Breakdown of O técnico arranja o computador com cuidado.
com
with
o computador
the computer
arranjar
to fix
o cuidado
the care
o técnico
the technician
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Questions & Answers about O técnico arranja o computador com cuidado.
What does arranja mean in this sentence?
arranja is the third-person singular present indicative of the regular verb arranjar. In European Portuguese, it commonly means “to fix” or “to repair” when talking about machines or devices.
How is arranjar different from consertar?
Both verbs can mean “to repair,” but in Portugal arranjar is more colloquial and frequent in everyday speech. consertar is a bit more formal or technical. In Brazil, consertar tends to be used more often for “to repair.”
Why do we have o técnico and o computador with the definite article o?
Portuguese often uses definite articles before nouns even when referring to a general or unspecific item. Here, o técnico identifies “the technician” in general and o computador “the computer” being fixed. Omitting the article would sound more poetic or unusual in everyday speech.
What part of speech is com cuidado, and why not use a single adverb like “carefully”?
com cuidado is a prepositional phrase functioning as an adverbial modifier. Portuguese often uses com + noun (“with care”) instead of turning the noun into an adverb. You could also say cuidadosamente, but com cuidado is more common in spoken European Portuguese.
Could I say Cuidadosamente o técnico arranja o computador?
Yes, that’s grammatically correct. Placing cuidadosamente at the front emphasizes the manner, but sounds a bit more formal. More natural word order remains: O técnico arranja o computador com cuidado.
How would I replace o computador with a pronoun?
Since computador is masculine singular, you’d use the object pronoun o. In European Portuguese, you attach it after the verb with a hyphen:
O técnico arranja-o com cuidado.
Why is there an accent on técnico?
The acute accent on é marks the stressed open-mid vowel /ɛ/ and indicates that the stress falls on the first syllable: TÉC-ni-co. Without it, reading and pronunciation could be unclear.
Is the adjective cuidadoso related to cuidado?
Yes. cuidado is a noun meaning “care,” and cuidadoso is its adjective form meaning “careful.” You can say O técnico é cuidadoso (“The technician is careful”), but when describing how he fixes the computer, you’d use com cuidado (“with care”) or cuidadosamente.