O voluntariado não dá dinheiro, mas dá uma recompensa emocional muito forte.

Volunteering doesn’t give money, but it gives a very strong emotional reward.

Breakdown of O voluntariado não dá dinheiro, mas dá uma recompensa emocional muito forte.

• mas: but
• muito: very
• não: not
• uma: a
• o dinheiro: the money
• dar: to give
• forte: strong
• emocional: emotional
• a recompensa: the reward
• o voluntariado: the volunteering

Questions & Answers about O voluntariado não dá dinheiro, mas dá uma recompensa emocional muito forte.

What exactly does voluntariado mean here, and how is it different from voluntário?

Voluntariado is a noun and means volunteer work / volunteering as an activity or concept.

• o voluntariado = volunteering (in general), volunteer work
• um voluntário / uma voluntária = a volunteer (a person)
• trabalho voluntário = volunteer work (more literal expression)

In this sentence, O voluntariado means volunteer work in general. You wouldn’t use o voluntário here, because that refers to a specific person, not the activity.

Why is there a definite article O before voluntariado? Can I just say Voluntariado não dá dinheiro…?

In European Portuguese, abstract or general concepts often take the definite article, especially when they are the subject of the sentence.

• O voluntariado não dá dinheiro.
  = Volunteering doesn’t pay (in general).

Saying Voluntariado não dá dinheiro (without the article) is not wrong, but it sounds more telegraphic or headline-like, not like normal flowing speech.

So in everyday European Portuguese, O voluntariado is more natural as the subject here.

Why is the verb dá used with dinheiro? Does dar dinheiro literally mean “give money”?

Dar literally means to give, but dar dinheiro has several common meanings depending on context:

1. to physically give money

   • Ele deu dinheiro ao irmão. = He gave money to his brother.

2. to pay / to be a paid activity

   • O voluntariado não dá dinheiro.
     = Volunteering doesn’t give money / doesn’t pay (you don’t earn money from it).

3. to bring in / generate money (profit)

   • Este negócio dá muito dinheiro.
     = This business makes a lot of money.

In your sentence, não dá dinheiro means it doesn’t pay / it does not bring you money.

Why is it dá and not dar here?

Dar is the infinitive (to give).
Dá is the 3rd person singular, present tense (he/she/it gives).

The subject is O voluntariado (3rd person singular), so the verb must agree:

• (Ele / Ela / Isso) dá
• O voluntariado dá… = Volunteering gives…

So dar → dá because we’re saying it gives / it doesn’t give right now, as a general truth.

Is there a difference between não dá dinheiro and não paga dinheiro?

Yes, there is a nuance:

• não dá dinheiro

  • Most natural in this sentence.
  • Can mean doesn’t bring money / doesn’t generate income / doesn’t pay.
  • Very common structure: Este trabalho não dá dinheiro.

• não paga dinheiro

  • Grammatically possible, but sounds odd here.
  • pagar focuses more on the act of paying someone.
  • You’d more likely say não é pago (is not paid) or não é remunerado (is not remunerated).

So, in European Portuguese, for work that doesn’t bring you money, não dá dinheiro is the natural expression.

Why is não placed before dá? Could it go somewhere else?

In Portuguese, não goes directly before the conjugated verb to make the sentence negative:

• O voluntariado dá dinheiro. = Volunteering gives money.
• O voluntariado não dá dinheiro. = Volunteering does not give money.

You can’t move não to another place; options like O não voluntariado dá dinheiro or O voluntariado dá não dinheiro are wrong.

If there are auxiliary verbs, não comes before the first (conjugated) verb:

• Ele não quer ajudar. = He doesn’t want to help.
• Ele não está a trabalhar. = He is not working.

Why is there a comma before mas?

In Portuguese, you normally put a comma before mas when it introduces a contrast, similar to English:

• Não dá dinheiro, mas dá uma recompensa emocional…
• Quero ir, mas não posso.

The comma marks the contrast between the two clauses:

1. Negative statement: não dá dinheiro
2. Positive contrast: mas dá uma recompensa emocional muito forte

So the comma before mas is standard and correct here.

What does recompensa emocional mean, and is this a fixed expression?

Recompensa emocional literally means emotional reward.

• recompensa = reward
• emocional = emotional

It’s not a rigid idiom, but it’s a very natural collocation in Portuguese, especially in contexts like psychology, volunteering, helping others, etc. It expresses the idea that, although there is no money, you receive something that feels rewarding on an emotional level (satisfaction, fulfillment, etc.).

Why is emocional placed after recompensa? In English we say “emotional reward” (adjective before noun).

In Portuguese, adjectives usually come after the noun:

• recompensa emocional = emotional reward
• casa bonita = beautiful house
• trabalho voluntário = voluntary work

You can sometimes put adjectives before the noun, but it usually adds a stylistic or emotional nuance, or sounds literary. Here, the neutral and natural order is:

• uma recompensa emocional (noun + adjective)

Does emocional agree in gender and number with recompensa? Why doesn’t it change?

Yes, adjectives normally agree in gender and number with the noun, but:

• recompensa is feminine singular.
• emocional is an adjective that has the same form for masculine and feminine in the singular.

So:

• uma recompensa emocional (feminine singular)
• recompensas emocionais (feminine plural)
• um apoio emocional (masculine singular)
• apoios emocionais (masculine plural)

You see agreement in the plural (emocional → emocionais), but not in gender.

Why is muito forte used instead of just forte or muito alone?

• forte = strong
• muito (before an adjective) = very

muito forte = very strong / really strong, an intensifier.

Differences:

• uma recompensa emocional forte
  = a strong emotional reward (already positive)

• uma recompensa emocional muito forte
  = a very strong emotional reward (stronger emphasis, more intense)

You cannot use muito alone here; you need the adjective:

• ✗ uma recompensa emocional muito (incorrect)
• ✓ uma recompensa emocional muito forte (correct)

How do you pronounce dá and how is it different from da without an accent?

In European Portuguese:

• dá

  • Verb dar, 3rd person singular present (he/she/it gives).
  • Stressed syllable: dá (open a, clearly pronounced).

• da (no accent)

  • Contraction of de + a (of/from + the, feminine).
  • Usually unstressed or lightly stressed inside the sentence.

Example:

• O voluntariado não dá dinheiro.

  • dá is the main verb, stressed.

• Ele precisa da ajuda. = He needs the help.

  • da just links de
    • a; it’s not a verb.

The accent in dá both marks the stress and distinguishes it from da.