Breakdown of A Ana quer fazer um investimento em cursos, não apenas em coisas materiais.
Questions & Answers about A Ana quer fazer um investimento em cursos, não apenas em coisas materiais.
In European Portuguese it is very common (especially in speech) to use the definite article before a person’s name:
- a Ana = Ana (female)
- o João = João (male)
It often sounds more natural and friendly in Portugal. However:
- It is not strictly mandatory in all contexts (you will see names without articles in more formal or written contexts, e.g. in headlines, official documents).
- Brazilian Portuguese generally does not use the article with names, so Ana (without a) is more typical in Brazil.
So A Ana here is perfectly normal and idiomatic in European Portuguese.
Querer is the infinitive form: to want.
Quer is the conjugated form for ele / ela / você in the present tense:
- eu quero – I want
- tu queres – you (singular informal) want
- ele / ela / você quer – he / she / you (formal) wants
- nós queremos – we want
- vocês querem – you (plural) want
- eles / elas querem – they want
So in A Ana quer, quer agrees with Ana (3rd person singular: ela quer).
In Portuguese, when querer is followed by another verb, that second verb stays in the infinitive without a preposition:
- quer fazer – wants to do / make
- quer estudar – wants to study
- quer viajar – wants to travel
So quer fazer is the correct structure.
Using quer a fazer is wrong in this context.
Literally, quer means wants. But in European Portuguese, especially in everyday speech, quer can often sound softer, closer to would like in English, depending on tone and context.
- A Ana quer fazer um investimento…
→ can be understood as Ana wants to / would like to make an investment…
To express a very polite, more distant wish, you might also see gostaria de fazer (would like to do), but quer fazer is very common and not necessarily “rude” or too strong.
Investimento is a masculine noun, so it can take um (a / an) or o (the).
- fazer um investimento = to make an investment (one or some kind of investment)
- fazer investimento (without article) is possible, but it sounds more abstract or generic, more like to invest as an activity in general.
In this sentence, um investimento suggests a more concrete act of investing (a specific decision / plan), so the article um is natural.
Here em indicates the area / target of the investment:
- investir em cursos – to invest in courses
- investir em ações – to invest in stocks
- investir em formação – to invest in training
You normally use em for what you are putting your money, time, or effort into.
Other prepositions (like para, com) would sound wrong or would change the meaning.
Cursos in the plural suggests:
- several actual courses (e.g. a language course, a programming course, etc.), or
- the idea of courses in general as a type of thing she invests in.
Em curso (singular) is grammatically possible, but would usually refer to one specific course, and it sounds less natural in this general contrast with coisas materiais.
So em cursos better matches the idea of investing in education / training more broadly.
The comma separates two contrasted parts:
- A Ana quer fazer um investimento em cursos,
- não apenas em coisas materiais.
In Portuguese, we often use a comma to mark this kind of contrast or correction, similar to English:
- She wants to invest in courses, not just in material things.
So the comma is natural here to highlight the contrast em cursos vs em coisas materiais.
Yes. Não apenas = not only / not just.
In full, a very explicit structure is:
- não apenas … mas também … = not only … but also …
In this sentence, the second part (mas também) is implied rather than said explicitly. The idea is:
- She wants to invest in courses, not just in material things (she prefers or prioritizes courses).
So não apenas em coisas materiais = not just in material things.
Yes, that’s also possible:
- não só em coisas materiais
- não apenas em coisas materiais
Both mean not only / not just in material things.
Differences:
- só is more colloquial and very common in speech.
- apenas is slightly more neutral or formal.
In many everyday contexts in Portugal, só and apenas are interchangeable in this kind of structure.
Coisas materiais literally means material things – physical, tangible objects (gadgets, clothes, furniture, etc.).
A more specific, slightly more formal word is bens materiais (material goods / assets).
In everyday conversation, though, coisas materiais is very natural and common, and it matches the informal tone of talking about where Ana wants to put her money or effort.
Here em still indicates the area / target of investment:
- investir em coisas materiais – to invest in material things
- investir em experiências – to invest in experiences
Com would usually mean with (using something as a tool or accompaniment), not the target of the investment:
- investir com alguém – invest with someone (as a partner)
So em coisas materiais is the correct choice for “to invest in material things.”
You can rearrange it a bit while keeping the same meaning. For example:
- A Ana quer investir em cursos, não apenas em coisas materiais.
- A Ana quer não apenas investir em coisas materiais, mas também em cursos.
These versions slightly change the emphasis (what comes earlier feels more highlighted), but they are all grammatically correct. The original version puts the positive focus on em cursos first, then contrasts it with não apenas em coisas materiais.