Breakdown of No inverno uso sempre uma luva em cada mão.
um
a
em
in
sempre
always
em
on
cada
each
usar
to wear
o inverno
the winter
a mão
the hand
a luva
the glove
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Questions & Answers about No inverno uso sempre uma luva em cada mão.
What does No mean in No inverno?
No is a contraction of the preposition em (in) and the masculine singular definite article o (the). So No inverno literally means in the winter.
Why do we use the definite article with inverno, whereas in English we often say in winter without one?
In Portuguese it’s standard to include the definite article after prepositions with seasons, body parts and some abstract nouns. English drops the article in expressions like in winter, but European Portuguese needs o: No inverno.
Could I drop the article and say Em inverno uso sempre…?
No. Native speakers always use No inverno. Omitting the article sounds ungrammatical in European Portuguese.
Why is sempre placed after uso here? Can its position change?
Adverbs of frequency like sempre are fairly flexible. You can say No inverno uso sempre… or No inverno sempre uso… without altering the meaning. Placing sempre before the verb often feels more emphatic.
Why is it uma luva em cada mão (one glove on each hand) rather than simply duas luvas (two gloves)?
Uma luva em cada mão highlights that you wear one on each individual hand. Saying duas luvas is grammatically fine but less precise about distribution. Learners often choose the singular phrase to mirror the English idea of one per hand.
Can I say uso luvas instead of uso uma luva em cada mão?
Yes. Uso luvas no inverno (I wear gloves in winter) is shorter and very natural. It implies you wear a pair, without specifying one per hand.
What about em ambas as mãos instead of em cada mão?
You can say uso uma luva em ambas as mãos but it sounds odd because ambas (both) already implies two. More idiomatic would be uso luvas em ambas as mãos, using the plural.
Why isn’t there a subject pronoun like eu in the sentence?
Portuguese verbs carry enough information in their endings to identify the subject. Uso alone tells us it’s the first person singular. Adding eu is optional and often omitted in everyday speech.