Breakdown of Às vezes, a solidão ajuda a pensar com calma.
Questions & Answers about Às vezes, a solidão ajuda a pensar com calma.
Às is a contraction of the preposition a (to/at) + the feminine plural definite article as (the).
- a
- as → às
- The grave accent (` ) marks this contraction.
In this expression, às vezes literally means "at the times", but it’s used idiomatically as "sometimes".
If you wrote As vezes without the accent, it would mean "the times" (just a normal noun phrase), not the adverbial expression "sometimes".
Yes, Às vezes is the most common, neutral way to say “sometimes” in European Portuguese.
You may also encounter:
- Por vezes – a bit more formal or literary, also “sometimes / at times”.
- Algumas vezes – “a few times / some times”, more concrete and often countable (e.g., Fiz isso algumas vezes – I did that a few times).
For general everyday use, Às vezes is the default.
Às vezes here is an adverbial phrase placed at the beginning of the sentence.
In European Portuguese, it is common (and stylistically preferred) to separate sentence‑initial adverbials with a comma, especially when they set the scene in terms of time, condition, or manner:
- Às vezes, a solidão ajuda a pensar com calma.
- Normalmente, faço isto à noite.
The comma isn’t absolutely mandatory in very short sentences, but it’s standard and considered good style here.
Yes, the subject is a solidão (loneliness).
Structure:
- Às vezes – adverbial phrase (sometimes)
- a solidão – subject (loneliness)
- ajuda – verb (helps)
- a pensar com calma – infinitive phrase functioning like the object/complement (to think calmly)
So the sentence is literally:
Sometimes, loneliness helps (someone / us / you) to think calmly.
The person who is helped (us, you, people in general) is implicit, not expressed in the sentence.
You generally need the article here: Às vezes, a solidão ajuda…
In Portuguese, abstract nouns like a solidão (loneliness), a felicidade (happiness), o medo (fear) often take a definite article when they are being talked about in a general sense:
- A solidão ajuda a pensar. – Loneliness helps you think.
- O medo impede o progresso. – Fear hinders progress.
Dropping the article (Às vezes, solidão ajuda…) sounds unnatural and ungrammatical in this context.
Solidão is usually treated as an uncountable abstract noun, so you normally see it with the definite article: a solidão.
However, uma solidão can appear in more poetic, literary, or figurative contexts, where you talk about a kind of loneliness or one particular loneliness:
- Senti uma solidão profunda. – I felt a deep (kind of) loneliness.
But in the sentence you gave, the general, abstract sense is intended, so a solidão is the natural choice.
In European Portuguese, many verbs that are followed by another verb in the infinitive require a preposition, commonly a, de, or para.
Ajudar normally uses a before an infinitive:
- ajudar a fazer – to help to do
- ajudar a compreender – to help (someone) understand
- ajuda a pensar – helps to think
Saying ajuda pensar without a is grammatically wrong in standard European Portuguese.
This is largely a matter of fixed verb–preposition combinations (subcategorization).
For ajudar, the standard pattern is:
- ajudar a + infinitive
Using em or para would either sound wrong or change the structure unnaturally. So:
- ✅ ajuda a pensar – correct
- ❌ ajuda em pensar – incorrect here
- ❌ ajuda para pensar – sounds odd in this context
You just need to learn ajudar a + infinitive as a fixed pattern.
The infinitive pensar here is impersonal: it doesn’t explicitly show the subject. The meaning is general:
- (A solidão) ajuda [a gente / as pessoas / você] a pensar com calma.
→ Loneliness helps people / us / you in general to think calmly.
In Portuguese, when making general statements about people, it’s very common to leave that subject implicit. Context tells you it’s about people in general, not about loneliness itself thinking.
Yes, you can make the “who” explicit with clitic pronouns:
Às vezes, a solidão ajuda-nos a pensar com calma.
– Sometimes, loneliness helps us to think calmly.Às vezes, a solidão ajuda-te a pensar com calma.
– Sometimes, loneliness helps you (singular, informal) to think calmly.
The basic idea is the same; you’re just specifying who benefits from that help. The version without a pronoun is more general and impersonal.
Both com calma and calmamente can translate as “calmly”, but they feel slightly different:
- com calma – very common, colloquial and neutral; literally “with calm”.
- calmamente – more formal, sometimes slightly heavier or bookish.
In everyday speech and writing, com calma is much more frequent:
- Fala com calma. – Speak calmly.
- Pensa com calma. – Think calmly.
In your sentence, com calma sounds completely natural and idiomatic.
Solidão is pronounced approximately: [soo-lee-DÃW] (European Portuguese).
Key points:
- Stress is on the last syllable: so-li-DÃO.
- ão is a nasal diphthong, roughly like an English “ow” but nasalized, with air also going through the nose.
- The d in so-li-dão is a normal d sound (unlike some Brazilian variants where it can soften).
The -ão ending is very common in Portuguese and often marks nouns, sometimes with an abstract or augmentative nuance (e.g., solidão, pressão, coração).
Yes, that is grammatically correct and can sound natural, though the emphasis shifts slightly:
Às vezes, a solidão ajuda a pensar com calma.
– Neutral; slight emphasis on sometimes.A solidão, às vezes, ajuda a pensar com calma.
– Brings a solidão to the front as the topic, something like:
Loneliness – sometimes it helps you think calmly.
Both are fine in European Portuguese; the original is probably the most neutral and common.