Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): É importante completar todas as tarefas antes de jantar. - It is important to complete all the tasks before dinner.

In Portuguese, É importante is an impersonal expression that corresponds to English “It’s important.” You use it to state a general fact or recommendation without naming a specific subject. Other impersonal alternatives include É essencial, É fundamental or É necessário.

Why is completar in its infinitive form instead of a conjugated verb?

After impersonal expressions like É importante, Portuguese normally takes an infinitive to express a general action. In English we say “It’s important to complete…”; in Portuguese it’s “É importante completar…”. If you want to specify a subject, you switch to a subordinate clause with the subjunctive: “É importante que tu completes todas as tarefas antes de jantar.”

Could I use terminar instead of completar here?

Yes. Terminar and completar are near-synonyms meaning “to finish.”
– completar often suggests “complete the entire set”
– terminar simply means “to end” or “to finish”
In this context, both “É importante terminar todas as tarefas antes de jantar” and “É importante completar todas as tarefas antes de jantar” are correct.

Why do we say todas as tarefas with the article as?

In Portuguese, plural quantifiers such as todas, algumas, várias are followed by the definite article os/as:
– todas as tarefas (all the tasks)
– algumas as tarefas (some of the tasks)
English drops the article (“all tasks”), but Portuguese usually requires it for grammatical agreement.

Can I drop the article and say todas tarefas?

No, that would be ungrammatical in European Portuguese. You must include the article: todas as tarefas. In very informal speech you might hear omissions, but in standard writing and speech the article stays.

Why is it antes de jantar and not just antes jantar?

When an infinitive follows antes, Portuguese requires the preposition de:
– antes de jantar (before eating/dinner)
Omitting de is incorrect.

What’s the difference between antes de jantar and antes do jantar?

– antes de jantar uses an infinitive and focuses on the action “before eating.”
– antes do jantar uses the noun jantar (“the dinner”) with the article do (de + o), so it means “before the meal.”
In practice they’re very similar, but the first stresses the act, the second the event.

Is jantar here a verb or a noun?

Here jantar is an infinitive verb meaning “to have dinner.” You know it’s not a noun because there’s no article before it. If you say o jantar, that would be the noun “the dinner.”

Could I place antes de jantar at the start of the sentence?

Yes. Portuguese allows flexible word order. You can say:
“Antes de jantar, é importante completar todas as tarefas.”
The meaning remains the same; you’re just emphasizing the time.