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Precisamos de segurança no evento.

Precisamos de segurança no evento.
We need security at the event.
FromLesson 24inHardcore Portuguese (Portugal)

Breakdown of Precisamos de segurança no evento.

nós
we
precisar de
to need
em
in
o evento
the event
a segurança
the security

Questions & Answers about Precisamos de segurança no evento.

Why is there a de after precisamos?
In Portuguese, the verb precisar (meaning “to need”) is a transitive-prepositional verb, so it always takes the preposition de before its object. You say precisar de água, precisar de ajuda, etc. Dropping de would be ungrammatical in European Portuguese.
Why isn’t there an article before segurança?
Here segurança is used as an uncountable (mass) noun meaning “security” in general. Mass nouns in Portuguese typically don’t take an indefinite article. If you wanted to refer to one individual guard, you’d say um segurança (one security guard).
When would I use the plural seguranças instead of segurança?

Use seguranças when you refer to multiple security guards. For example:

  • Precisamos de seguranças no evento (“We need security guards at the event”).
    By contrast, segurança (singular) refers to the overall service or concept of security.
Why is it no evento and not na evento or em o evento?
  • Evento is a masculine noun, so em + o contracts to no.
  • na would be em + a, for feminine nouns.
    Technically you could say em o evento, but native speakers always contract to no evento.
Could I use para o evento instead of no evento?

Yes, but the meaning changes:

  • no evento = “at the event” (location/time).
  • para o evento = “for the event” (purpose/preparation).
    If you mean “we need security present at the event,” use no evento.
Why isn’t nós used before precisamos?

Portuguese is a pro-drop language: the subject pronoun (nós) can be omitted because the verb ending -mos already signals “we.” Including nós is correct but often redundant:

  • (Nós) precisamos de segurança no evento.
Can I say Precisamos de um segurança? What difference does the article make?
  • Precisamos de segurança = “We need security” (the service/concept).
  • Precisamos de um segurança = “We need one security guard” (one person).
  • Precisamos de seguranças = “We need security guards” (more than one).
What is the gender of segurança?
  • As a concept (“security”) it’s feminine: a segurança.
  • As a job title (“security guard”) it’s masculine by default: o segurança (you can say a segurança if you mean a female guard).
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