Breakdown of Já em casa, pendurei a corda na garagem e lavei a mochila cheia de pó.
de
of
a casa
the house
e
and
em
in
já
already
lavar
to wash
cheio
full
a garagem
the garage
o pó
the dust
a mochila
the backpack
pendurar
to hang
a corda
the rope
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Questions & Answers about Já em casa, pendurei a corda na garagem e lavei a mochila cheia de pó.
What does já em casa mean at the beginning of the sentence, and why isn’t it em casa já?
Já em casa here is an adverbial phrase meaning “once I was already at home” or simply “when I got home.” Placing já before em casa emphasizes that the action takes place after arriving home. If you said em casa já, it would sound odd in Portuguese—já usually precedes the phrase it modifies when indicating that something has already happened.
Why do we say em casa without an article? Could we say na casa instead?
When talking about being or doing something “at home” in Portuguese, you use em casa (no article). If you say na casa, you mean “in/at the house” in a more specific sense—e.g. a particular building. Em casa is an idiomatic expression meaning “at home” in general.
Why is pendurei a corda phrased with a direct object? Can we drop the article and say pendurei corda?
In Portuguese, most transitive verbs like pendurar (“to hang”) require a direct object and normally take the definite article when referring to a specific item: pendurei a corda (“I hung the rope”). Omitting the article (pendurei corda) sounds unnatural unless you’re speaking extremely colloquially or poetically. Native usage almost always includes a before corda.
Why is na garagem used instead of just em garagem or na à garagem?
Na garagem results from contracting em + a into na. Portuguese routinely contracts prepositions with definite articles (em + a = na, em + o = no). You cannot say em garagem unless you want to generalize (“in garages”); for “in the garage,” you need na garagem. À garagem (a + a + garagem) would be wrong, because a (to) and em (in) are different prepositions.
Why is cheia de pó placed after mochila, and why do we use cheia de?
In Portuguese, descriptive adjectives usually follow the noun, so you say mochila cheia de pó (“backpack full of dust”). The structure cheio/a de + noun expresses “full of something” (masc. cheio de água; fem. cheia de pó). Placing cheia de pó before mochila would sound archaic or poetic.
What’s the difference between pó and poeira?
Both pó and poeira mean “dust,” but pó is more general and can also mean “powder.” Poeira specifically refers to the fine particles that collect in the air or on surfaces. In everyday language, poeira is slightly more common for household dust, but pó is perfectly acceptable, especially in fixed expressions like cheio de pó.
Could I reorder the sentence as Pendurei na garagem a corda e lavei a mochila cheia de pó?
Yes, you could say Pendurei na garagem a corda e lavei a mochila cheia de pó without changing the meaning. Portuguese allows some flexibility in word order for emphasis. However, the original order (pendurei a corda na garagem) is more neutral and commonly used in speech and writing.