Log inSign up

A idade não o impede de fazer um treino difícil.

A idade não o impede de fazer um treino difícil.
Age does not stop him from doing a hard workout.
FromLesson 25inHardcore Portuguese (Portugal)

Breakdown of A idade não o impede de fazer um treino difícil.

um
a
fazer
to do
difícil
difficult
não
not
o
him
o treino
the workout
a idade
the age
impedir de
to prevent

Questions & Answers about A idade não o impede de fazer um treino difícil.

What type of pronoun is o and what does it refer to?
In this sentence o is a third-person singular direct object pronoun (masculine). It stands in for him – the person whose age is being discussed.
Why can't we use lhe instead of o?
Lhe is an indirect object pronoun used with verbs that take an indirect object (e.g., dar algo a alguém). Impedir requires a direct object (it “impedes someone”), so you need o (or a, os, as), not lhe.
Why is there a de after impede?
With impedir followed by another verb, the structure is impedir alguém de + infinitive. The de links the act of preventing with the action (impede de fazer = “prevents from doing”).
Could we say A idade não o impede de que faça um treino difícil?

No. If you use a subordinate clause with impedir, you omit de and use que + subjunctive:
A idade não o impediu que fizesse um treino difícil.
However, the infinitive structure impedir alguém de + infinitive is more natural here.

Why is it um treino difícil? Would o treino difícil also work?
Um treino difícil introduces a hard training session (indefinite). O treino difícil means the hard session, implying a specific one already known to the listener.
Could we say A idade não impede de fazer treino difícil (omitting the article)?
No. In Portuguese, countable nouns like treino need an article or another determiner. Fazer treino difícil without um or o sounds unnatural.
Why is the pronoun placed before the verb (não o impede) and not after (não impede-o)?
In European Portuguese, negation (não) triggers proclisis, so object pronouns go before the verb. Enclisis (impede-o) only happens in affirmative clauses without such triggers.
Does difícil change with gender or number here?
In the singular, difícil is the same for masculine and feminine. Its plural is difíceis for both genders, so it correctly matches treino (singular masculine).
Why do we use the article A before idade?
Idade is a feminine noun, and abstract or general concepts often take the definite article in Portuguese. So we say A idade (the age) to talk about someone's age in general.
AI Language TutorTry it ↗
“What's the best way to learn Portuguese grammar?”
Portuguese grammar becomes intuitive with practice. Focus on understanding the core patterns first — how sentences are structured, how verbs change form, and how words relate to each other. Our course breaks these concepts into small lessons so you can build understanding step by step.

Sign up free — start using our AI language tutor

Start learning Portuguese

Master Portuguese — from A idade não o impede de fazer um treino difícil to fluency

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods.

  • ✓ Infinitely deep — unlimited vocabulary and grammar
  • ✓ Fast-paced — build complex sentences from the start
  • ✓ Unforgettable — efficient spaced repetition system
  • ✓ AI tutor to answer your grammar questions
Start learning Portuguese freeBrowse the full course