:

• eu aqueço
• tu aqueces
• ele/ela aquece
• nós aquecemos
• vós aqueceis
• eles/elas aquecem

Note the spelling change: c → ç before -o to keep the /s/ sound.

Why is there a ç (cedilla) in aqueço, and how is it pronounced?

In Portuguese, c before e or i sounds like /s/, but before a, o or u it would normally sound like /k/. The cedilla (ç) forces the /s/ sound before o:

• aqueço = /aˈse.su/
  Without the cedilla you’d get an incorrect /k/ sound.

Why does água have a definite article (a) before it? In English we just say “heat water.”

Portuguese often uses definite articles before nouns, even when English omits them. Here you’re referring to a specific water you’re heating, so you keep a:

• Eu aqueço a água = “I heat the water.”
  If you drop the article, it sounds ungrammatical in Portuguese: Eu aqueço água isn’t standard.

Why is there an accent on the á in água?

The acute accent marks the stressed syllable and indicates a hiatus (two separate vowel sounds) in á‑gua:

• Stress falls on the first syllable (Á‑gua)
• Without the accent, you might accidentally form a diphthong or misplace the stress
  Portuguese orthography uses accents to guide both stress and vowel separation.

What does para mean in para o chá, and can I omit the article?

Para is a preposition meaning “for” or “in order to.” Para o chá = “for the tea.” In Portuguese you normally keep the definite article:

• Correct: para o chá
• Omitting it (para chá) sounds odd unless you rephrase, e.g. para fazer chá (“to make tea”), where chá stays without an article.

Why do we say no fogão? What is no a contraction of?

No = em + o, meaning “in/on the.” You need the definite article o before fogão:

• em o fogão → no fogão
  Simply saying em fogão is ungrammatical; the article is required.

Can I use esquentar instead of aquecer here?

Yes. Esquentar is a common synonym meaning “to warm/heat up.” You could say:

• Eu esquento a água para o chá no fogão.
  Subtle nuance:
• aquecer often implies heating to a higher or more precise temperature
• esquentar is more general (“to make warm”)