Question 1

Why does the verb come before the subject in “Acabou a bateria”?

Accepted Answer

Portuguese allows post-verbal subjects, especially with intransitive/unaccusative verbs (verbs of happening/ending). Here, a bateria is the subject, placed after acabou. It sounds natural and is common in short, report-like statements (compare Acabou a luz = “the power went out”). The standard SVO order is also fine: A bateria acabou.

Question 2

Is there any difference between “Acabou a bateria do telemóvel” and “A bateria do telemóvel acabou”?

Accepted Answer

Both are correct and mean the same. Nuance:
- Acabou a bateria... feels a bit more impersonal/incident-reporting, highlighting the event.
- A bateria... acabou is the neutral SVO order, slightly more ordinary in conversation.
No difference in formality.

Question 3

Can I say “Acabou-se a bateria do telemóvel”? What does the -se add?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Acabou-se a bateria... is very common in European Portuguese. The clitic -se marks an inchoative/pronominal use (“ended by itself”), which sounds natural with things that run out. Meaning doesn’t change; it can sound a touch more idiomatic. All of these are fine: Acabou a bateria, Acabou-se a bateria, A bateria acabou.

Question 4

Where is the “it”? Why isn’t there a subject pronoun?

Accepted Answer

Portuguese is a null-subject language; there’s no dummy “it.” The subject is explicitly a bateria, just placed after the verb. You don’t say “Ela acabou” here unless you’ve already established that “she/it” = the battery.

Question 5

What tense is “acabou”? Does it mean “ran out” or “has run out”?

Accepted Answer

Acabou is the third-person singular of the pretérito perfeito (simple past). In context it can map to English past simple or present perfect:
- “It ran out” (past simple)
- “It has run out” (present perfect)
To stress recency: Acabou agora (mesmo) = “It just ran out.”

Question 6

Can I use “acabar de” here, like “It has just run out”?

Accepted Answer

Use time adverbs, not acabar de, because acabar de must be followed by an infinitive verb:
- Natural: A bateria acabou agora mesmo.
- With acabar de (structure example): Acabou de cair a chamada (“The call has just dropped”). But you wouldn’t say “Acabou de a bateria...”.

Question 7

What does “do telemóvel” mean and why is it “do” and not “de o”?

Accepted Answer

It means “of the phone.” do is the mandatory contraction of de + o (preposition “of” + masculine singular article “the”). Other contractions:
- da = de + a
- dos = de + os
- das = de + as

Question 8

Could I leave out “do telemóvel”?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Acabou a bateria is very common; context usually makes it clear you mean the phone’s battery. Add do meu telemóvel if you need to be explicit: Acabou a bateria do meu telemóvel.

Question 9

Why is it “a bateria” with the definite article? English often omits “the.”

Accepted Answer

Portuguese uses definite articles more than English to refer to known, specific things. Here it’s “the (phone’s) battery” in the situation at hand, so a bateria is natural. Saying Acabou bateria (no article) is ungrammatical.

Question 10

Is “acabar” transitive here? Could it mean “He/She finished the battery”?

Accepted Answer

Here it’s intransitive: the battery itself ended/ran out. If you add an explicit subject, acabar can be transitive:
- Ele acabou a bateria do telemóvel. = “He drained the phone’s battery.”
Without a subject, Acabou a bateria is read as verb + postposed subject, not as a transitive clause.

Question 11

How would I say this in Brazil? And is “telemóvel” European-only?

Accepted Answer

In Brazil, people say celular instead of telemóvel. Common options:
- Acabou a bateria do celular.
- O celular ficou sem bateria.
Yes, telemóvel is European Portuguese. In Portugal, celular isn’t used.

Question 12

What are other natural ways (in Portugal) to say this?

Accepted Answer

- O telemóvel ficou sem bateria.
- Fiquei sem bateria.
- A bateria do telemóvel acabou.
- A bateria descarregou-se. / O telemóvel descarregou. (also common; note that descarregar also means “to download” in other contexts, but here it’s “to discharge.”)

Question 13

If the subject were plural, how would agreement work?

Accepted Answer

The verb agrees with the (postposed) subject:
- Singular: Acabou a bateria.
- Plural: Acabaram as baterias.
Never say Acabou as baterias.

Question 14

How do I make negatives and questions?

Accepted Answer

- Negative: Não acabou a bateria. / A bateria não acabou.
- With “yet/already”: A bateria ainda não acabou. / Já acabou a bateria?
- Yes–no questions don’t need do-support; intonation or já/ainda often signals the question.

Question 15

Why “bateria” and not “pilha”?

Accepted Answer

For phones, Portuguese uses bateria (rechargeable battery). Pilha is typically for small disposable cells (AA/AAA) or colloquially for TV remotes, clocks, etc.

Question 16

Is the spelling and stress correct? How do I pronounce it (Portugal)?

Accepted Answer

- acabou: [ɐ.kɐ.ˈbo(w)] — stress on the last syllable “-bou.”
- bateria: [bɐ.tɨ.ˈɾi.ɐ] — stress on “ri.”
- telemóvel: [tɨ.lɨ.ˈmɔ.vɛɫ] — stress on “mó”; final “l” is dark [ɫ].
Note the acute accent in telemóvel; there’s no accent in acabou or bateria.

Question 17

Can I use “à” here (crase)?

Accepted Answer

No. In Acabou a bateria, the a is the feminine article, not the preposition a. There’s no contraction/preposition before it, so no à.

Question 18

Is “terminar” a good synonym for “acabar” here?

Accepted Answer

Not really. Terminar is fine for events/tasks (“O filme terminou”), but for resources running out, Portuguese strongly prefers acabar or ficar sem. Say A bateria acabou or O telemóvel ficou sem bateria, not A bateria terminou.

Acabou a bateria do telemóvel.

Breakdown of Acabou a bateria do telemóvel.

Questions & Answers about Acabou a bateria do telemóvel.

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