Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Na aula de biologia, ela passa vídeos curtos e vai explicando os detalhes com calma. - In biology class, she plays short videos and keeps explaining the details calmly.

Na aula de biologia, ela passa vídeos curtos e vai explicando os detalhes com calma.

In biology class, she plays short videos and keeps explaining the details calmly.

Breakdown of Na aula de biologia, ela passa vídeos curtos e vai explicando os detalhes com calma.

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Questions & Answers about Na aula de biologia, ela passa vídeos curtos e vai explicando os detalhes com calma.

Why is it na aula and not em a aula? What does na mean?

In Portuguese, the preposition em (in, on, at) contracts with the definite article a (the, feminine singular) to form na.

em + a = na
em + o = no
em + as = nas
em + os = nos

So:

em a aula de biologia → na aula de biologia
literally: in the biology class

Saying em a aula is grammatically wrong in modern Portuguese; you must use the contracted form na.

Why is it aula de biologia and not something like aula de Biologia with a capital letter?

In European Portuguese:

School subjects are normally written with a lowercase letter: biologia, matemática, história.
Proper names (e.g. course titles on a diploma, or the name of a department) can be capitalized: Licenciatura em Biologia, Departamento de Biologia.

Here, aula de biologia just means a biology class (the subject), so lowercase biologia is standard. Writing Biologia with a capital would only be justified if you are talking about a formal course title or treating it almost as a proper name.

The verb passar usually means “to pass”. How can ela passa vídeos curtos mean “she plays/shows short videos”?

Passar has many meanings in Portuguese, and one common, everyday use is:

passar um filme / um vídeo / uma música
= to play/show a film / a video / a song (for an audience)

In a classroom or cinema context:

O cinema está a passar um filme novo.
The cinema is showing a new film.
O professor passa slides e vídeos.
The teacher shows slides and videos.

So in ela passa vídeos curtos, within the context na aula de biologia, the natural reading is:

passa vídeos curtos = she shows/plays short videos (to the students)

It does not mean “she passes short videos (to someone)” in the physical sense.

Why is it vídeos curtos and not curtos vídeos? Can the adjective come before the noun?

The neutral, most common order in Portuguese is:

noun + adjective
→ vídeos curtos (short videos)

Putting the adjective first (curtos vídeos) is unusual and sounds literary, emphatic, or poetic. In everyday speech and writing, you normally say:

vídeos curtos
filmes longos
aulas interessantes

So vídeos curtos is the standard order here.

What exactly does vai explicando mean? How is it different from just explica?

Vai explicando is:

ir (present) + gerúndio (expl icando)

In European Portuguese, ir + gerúndio often expresses a gradual, ongoing process: she keeps explaining / she goes on explaining / she explains as she goes along.

Differences:

ela explica os detalhes com calma
→ a simple, habitual statement: she explains the details calmly.
ela vai explicando os detalhes com calma
→ highlights the progressive, step‑by‑step nature of what she’s doing while the videos are playing.
Roughly: she goes along explaining the details calmly / she keeps explaining the details calmly (as the class progresses).

So vai explicando feels more dynamic and process‑focused than plain explica.

Does vai explicando talk about the future (like “will explain”), or is it present/ongoing?

In this sentence, vai explicando is present and ongoing, not future.

If you wanted a clear future, you’d normally use vai explicar (ir + infinitive), not vai explicando.

Compare:

Amanhã ela vai explicar os detalhes.
Tomorrow she’s going to explain the details. (future)
Na aula, ela vai explicando os detalhes.
In class, she keeps explaining / goes along explaining the details. (ongoing process in the present or in a described routine)

So here vai explicando describes how she behaves during the class, not what she will do later.

How is vai explicando different from está a explicar or está explicando?

In European Portuguese:

The usual “present continuous” form is estar a + infinitive:
- Ela está a explicar os detalhes.
  She is explaining the details (right now).
Estar + gerúndio (está explicando) is more typical of Brazilian Portuguese; in Portugal it is understood but not the default in careful speech.
Ir + gerúndio (vai explicando) adds the idea of progression or gradual development, not just “happening right now”.

Approximate nuances:

Ela está a explicar os detalhes.
→ She is (currently) explaining the details.
Ela vai explicando os detalhes.
→ She gradually/continually explains the details (for example as the video plays, or as the course goes along).

So vai explicando is not just another way to say is explaining; it suggests a step‑by‑step, unfolding process.

Why is it os detalhes and not just detalhes? Is the article os necessary?

Using the definite article os makes detalhes specific:

os detalhes = the details (particular, identifiable details in that context)
detalhes (without article) = details in a more general or indefinite sense.

In a classroom context, the speaker is usually thinking of:

the details of the topic they’re studying,
the details shown in the videos.

So os detalhes is natural: those specific details related to the lesson.

You could say:

… e vai explicando detalhes com calma.

That sounds more like “she keeps explaining details” in a more generic way, not necessarily all the specific details of this topic. The version with os feels more concrete and complete.

What does com calma mean exactly? How would it compare to something like calmamente?

Com calma literally means “with calm” and is used as an adverbial phrase meaning:

calmly, unhurriedly, without rushing, in a relaxed way.

Examples:

Fala com calma.
Speak calmly / Take your time.
Ela explica tudo com calma.
She explains everything calmly / slowly, without rushing.

You could also say calmamente:

Ela explica os detalhes calmamente.

This is correct, but com calma is more natural and common in everyday speech; calmamente can sound slightly more formal or written.

Could I move com calma in the sentence, like vai explicando com calma os detalhes? Is that still correct?

Yes, that word order is also correct:

Na aula de biologia, ela passa vídeos curtos e vai explicando com calma os detalhes.

Both are fine:

… vai explicando os detalhes com calma.
… vai explicando com calma os detalhes.

Portuguese is relatively flexible with the position of adverbial phrases like com calma. The meaning is essentially the same; position (1) is probably the most common, but (2) is perfectly natural.

If I want to say “she goes on explaining them calmly”, where would I put the pronoun os in Portuguese?

You need a direct object pronoun for os detalhes (masculine plural → os). With vai explicando, there are two main options in European Portuguese:

After the verb (with hyphen) — common in neutral, written style:
- … e vai explicando‑os com calma.
Before the auxiliary verb — especially in many spoken contexts:
- … e os vai explicando com calma.

Both are grammatical. In European Portuguese:

After certain forms (like infinitive, gerund, or imperative), clitics often attach with a hyphen: explicando‑os.
But with periphrastic constructions (ir + gerúndio), placing the pronoun before vai (os vai explicando) is very common and sounds natural.

Why is curtos in the plural? How does adjective agreement work here?

In Portuguese, adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.

vídeo → masculine singular
vídeo curto → short video
vídeos → masculine plural
vídeos curtos → short videos

So:

masculine singular: curto (um vídeo curto)
feminine singular: curta (uma aula curta)
masculine plural: curtos (vídeos curtos)
feminine plural: curtas (aulas curtas)

Since vídeos is masculine plural, the adjective must be curtos.