Breakdown of Depois do dia de trabalho, eu descanso em casa.
Questions & Answers about Depois do dia de trabalho, eu descanso em casa.
Depois means after.
When you say after + a noun, you usually use depois de + that noun:
- depois de
- o dia de trabalho
In Portuguese, the preposition de often contracts with the definite article o:
- de + o = do
So:
- depois de o dia de trabalho → depois do dia de trabalho
Literally: after the day of work.
So depois do is just the contracted form of depois de + o.
Both are possible, but they are slightly different:
depois do dia de trabalho = after the workday / after the working day
Emphasises the whole day as a unit.depois do trabalho = after work
More general: after work (as an activity or job), not necessarily stressing the whole day.
In everyday speech, both are natural. Depois do trabalho, eu descanso em casa is very common and maybe even more likely in casual conversation.
The infinitive is descansar (to rest).
Descanso is 1st person singular, present tense of descansar:
- eu descanso – I rest
- tu descansas – you rest (informal singular)
- ele / ela descansa – he / she rests
- nós descansamos – we rest
- vocês descansam – you rest (plural)
- eles / elas descansam – they rest
It is a regular -ar verb, so it follows the standard -ar conjugation pattern in the present tense.
Portuguese is a pro‑drop language, which means you can usually omit subject pronouns because the verb ending shows who the subject is.
So both are correct:
- Depois do dia de trabalho, eu descanso em casa.
- Depois do dia de trabalho, descanso em casa.
In European Portuguese, speakers often omit eu unless they want to:
- add emphasis (I, as opposed to someone else)
- avoid ambiguity
- sound a bit more didactic or careful (e.g., in textbooks, beginner materials)
In natural conversation in Portugal, Depois do dia de trabalho, descanso em casa would probably be more typical.
The simple present in Portuguese is commonly used for:
- habits and routines
- Eu descanso em casa. = I (usually) rest at home.
- general truths
- scheduled events
Just like English can say I rest at home, Portuguese can use eu descanso em casa to mean I usually rest / I normally rest at home.
If you want to make the habitual idea even clearer, you can add an adverb:
- Depois do dia de trabalho, eu normalmente descanso em casa.
- Depois do dia de trabalho, eu costumo descansar em casa.
(literally: I usually rest at home)
Em casa is a fixed, very common expression that means at home.
- em casa = at home (no article)
- em + a casa → na casa = in the house / at the house (a specific house)
- a casa = the house
- para casa = (to) home (movement towards home)
- para a casa → para a casa / pra casa (mainly BR) = to the house (a specific house)
So:
- Eu descanso em casa. = I rest at home.
- Eu descanso na casa dos meus avós. = I rest in my grandparents’ house.
À casa would be very unusual here; for movement you’d use para casa:
- Depois do dia de trabalho, vou para casa descansar.
After the workday, I go home to rest.
Yes. Portuguese word order is quite flexible.
All of these are grammatical and natural:
- Depois do dia de trabalho, eu descanso em casa.
- Depois do dia de trabalho, descanso em casa.
- Eu descanso em casa depois do dia de trabalho.
- Descanso em casa depois do dia de trabalho.
Putting the time expression depois do dia de trabalho at the beginning is common when you want to set the time frame first. Placing it at the end is also fine and very natural.
Grammatically, it works exactly the same in Brazilian Portuguese:
- Depois do dia de trabalho, eu descanso em casa.
Possible differences:
- Brazilians might keep eu a bit more often than Europeans, but omitting it is also fine:
Depois do dia de trabalho, descanso em casa. - A very typical Brazilian variant in everyday speech could be:
Depois do trabalho, eu descanso em casa.
or
Depois do expediente, eu descanso em casa.
The main difference would be pronunciation, not structure.
Yes, several alternatives sound very natural, for example:
- Depois do trabalho, descanso em casa.
- Depois do trabalho, vou para casa descansar.
- Depois do dia de trabalho, costumo descansar em casa.
- Quando acabo o trabalho, descanso em casa.
- Depois de um dia de trabalho, descanso em casa.
(adding um makes it “after a day of work”)
All of these keep the same basic idea: after work, you rest at home.
A careful European Portuguese pronunciation (rough guide) would be:
Depois do dia de trabalho, eu descanso em casa.
Approximate phonetic breakdown:
- Depois ≈ dɨ‑POYSH
- do ≈ doo (but quite short)
- dia ≈ DEE‑uh (with a light, central uh)
- de (here) ≈ d(uh), very reduced
- trabalho ≈ truh‑BAH‑lyoo (the lh is like the lli in million)
- eu ≈ EH‑oo (often pronounced very quickly, almost like a single vowel)
- descanso ≈ d(uh)sh‑KAN‑soo (the s between vowels is z in BR, but in PT it’s s; the e is reduced)
- em ≈ ẽ (nasal, like French en)
- casa ≈ KAH‑zuh
Said at normal speed, many vowels are reduced or swallowed, especially de, the first e of descanso, and sometimes parts of eu.
Dia is masculine in Portuguese, even though it ends in ‑a:
- o dia – the day
- um dia – a day
Because it’s masculine, the article is o, so:
- de + o dia → do dia
If dia were feminine (it isn’t), you would have:
- de + a → da
So:
- do dia de trabalho = of the workday
(literally: of the day of work)
You’ll usually see a comma there:
- Depois do dia de trabalho, eu descanso em casa.
In Portuguese, when a time/condition clause (like depois do dia de trabalho) comes first, it is normally followed by a comma, especially in writing.
However, the sentence is short, and in informal writing you may sometimes see it without a comma:
- Depois do dia de trabalho eu descanso em casa.
Using the comma is the safer and more standard choice.