Breakdown of Perdi o mapa, mas posso encontrá-lo online.
eu
I
mas
but
poder
to be able to
perder
to lose
encontrar
to find
online
online
o mapa
the map
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Questions & Answers about Perdi o mapa, mas posso encontrá-lo online.
What tense is perdi and when do we use it?
Perdi is the pretérito perfeito simples (simple past). It expresses a completed action in the past with a clear endpoint—“I lost.” In European Portuguese this tense is often used where English might use the present perfect (“I have lost”).
Why is the subject pronoun eu omitted in perdi and posso?
Portuguese is a pro-drop language: verb endings (like -i in perdi, -o in posso) already indicate person and number, so eu (“I”) is usually dropped unless you want to stress it.
Why is the object pronoun attached to the infinitive as encontrá-lo?
In a construction with a modal verb (posso) + infinitive (encontrar), the pronoun is attached to the infinitive. You remove the ending -r from encontrar, keep the accent on á, and add -lo (hyphenated). This is called enclisis.
Why does encontrá-lo keep an accent on á after dropping the -r?
Removing the -r doesn’t change the original stress. The accent on á remains mandatory to show that this syllable stays stressed (en-con-TRÁ-lo).
How does the pronoun o become -lo when attached?
When the third-person masculine singular pronoun o is enclitic (attached after a verb), it transforms into -lo. Similarly, a → -la, os → -los, as → -las.
What part of speech is online in Portuguese, and is it variable?
Online is an adverb (loanword from English) meaning “on the internet.” It’s invariable: no gender/number agreement, no article. In formal registers you might use na Internet, but online is widespread colloquially.
Could I say posso-o encontrar instead of posso encontrá-lo?
Grammatically yes (proclisis), but it sounds formal or old-fashioned in European Portuguese. With modal verbs + infinitives, attaching the pronoun at the end of the infinitive (enclisis) is preferred.
Why is mapa masculine even though it ends in -a?
Some Portuguese nouns of Greek origin ending in -ma are masculine (o mapa, o programa, o sistema). They’re exceptions to the usual pattern where -a indicates feminine.