Crianças brincam com areia na praia.

Children play with sand on the beach.

Breakdown of Crianças brincam com areia na praia.

• com: with
• a criança: the child
• em: on
• a praia: the beach
• brincar: to play
• a areia: the sand

Questions & Answers about Crianças brincam com areia na praia.

What does brincam mean and what is its grammatical person, number and tense?

Brincam is the 3rd person plural present indicative of the verb brincar, so it literally means they play (in this case “children play”).

When should I use brincar and when should I use jogar?

Portuguese distinguishes between brincar (to play in a general or playful way, especially by children or with toys) and jogar (to play a game or sport, or literally “to throw”).

• You brin­cam com areia (play with sand).
• You jogam futebol (play soccer) or jogam a bola (throw the ball).

Why is there no article before crianças?

In Portuguese, you can omit the definite article in general statements about a whole class:

• Crianças brincam… = “Children (in general) play…”
  If you say As crianças brincam…, you refer to a specific group of children.

Why is it com areia and not na areia to say “with sand”?

The preposition com indicates the material or instrument (“play with”).

• com areia = “with sand” (focus on the substance).
  By contrast, na areia (in/on the sand) describes location.

Why is there no article before areia?

Here areia is a mass noun used generically (“sand” as a substance). Portuguese often drops the article for uncountable substances in general.

• com areia = “with sand” (any sand).
• com a areia would refer to a specific, identified sand.

What does na in na praia mean and why not no praia?

Na is a contraction of em + a (in/at + the, feminine). Since praia is feminine (a praia), you get na praia (“at the beach”).
No would be em + o, used only with masculine nouns.

How would I say “Children are playing with sand at the beach” if I want to emphasize they’re doing it right now?

Use the Portuguese progressive form:
As crianças estão a brincar com areia na praia.
Here estão a brincar makes it clear the action is ongoing at this moment.