Log inSign up

Hoje o aquecimento antes do treino foi curto.

Hoje o aquecimento antes do treino foi curto.
Today the warm-up before the training was short.

Breakdown of Hoje o aquecimento antes do treino foi curto.

ser
to be
hoje
today
antes de
before
o treino
the training
curto
short
o aquecimento
the warm-up
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Portuguese grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Portuguese now

Questions & Answers about Hoje o aquecimento antes do treino foi curto.

Why is there a definite article o before aquecimento and treino?

Portuguese uses definite articles much more than English, especially with concrete, specific things.

  • o aquecimento = the warm‑up (a specific warm‑up that happened today)
  • o treino = the training session / practice (a particular session, not training in general)

In English you might say “Warm‑up before training was short today” without any the, but in Portuguese that would usually sound incomplete. When you’re talking about:

  • today’s warm‑up = o aquecimento
  • today’s training = o treino

you normally mark them as definite with o.

What is do in antes do treino? Is it mandatory?

do is a contraction of the preposition de + the definite article o:

  • de (of, from) + o (the, masculine singular) → do

The basic expression is:

  • antes de = before

When antes de is followed by a masculine singular noun with a definite article o, they contract:

  • antes de o treino → antes do treino

Because treino here is a specific, concrete training session, Portuguese normally uses the article o, so you also need the contraction do.

Without the article, you would say antes de treino, but that sounds unusual and quite abstract; in everyday speech people almost always say antes do treino in this context. So yes, do is natural and practically mandatory here.

Can I say antes de treinar instead of antes do treino?

Yes, but it changes the nuance slightly.

  • antes do treino

    • literally: before the training session
    • focuses on the event (the session) as a thing in the schedule

  • antes de treinar

    • literally: before training / before I/you/we train
    • focuses more on the activity of training, expressed as a verb

Both are correct and natural:

  • Hoje o aquecimento antes do treino foi curto.
  • Hoje o aquecimento antes de treinar foi curto.

In European Portuguese, antes do treino is very common when referring to a specific, scheduled session (today’s football practice, gym session, etc.). antes de treinar feels a bit more general or activity‑focused, but can absolutely be used here too.

Is foi from ser or ir here? And why use this tense?

foi can be:

  • 3rd person singular of ser (to be) in the simple past (pretérito perfeito)
  • 3rd person singular of ir (to go) in the same tense

In this sentence it must be ser, because:

  • o aquecimento foi curto = the warm‑up was short
  • it does not make sense as “the warm‑up went short”

So the structure is:

  • o aquecimento (subject)
  • foi (past of ser)
  • curto (adjective)

The tense pretérito perfeito (foi) is used because we’re talking about a completed event earlier today. You’re evaluating the whole warm‑up as a finished thing:

  • foi curto = it was (and that event is now over) short

Alternatives:

  • estava curto would sound odd here; estar with curto is not the usual way to judge the duration of a whole event.
  • era curto suggests a repeated or habitual situation in the past (it used to be short), not just today.
Why curto and not something like pequeno or rápido?

These adjectives are close in meaning but not the same:

  • curto

    • primary idea: short in length or duration
    • o aquecimento foi curto = the warm‑up was short (didn’t last long / was shorter than usual)

  • pequeno

    • primary idea: small in size, amount, or extent
    • o aquecimento foi pequeno would sound strange; we don’t normally describe a warm‑up as “small” in Portuguese

  • rápido

    • primary idea: fast, quick (speed)
    • o aquecimento foi rápido = the warm‑up was done quickly, maybe at a high pace, not necessarily that it didn’t last long

So:

  • If you mean short in duration, curto is the natural choice.
  • If you wanted to say the warm‑up was done too fast, you could say foi rápido demais.
Why is it curto and not curta? How does agreement work here?

In Portuguese, adjectives agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the noun they describe.

  • aquecimento is a masculine singular noun
    • o aquecimento
    • so the adjective must also be masculine singular → curto

Patterns with curto:

  • o aquecimento curto (masculine singular)
  • os aquecimentos curtos (masculine plural)
  • a aula curta (feminine singular)
  • as aulas curtas (feminine plural)

So curta would be used with a feminine noun, e.g.:

  • A aula antes do treino foi curta.
    (The class before training was short.)
Where can I put hoje in the sentence? Do I need a comma?

hoje (today) is fairly flexible in position. All of these are possible in European Portuguese:

  1. Hoje o aquecimento antes do treino foi curto.
  2. O aquecimento antes do treino hoje foi curto.
  3. O aquecimento antes do treino foi curto hoje.

Nuances:

  • 1 (at the beginning) is the most neutral and common.
  • 2 puts hoje closer to treino, sometimes giving a bit more emphasis to today’s training context.
  • 3 can sound a bit more like an afterthought: “was short today (unlike other days)”.

About the comma:

  • Hoje o aquecimento… (no comma) is completely normal.
  • Hoje, o aquecimento… (with comma) is also correct; it can sound a touch more emphatic or formal.

So you don’t need a comma after Hoje; it’s optional and stylistic here.

What exactly does treino mean in European Portuguese? Is it the same as in Brazil?

In European Portuguese:

  • treino is the standard word for training, practice, or a training session, especially in sports or the gym.

Examples:

  • Tenho treino de futebol às 7. – I have football practice at 7.
  • Faltei ao treino ontem. – I missed training yesterday.

In Brazilian Portuguese:

  • treino is also used and understood in the same sports context.
  • treinamento is another common word, especially in more formal or technical contexts (e.g. corporate training, fitness programs).

For this sentence, treino is perfectly natural in both European and Brazilian Portuguese, but in the user’s requested variety (Portugal), treino is definitely the normal choice.

What exactly does aquecimento mean? Is it only for sports?

aquecimento comes from the verb aquecer (to warm, to heat). It can mean:

  1. Sports / physical activity – warm‑up

    • o aquecimento antes do treino – the warm‑up before training
    • fazer um bom aquecimento – to do a good warm‑up

  2. Heating (temperature)

    • o aquecimento central – central heating
    • o aquecimento da casa – heating of the house / warming up the house

  3. More figurative or technical uses (e.g. aquecimento global – global warming).

In your sentence, the context clearly makes it the physical warm‑up before a training session.

How do you pronounce Hoje o aquecimento antes do treino foi curto in European Portuguese?

Approximate European Portuguese pronunciation:

  • Hoje o aquecimento antes do treino foi curto
    /ˈoʒ(ɨ) u ɐkɐjsiˈmẽtu ˈɐ̃tʃɨʒ du ˈtɾɐjnu fwoj ˈkuɾtu/

A rough syllable‑by‑syllable guide (not perfect, but helpful):

  • Hoje → OH-zh(uh) (the final vowel is very reduced, almost like English “uh”)
  • o → u (like a short “oo” in “book”)
  • aquecimento → ah-keh-see-MEN-too (stress on -MEN-)
  • antes → AN-tsh(iz) (the t
    • e sound is often like “tch”)
  • do → du (short “doo”)
  • treino → TRAY-nu (the final o sounds like u)
  • foi → foy (like English “foy” in “foyer” without the -er)
  • curto → KOOR-tu (European r can be a tap or a more guttural sound depending on the speaker)

Spoken naturally, many vowels, especially unstressed o and e, are quite reduced in European Portuguese, so the whole sentence will sound more compact and “swallowed” than the spelling suggests.