Breakdown of Na assembleia, a oposição criticou o governo por causa da crise económica.
Questions & Answers about Na assembleia, a oposição criticou o governo por causa da crise económica.
In Portuguese, certain prepositions contract with the definite articles.
- em + a → na
- em + o → no
So em a assembleia is grammatically reduced to na assembleia and the separate form is normally not used in everyday language.
Other common contractions:
- de + a → da
- de + o → do
- a + a → à
- a + o → ao
So na assembleia literally comes from em a assembleia and means in the assembly / at the assembly.
In European Portuguese, assembleia can mean:
- Any formal meeting or assembly (e.g. assembleia geral of a company).
- A legislative body. In Portugal, Assembleia da República is the official name of the national parliament.
In this sentence, given the political context (a oposição, o governo, crise económica), na assembleia is very likely referring to a parliamentary setting (a session or debate in parliament).
Nouns in Portuguese have grammatical gender. oposição is a feminine noun, so it takes the feminine article a:
- a oposição – the opposition
A useful pattern: many nouns ending in -ção are feminine:
- a nação (nation)
- a população (population)
- a situação (situation)
So you generally learn the gender with the noun, but -ção → feminine is a strong rule of thumb.
criticou is the pretérito perfeito (simple past) of criticar, third person singular.
- (ela / a oposição) criticou = criticised (a completed action in the past)
It’s used for a finished event: on that occasion in the assembly, the opposition criticised the government.
Other options would change the meaning:
- criticava (pretérito imperfeito): was criticizing / used to criticize – more ongoing or habitual in the past.
- tem criticado (presente perfeito composto): has been criticising – repeated/ongoing up to now.
The sentence describes one completed act in a specific setting, so criticou is the natural choice.
criticar is a regular -ar verb. In the pretérito perfeito:
- eu critiquei
- tu criticaste
- ele / ela / você criticou
- nós criticámos
- vós criticastes (rare in modern usage)
- eles / elas / vocês criticaram
So criticou is ele/ela (or any singular subject like a oposição) in the simple past.
In Portuguese, criticar takes a direct object, not a prepositional one:
- criticar alguém / alguma coisa
- criticar o governo – to criticise the government
- criticar a medida – to criticise the measure
Using a (→ ao) would suggest a different verb pattern, like:
- telefonar a alguém → telefonou ao governo
- responder a alguém → respondeu ao governo
With criticar, you go straight to the object: criticou o governo, never criticou ao governo.
Na assembleia is an introductory adverbial phrase (it sets the scene: where this happened). In Portuguese, when such a phrase comes at the beginning, it’s very common (and stylistically preferred) to separate it with a comma:
- Na assembleia, a oposição criticou o governo…
The comma is not absolutely obligatory in every case, but it is standard and helps readability. If the phrase were at the end, you wouldn’t use a comma there:
- A oposição criticou o governo na assembleia.
por causa de is a fixed expression meaning because of / due to. It clearly introduces the reason:
- por causa da crise económica – because of the economic crisis
Alternatives:
por:
- criticou o governo pela crise económica (using por + a → pela) is also correct and common: criticised the government for the economic crisis.
- por causa de tends to be a bit more explicit and unambiguous than por alone.
devido a:
- criticou o governo devido à crise económica – also due to the economic crisis, slightly more formal.
So por causa de is a very safe, neutral way to express cause.
Two points:
Contraction:
- de + a → da
So por causa de a crise becomes por causa da crise.
- de + a → da
Use of the article:
Portuguese normally uses the definite article with specific or known things, much more than English:
- a crise económica – the (particular) economic crisis in question
- por causa da crise económica – because of the economic crisis
por causa de crise económica (without the article) would sound incomplete or too generic/abstract in this context. With political/economic events, you almost always use the article.
In Portuguese, adjectives usually come after the noun:
- crise económica – economic crisis
- governo português – Portuguese government
- oposição parlamentar – parliamentary opposition
Putting the adjective before the noun (económica crise) is not standard in this case and would sound wrong.
There are cases where adjectives can go before the noun, often with a change in emphasis or meaning (e.g. um grande homem vs um homem grande), but crise económica is a fixed, normal order.
In European Portuguese:
- económica has an ó: económica, económico
- The accent indicates the stressed syllable and the open vowel sound.
In Brazilian Portuguese spelling:
- It is econômica, econômico (with ô).
So:
- Portugal: crise económica
- Brazil: crise econômica
Pronunciation also differs slightly, but for a learner it’s enough to know that económica is the European spelling you’re seeing here.
Not in normal, correct Portuguese. That version sounds very “telegraphic” or like a headline style, not full sentences.
In standard usage you need the articles:
- A oposição criticou o governo por causa da crise económica.
Portuguese uses definite articles more consistently than English, especially with:
- institutions: o governo, a assembleia
- abstract nouns and events: a crise económica
- groups like political opposition: a oposição
Approximate pronunciations (for an English speaker):
assembleia → roughly ah-ssem-BLAY-uh
- stress on BLEI: as-sem-BLEI-a
oposição → roughly oo-poo-zee-SOWN
- final -ção is a nasal sound, like “sown” but nasalised.
económica → roughly eh-coh-NO-mee-kah
- stress on NÓ: e-co-NÓ-mi-ca
These are only approximations; native pronunciation in European Portuguese will be a bit more closed and quicker, but this gives you a workable guide.