Breakdown of A limpeza da sala é necessária antes do jantar.
ser
to be
de
of
o jantar
the dinner
necessário
necessary
antes
before
a sala
the living room
a limpeza
the cleaning
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Portuguese grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about A limpeza da sala é necessária antes do jantar.
Why does the sentence start with A limpeza instead of using the gerund like English “Cleaning the room is necessary before dinner”?
Portuguese often uses nouns where English uses gerunds. Limpeza is a noun derived from the verb limpar, so A limpeza da sala literally means “the cleaning of the room” and functions as the subject. If you said Limpando a sala é necessário..., it would sound like “While cleaning the room, it is necessary...,” which changes the meaning.
Why is there a definite article A before limpeza and also before sala in da sala?
Portuguese regularly uses definite articles with abstract nouns (like limpeza) and with specific places or things. Here, A limpeza refers to a particular cleaning event, and da sala (see next Q) refers to a specific room. Omitting the article would either sound overly generic or grammatically odd.
What is the contraction da in da sala, and why do we use it?
Da is the contraction of the preposition de + the feminine singular article a. It’s used to link “cleaning” (limpeza) with “room” (sala):
de + a sala → da sala (“of the room”).
Why is the adjective necessária feminine singular? Could I say necessário instead?
Adjectives in Portuguese agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Limpeza is feminine singular, so the adjective must also be feminine singular: necessária. If you were talking about os quartos (masculine plural), you’d say necessários. Saying é necessário here would mismatch genders.
Why is it antes do jantar and not just antes jantar?
When antes precedes a noun, Portuguese requires the preposition de: antes de + noun or infinitive. Since jantar is masculine singular, you contract de + o → do, yielding antes do jantar (“before dinner”).
Can we move antes do jantar to the beginning of the sentence?
Yes. Portuguese word order is quite flexible. You can say:
Antes do jantar, a limpeza da sala é necessária.
This fronting emphasizes the time (“before dinner”) but keeps the same meaning.
If I want to use a verb construction instead of the noun limpeza, how would I say “You need to clean the room before dinner”?
You can use é preciso or é necessário + infinitive:
“É preciso limpar a sala antes do jantar.”
or
“É necessário limpar a sala antes do jantar.”
Why does necessária have an accent on the second a?
Portuguese uses accent marks to show which syllable is stressed and to distinguish vowel quality. In ne-ces-sá-ria, the stress falls on the á, so it gets an acute accent. Without it, the word would either be mispronounced or mistaken for another form.