Breakdown of Eu ligo para a rececionista quando quero marcar uma sessão de psicologia.
Questions & Answers about Eu ligo para a rececionista quando quero marcar uma sessão de psicologia.
In European Portuguese, when ligar means to call (on the phone), the usual structure is:
- ligar para alguém – to call someone (by phone)
So:
- Eu ligo para a rececionista = I call the receptionist (on the phone).
Ligar a alguém can appear in some varieties, but ligar para is the safest and most common option in standard European Portuguese for phone calls.
Without a preposition (ligo a rececionista) it would be incorrect here.
You can absolutely drop Eu:
- Ligo para a rececionista quando quero marcar uma sessão de psicologia.
Portuguese normally omits subject pronouns because the verb ending (ligo) already shows the person (eu).
Using Eu here adds a slight emphasis on I (as opposed to someone else), but it’s not required grammatically.
Portuguese normally uses the definite article (o / a / os / as) before job titles and roles when you are talking about a specific person:
- a rececionista – the receptionist (the one for this office/clinic)
So:
- para a rececionista = to the receptionist (a specific one)
Para rececionista without the article sounds wrong in this context.
If you said uma rececionista, it would mean a receptionist (an unspecified one).
The noun rececionista itself has one form for both genders. The gender is shown by the article or other words around it:
- a rececionista – the (female) receptionist
- o rececionista – the (male) receptionist
So, in this sentence, a rececionista refers to a woman.
That’s a European vs Brazilian spelling difference:
- rececionista – standard European Portuguese spelling
- recepcionista – standard Brazilian Portuguese spelling
In Portugal, the p was dropped in words like receção / rececionista after the orthographic reform, because the p is not pronounced there. In Brazil, it is still written with p.
In this sentence, the presente do indicativo is being used for a habitual action:
- Eu ligo para a rececionista quando quero…
= I call the receptionist when(ever) I want to…
It does not mean “I am calling right now”; for a current ongoing action you’d usually add something like Agora estou a ligar (“I am calling now”).
So here it’s more like I (normally) call / I usually call / I always call.
After conjunctions like quando, se, porque, etc., the subject pronoun is often dropped if it’s clear from the verb:
- quando quero marcar (I – eu)
- quando queres marcar (you – tu)
- quando queremos marcar (we – nós)
Adding eu is correct but a bit more emphatic:
- …quando eu quero marcar… – when I want to book
Both are grammatically correct; the version without eu is more neutral.
In Portuguese, after verbs of desire, intention, or need (like querer, precisar (de), tentar, gostar de, etc.) you normally use the infinitive:
- quero marcar – I want to book
- preciso de marcar – I need to book
- tento marcar – I try to book
So quero marcar is the natural pattern: [conjugated verb] + [infinitive].
Using quero marco would be incorrect.
Marcar is the normal verb for scheduling / booking appointments in Portuguese:
- marcar uma consulta – to book a doctor’s appointment
- marcar uma reunião – to schedule a meeting
- marcar uma sessão – to book a session
You could also hear agendar (to schedule), but marcar is very common and completely natural in European Portuguese in this context.
Here, sessão means a session, typically a therapy session.
Sessão de psicologia suggests:
- a session of psychological/therapy work
- usually with a psychologist or therapist
- often part of ongoing treatment
In practice, many people also say marcar uma consulta de psicologia (a psychology appointment/consultation).
Sessão focuses a bit more on the time spent doing the activity, not just the formal appointment slot.
Both are possible, but they emphasize different things:
- sessão de psicologia – focuses on the type of session (psychology/therapy)
- sessão com o psicólogo – focuses on who it’s with (the psychologist)
The sentence chooses to highlight the field/activity (psychology), not the person.
In everyday speech, you might also hear:
- marcar uma sessão com a psicóloga
- marcar uma consulta com o psicólogo
The preposition de here is used to show the type or area of the session:
- sessão de psicologia – a psychology session
- sessão de fisioterapia – a physiotherapy session
- sessão de terapia de casal – a couples therapy session
So de here is more like “of / in the area of”, not “from”.
In the present tense, quando + present usually expresses a general or repeated situation, so the natural reading is:
- quando quero marcar… = whenever I want to book… / when I want to (in general)
If you wanted to refer to a single, specific future situation, you’d typically make that clear with adverbs or a future tense, e.g.:
- Quando quiser marcar, ligo… – When I (eventually) want to book, I (will) call…
- Quando quiseres marcar, liga… – When you want to book, call… (speaking to “tu”)
Main points:
- Spelling:
- PT-PT: rececionista
- PT-BR: recepcionista
- Vocabulary: Both ligar para a recepcionista and marcar uma sessão de psicologia exist in Brazil, but in many contexts Brazilians might more often say marcar uma consulta com o psicólogo.
- Pronunciation and rhythm are different, but the structure [ligar para alguém] quando [querer + infinitive] is fine in both varieties.
Grammatically, the sentence is standard European Portuguese, but easily understandable in Brazil.