Breakdown of Este exercício é estranho, mas ajuda a melhorar a memória.
Questions & Answers about Este exercício é estranho, mas ajuda a melhorar a memória.
Portuguese has several words for “this/that”, and they’re not interchangeable:
- este = this (near the speaker)
- esse = that (near the listener or just mentioned)
- aquele = that (over there) (far from both)
- isto / isso / aquilo = this/that (thing) when you don’t say the noun (they’re pronouns, not adjectives)
In the sentence, we say este exercício because:
- We are talking about a specific exercise, and
- We put the demonstrative before a noun, so we use este, not isto.
You could say:
- Este exercício é estranho... – This exercise is strange…
- Isto é estranho... – This is strange… (not naming the exercise)
Esse exercício would also be grammatically correct, but it usually refers to something closer to the listener or already being discussed. In many everyday contexts, este and esse overlap in usage, but in European Portuguese este often feels more like “this one right here (with me / that I’m showing you).”
Portuguese has two verbs for “to be”:
- ser (é) – more permanent, defining, characteristic
- estar (está) – more temporary, changeable, situational
In “Este exercício é estranho”, the speaker is describing the kind of exercise it is – it’s inherently a weird/odd exercise by nature or design. That’s why ser (é) is used.
If you said:
- Este exercício está estranho.
it would sound more like:
- This exercise (right now/in this state) is weird/“off”.
(Maybe something about it changed, or it seems wrong this time.)
So:
- é estranho = characterizes what the exercise is like in general
- está estranho = how it seems at the moment
In Portuguese, adjectives agree with the gender and number of the noun they describe.
- exercício is a masculine singular noun (you can tell from o exercício, and many -o nouns are masculine).
- So the demonstrative and the adjective must also be masculine singular:
- este (masculine singular) – not esta
- estranho (masculine singular) – not estranha
If the noun were feminine, everything would change:
- Esta aula é estranha. – This class is strange.
(aula = feminine; esta / estranha must agree)
So here:
- este ↔ exercício ↔ estranho
all line up in masculine singular.
Mas means “but” and introduces a contrast between two clauses:
- Este exercício é estranho,
mas
ajuda a melhorar a memória.
In Portuguese, when mas joins two full clauses (each with a verb), it’s standard to put a comma before mas, just like in English:
- This exercise is strange, *but it helps improve memory.*
If each side were shorter, you might sometimes see it without a comma in very informal writing, but the comma in this sentence is correct and normal.
The subject is still este exercício from the first clause.
Portuguese often drops subject pronouns when the subject is clear from context. This is called a “pro-drop” language. So instead of:
- Este exercício é estranho, mas ele ajuda a melhorar a memória.
you usually just say:
- Este exercício é estranho, mas ajuda a melhorar a memória.
Because there’s no new subject mentioned, the listener automatically understands that ajuda still refers to este exercício.
Including ele is not wrong; it just adds a bit of extra emphasis on “it” (the exercise).
Yes, you can say:
- Este exercício é estranho, mas ele ajuda a melhorar a memória.
It’s grammatically correct and natural.
The difference is subtle:
- Without ele:
“mas ajuda a melhorar a memória” – neutral, smooth continuation. - With ele:
“mas ele ajuda…” – lightly emphasizes “it does help”, often highlighting the contrast:- It’s strange, but it DOES help improve memory.
It sounds a bit more like you’re defending the exercise or insisting on its usefulness.
The pattern here is:
- ajudar + a + infinitive = to help to (do something)
So:
- ajuda a melhorar = helps to improve / helps improve
In European Portuguese, saying ajuda melhorar (without a) is usually felt to be incorrect or at least unnatural. The little a is normally required before the infinitive:
- ✅ Isto ajuda a aprender. – This helps (to) learn.
- ✅ O exercício ajuda a concentrar. – The exercise helps (to) focus.
In some Brazilian usage, you may hear ajudar + infinitive without a more often, but in Portugal Portuguese, you should keep the a:
- ajuda a melhorar, ajuda a estudar, ajuda a dormir, etc.
Melhorar is the infinitive form of the verb = to improve.
The structure is:
- ajudar a + [infinitive]
So:
- ajuda a melhorar = helps to improve
Grammatically:
- ajuda is the main verb (3rd person singular: it helps)
- a melhorar is an infinitive phrase acting like its complement (what it helps with).
You can plug in other infinitives:
- ajuda a estudar – helps (you) to study
- ajuda a dormir – helps (you) to sleep
- ajuda a pensar – helps (you) to think
Portuguese uses definite articles (o, a, os, as) much more often than English, especially with general or abstract nouns.
English:
- helps improve memory (no “the”)
Portuguese:
- ajuda a melhorar a memória
Here, a memória doesn’t mean “that specific memory” but rather memory in general / one’s memory capacity. Using the article for this kind of general idea is normal in Portuguese.
If you dropped the article:
- ajuda a melhorar memória
it would sound odd or incomplete in European Portuguese, almost like you’re using “memória” in some technical or telegraphic style.
In this sentence, “ajudar” is being used in the structure:
- ajudar a + infinitive (help to do something)
- and “a memória” is the direct object of “melhorar” (improve what? → memory).
So the internal structure is:
- ajuda (verb)
- a melhorar (infinitive phrase – to improve)
- a memória (object of melhorar – improve memory)
If you said:
- ajuda à memória
that would mean something like helps *to the memory, treating *memória as an indirect object of ajudar, and you’d probably drop melhorar:
- Este exercício é estranho, mas ajuda à memória.
This can be understood as “is beneficial to memory”, but:
- It sounds more formal / old-fashioned / idiomatic, and
- It’s not the same structure as the original sentence (which says explicitly helps to *improve memory*).
So for the given sentence, “ajuda a melhorar a memória” is the natural, straightforward form.
Approximate pronunciation in European Portuguese (IPA-like, but simplified):
- Este – ['esh-tɨ] (the e is like “eh”, final e is a very short, almost mute uh)
- exercício – [izɛɾ-'see-syu]
- x sounds like z
- stress on -cí-: exerCÍcio
- é – [ɛ] (like “eh”)
- estranho – [esh-'trɐ-nyu]
- initial es- = esh-
- final -nho like “nyu”
- mas – [mɐsh] (final s like English “sh” in most of Portugal)
- ajuda – [ɐ-'zhu-dɐ]
- j = “zh” sound (like measure)
- a – [ɐ] (very short, like a reduced “uh”)
- melhorar – [mɨ-ʎu-'ɾaɾ]
- lh = “ly” (like Italian gli, Spanish ll in many accents)
- stress on final -rar
- a memória – [ɐ mɨ-'mɔ-ɾi-ɐ]
- é in memória is pronounced [ɛ] but due to vowel reduction in unstressed syllables, the first me- sounds more like a reduced mɨ- in normal speech
- stress on -mó-
Spoken smoothly, syllables reduce and link together, so it flows roughly as:
“ESH-tɨ izɛɾ-SÍ-syu ɛsh-TRɐ-nyu, mɐsh ɐ-ZHU-dɐ ɐ mɨ-ʎu-RÁR ɐ mɨ-MÓ-ɾi-ɐ.”
You can say:
- Este exercício é estranho, mas a memória melhora.
This is grammatical, but the meaning is slightly different:
- ajuda a melhorar a memória = helps to improve memory
→ the exercise is a cause that contributes to memory improvement. - a memória melhora = the memory gets better
→ simply states a result; it doesn’t explicitly say the exercise is what helps.
So the original:
- Este exercício é estranho, mas ajuda a melhorar a memória.
makes the causal role of the exercise clearer: it helps to improve memory.