Breakdown of Um helicóptero passou várias vezes sobre a floresta para largar água no fogo.
Questions & Answers about Um helicóptero passou várias vezes sobre a floresta para largar água no fogo.
Passar here has the sense of to go past / to pass by.
- Um helicóptero passou sobre a floresta
= A helicopter went past / kept going over the forest (flying past, back and forth).
If you say:
Um helicóptero voou sobre a floresta – A helicopter flew over the forest.
This is more neutral, just describes flying, without emphasising the repeated “passes”.Um helicóptero sobrevoou a floresta – A helicopter overflew / flew over the forest.
This is more formal and specific, often used in news reports or technical language.
In this context (firefighting), passou ... várias vezes sobre a floresta gives a strong image of repeated passes over the same area, which sounds very natural in European Portuguese.
Passou is the pretérito perfeito simples (simple past), used for completed actions in the past:
- Um helicóptero passou várias vezes...
= One or more complete “sessions” of passes happened and are now finished.
If you used passava (imperfect, pretérito imperfeito):
- Um helicóptero passava várias vezes sobre a floresta...
you would be painting it more as a background / ongoing action in the past, for example:
- Naquela tarde, um helicóptero passava várias vezes sobre a floresta para largar água no fogo.
That afternoon, a helicopter kept passing several times over the forest to drop water on the fire.
Both can be correct; the original with passou presents it more as a complete event, not a background description.
várias vezes = several times, a number of times.
It implies more than two or three, but not necessarily a huge number.muitas vezes = many times.
This suggests a larger number of repetitions.
So:
- passou várias vezes – several passes, quite a few, but the quantity is not huge or emphasised.
- passou muitas vezes – many passes; the high number itself is more emphasised.
Both are grammatically correct. The choice depends on nuance: várias vezes is a bit more neutral and common in this kind of description.
All three can relate to “above/over”, but they’re not identical.
sobre a floresta – literally over / above the forest.
Very natural and standard here for flight paths.por cima da floresta – literally by above the forest → over the forest, passing above it.
Also very natural; adds the idea of movement over the top.em cima da floresta – literally on top of the forest.
This usually suggests being right on top, sometimes almost touching, or physically resting on something (like em cima da mesa – on top of the table). For a helicopter flying, em cima da floresta is possible in context, but sounds less neutral; sobre / por cima de are better.
In this sentence, sobre a floresta is idiomatic and slightly more formal/neutral than por cima da floresta, but both are acceptable.
Here para + infinitive expresses purpose: in order to.
- para largar água no fogo
= in order to drop water on the fire / to drop water on the fire.
Using other prepositions would change the meaning:
a largar água – in European Portuguese, estar a + infinitive is used for ongoing actions:
- O helicóptero estava a largar água. – The helicopter was dropping water.
But after para, we do not say para a largar água. That would be wrong here.
- O helicóptero estava a largar água. – The helicopter was dropping water.
de largar água after para is also incorrect in this structure.
de + infinitive appears in other patterns (e.g. acabar de largar – to have just dropped), not for purpose.
So for purpose, you want para + infinitive:
- para largar água
- para apagar o fogo (to put out the fire)
Largar basically means:
- to let go (of something)
- to drop / release
- to put something down / abandon (in some contexts)
Examples:
- Larga isso! – Let go of that!
- Ele largou o saco no chão. – He dropped the bag on the floor.
In the firefighting context:
- largar água (no fogo) – to drop/release water (on the fire)
This can be used for helicopters or planes releasing water.
Other possible verbs:
- deitar água – very common in European Portuguese for to pour water:
- deitar água no fogo – to pour water on the fire (often from a hose, bucket, etc.).
- lançar água – to launch water, more formal, used in technical or written language.
- atirar água – to throw water, more informal.
So largar água no fogo is natural and focuses on the idea of releasing / dropping the water, which fits a helicopter.
Água is a mass noun (like “water” in English). When we talk about it in a general or indefinite way (not a specific, previously mentioned quantity), Portuguese often omits the article:
- beber água – to drink water
- comprar pão – to buy bread
- usar gasolina – to use petrol
So:
- para largar água no fogo – to drop (some) water on the fire
(quantity not specified, just water in general)
If you used the article:
- para largar a água no fogo
that would usually suggest a specific water already known in the context (for example, the water that was loaded into the helicopter’s tank).
Both can appear in this context, but they’re not perfect synonyms.
- fogo – fire in general; can be small (like a campfire) or big. Very common, everyday word.
- incêndio – specifically a large, destructive fire, usually unwanted and uncontrolled (forest fires, house fires, etc.), and often used in news and formal language.
So:
- água no fogo – water on the fire (more general, everyday phrasing).
- água no incêndio – water on the (large) fire / blaze (more technical/formal).
In the context of a floresta, we’re probably talking about an incêndio florestal (forest fire), so no incêndio is perfectly possible:
- ...sobre a floresta para largar água no incêndio.
The original no fogo is just slightly more neutral and less formal.
Two different points:
Gender (masculine/feminine)
- helicóptero is masculine, so it takes um / o.
- floresta is feminine, so it takes uma / a.
Gender is mostly lexical (you simply have to learn it with each noun), though there are some patterns:
- nouns ending in -o are often masculine (o helicóptero, o carro)
- nouns ending in -a are often feminine (a floresta, a casa)
Indefinite vs definite
- um helicóptero – a helicopter, new / not identified helicopter.
- a floresta – the forest, probably a specific one the speaker has in mind (e.g. the forest in that area), or “the forest” as a known environment.
So:
- Um helicóptero – masculine + indefinite
- a floresta – feminine + definite
In várias vezes, the adjective várias is agreeing with the noun vezes:
- vez (singular) is feminine → uma vez
- vezes (plural) is feminine plural → várias vezes
So:
- masculine singular: vário
- feminine singular: vária
- masculine plural: vários
- feminine plural: várias
Because vezes is feminine plural, you must use várias, not vários.
Yes. Several word orders are possible and natural. All of these work:
- Um helicóptero passou várias vezes sobre a floresta para largar água no fogo.
- Um helicóptero passou sobre a floresta várias vezes para largar água no fogo.
- Para largar água no fogo, um helicóptero passou várias vezes sobre a floresta.
The differences are mostly about rhythm and focus, not grammar:
- Keeping várias vezes right after passou (as in the original) connects the idea of “passing” directly to the frequency.
- Moving várias vezes later (passou sobre a floresta várias vezes) slightly emphasises over the forest first, then how often.
- Starting with Para largar água no fogo... puts the purpose at the beginning for emphasis.
All are good European Portuguese.
In European Portuguese:
helicóptero
- Stress is on cóp: he-li-*CÓP-te-ro*
- The ó is an open /ɔ/ sound (like “o” in British hot).
- The final -ro is quite weak; the r is usually a soft tapped or slightly guttural sound, depending on regional accent.
várias
- Stress is on vá: VÁ-ri-as
- The á is open /a/ (like “a” in cat but a bit more back).
- The final -s is usually pronounced as /ʃ/ (like English “sh”) in European Portuguese: something like VÁ-ri-ash.
Also note:
- passou – final ou is pronounced as closed /o/ (single sound), similar to the “o” in “go” but shorter.
- fogo – both o’s are also closed /o/: FO-go.
That sentence is grammatically correct and understandable:
- Um helicóptero voou várias vezes sobre a floresta para largar água no fogo.
However, in this context, passou is more idiomatic because:
- passar (sobre) focuses on the movement past / over a certain area, often used for repeated passes (as in surveillance, firefighting, patrols, etc.).
- voar focuses more on the general action of flying, not so much on the idea of making passes over an area.
So your version is not wrong, but a native speaker (especially in Portugal) would more naturally say passou (várias vezes) sobre a floresta or sobrevoou a floresta here.