Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): A professora autoriza os alunos a sair mais cedo. - The teacher authorizes the students to leave earlier.

Portuguese uses certain verbs like autorizar, permitir or obrigar with the preposition a before another verb in its infinitive form. This structure (verb + a + infinitive) expresses permission or obligation.

Why is sair not conjugated to saem or saiam?

After verbs such as autorizar, the following action is expressed with the infinitive (here sair) rather than a finite tense. It’s not a separate clause but part of the periphrasis “autorizar a sair.” We don’t use a subjunctive or any other conjugated form in this construction.

Could we use the personal infinitive saírem instead of sair?

Portuguese has a personal infinitive (e.g. saírem) to mark a specific subject, but after autorizar a, the impersonal infinitive (sair) is the norm—even though os alunos is the understood subject of the action.

Why do we say mais cedo instead of just cedo?

Cedo means “early,” while mais cedo is the comparative “earlier” (i.e. earlier than usual or expected). Since the students leave “more early,” you need mais cedo to express “leave earlier.”

What’s the difference between autorizar and permitir?

Both mean “to allow,” but: • Autorizar implies formal or official permission from someone in authority.
• Permitir is more general and used in everyday contexts.

Why do we include a before professora and os before alunos?

European Portuguese typically uses definite articles before titles, professions and nouns when referring to a specific person or group:
• A professora = the (female) teacher.
• Os alunos = the students.

Can we rephrase this in the passive voice?

Yes. A correct passive form is: Os alunos são autorizados pela professora a sair mais cedo. It’s grammatically fine but less common in spoken Portuguese.