Um calendário ajuda a gerir o tempo.

A calendar helps manage time.

Breakdown of Um calendário ajuda a gerir o tempo.

• um: a
• o tempo: the time
• a: to
• ajudar: to help
• gerir: to manage
• o calendário: the calendar

Questions & Answers about Um calendário ajuda a gerir o tempo.

Why do we start with Um instead of O or leaving out the article altogether?

• Um is the indefinite article (“a/an”) in Portuguese.
• Using um makes the sentence general: “a calendar (any calendar) helps…”
• O calendário would be “the calendar,” referring to a specific one.
• Omitting the article (e.g. “Calendário ajuda…”) is unnatural in a full sentence—Portuguese normally requires an article before a singular noun.

What is the function of the a before gerir?

• In European Portuguese, verbs like ajudar, começar, continuar require a preposition a before another verb in the infinitive.
• The structure is ajudar a + infinitive, literally “help to do.”
• Without this a, the sentence would be ungrammatical: *“ajuda gerir o tempo” is incorrect.

Why is there a definite article o before tempo, when in English we just say “manage time”?

• Portuguese often uses the definite article with abstract or general nouns: o tempo (time), a vida (life), a felicidade (happiness).
• Even though English drops the article, Portuguese prefers it to talk about the concept as a whole.
• You could omit it in some contexts (e.g. titles or very informal speech), but in a neutral full sentence the article is standard.

Could we use a different verb instead of gerir, like administrar or gestionar?

Yes. All three are valid and share a similar meaning (“manage/administrate”), but:

• Gerir is very common in Portugal for managing resources (time, projects, dinheiro).
• Administrar is slightly more formal or used in business contexts.
• Gestionar comes from a closer Spanish influence—still understood, but a bit less frequent in Portugal.

Why is the verb ajuda in the third‐person singular present tense?

• The subject of the sentence is um calendário, a singular noun.
• In present indicative, ajudar conjugates as:
  eu ajudo
  tu ajudas
  ele/ela ajuda
  nós ajudamos
  …
• So we use ajuda to agree with um calendário (ele).

Why is calendário preceded by um and not uma?

• Calendário is a masculine noun in Portuguese.
• Indefinite articles must match the noun’s gender and number:
  masculine singular → *um
  feminine singular → *uma
• That’s why we say um calendário.

Can I change the word order, for instance placing the verb first?

• Neutral Portuguese typically follows SVO (Subject‐Verb‐Object): Um calendário ajuda a gerir o tempo.
• Inversions (e.g. Ajuda a gerir o tempo um calendário) are possible for emphasis or poetic effect, but they sound marked or stylistic in everyday speech.

How do I pronounce calendário and why is there an accent on the á?

• Calendário is a proparoxítona (stress on the third‐to‐last syllable): ca-len-DÁ-rio.
• The acute accent on á marks that syllable as stressed and indicates an open /a/ sound.
• Pronunciation in European Portuguese: roughly [kɐ.lẽˈda.ɾju].