Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Ontem perdi um ficheiro importante, mas já consegui recuperá-lo. - Yesterday I lost an important file, but I have already managed to recover it.

In European Portuguese, ficheiro is the standard term for a “computer file.” In Brazilian Portuguese, speakers normally say arquivo for the same concept. Both words exist in Portugal, but arquivo often refers to a physical archive or file repository, whereas ficheiro is unambiguously digital.

Why do we use recuperá-lo instead of recuperar o?

Portuguese clitic pronouns attach to an infinitive with a hyphen (this is called enclisis). So recuperar + o becomes recuperá-lo. You never separate the pronoun “o” from the infinitive with a space.

Why is the clitic pronoun attached to the infinitive recuperar instead of after the finite verb consegui?

Portuguese pronouns follow strict placement rules. After a finite verb like consegui, you would normally use proclisis (before the verb) if there’s a preceding negative word or certain conjunctions—but here “consegui” is followed by an infinitive, and pronouns must attach to that infinitive. Hence consegui recuperá-lo, not o consegui recuperar.

What’s the role of já in já consegui? Does it always mean “already”?

Yes: já here means “already”, emphasizing that the action was completed quickly or earlier than expected. It can also mean “yet” in questions (Já conseguiste? = “Have you already managed?”), but in affirmative sentences it usually translates as “already.”

Why is the simple past perdi used here instead of a compound tense like tenho perdido?

European Portuguese speakers generally prefer the simple preterite (perdi) to describe completed actions in the past. The compound perfect (tenho perdido) is rarer and may imply a series of losses or a state that continues into the present, which isn’t what you want here.

Can we say Ontem recuperei o ficheiro instead of Ontem perdi um ficheiro importante, mas já consegui recuperá-lo?

You can, but it changes the focus. Ontem recuperei o ficheiro simply says “Yesterday I recovered the file,” without mentioning that it was lost first. The original sentence highlights both losing and recovering, which may be important for context (e.g., explaining why you were stressed).

Is conseguir recuperar redundant? Could we drop one of the verbs?

Conseguir + infinitive is a set construction meaning “to manage to do something.” If you drop conseguir, you lose the nuance of “having managed” or “being able to” recover it. You could simply say já recuperei o ficheiro, but that sounds more neutral—without implying any difficulty in the process.

How are consegui and ficheiro pronounced?

In European Portuguese:

consegui “con-” is nasal [õ], “se” is [sɐ], “gui” is [ɣi] with a voiced velar fricative.
ficheiro as in “fee,” “chei” sounds like English “shay,” and the final “ro” is [ɾu] with a tapped r.