Breakdown of Basta que bebas água e descanses um pouco para a dor de cabeça melhorar.
Questions & Answers about Basta que bebas água e descanses um pouco para a dor de cabeça melhorar.
Bebas and descanses are in the present subjunctive, not the present indicative.
- Indicative (present of tu):
- tu bebes, tu descansas
- Subjunctive (present of tu):
- (que) tu bebas, (que) tu descanses
The expression basta que… (“it is enough that…”) typically requires the subjunctive, because it talks about a condition that is sufficient, not a simple factual statement.
Compare:
Bebes água e descansas um pouco.
“You drink water and rest a bit.” (just stating facts)Basta que bebas água e descanses um pouco…
“It’s enough if you drink water and rest a bit…” (one condition is sufficient for a result)
So bastas que bebes / descansas is wrong; after basta que, use the subjunctive: bebas, descanses.
Yes, that’s possible, and it’s quite natural in European Portuguese:
- Basta beber água e descansar um pouco para a dor de cabeça melhorar.
Differences:
Basta que bebas…
- Uses subjunctive.
- Feels a bit more explicit/structured, sometimes slightly more formal or careful speech.
Basta beber água e descansar um pouco…
- Uses the infinitive (more neutral / general).
- Very common in everyday Portuguese.
You might also hear the personal infinitive in Portugal:
- Basta beberes água e descansares um pouco para a dor de cabeça melhorar.
This version marks the subject tu in the infinitive: beberes, descansares. All three are grammatically fine; choice is about style and regional habits.
Here, que is a subordinating conjunction introducing a subordinate clause:
- Basta que bebas água e descanses um pouco…
→ “It is enough that you drink water and rest a little…”
In this structure, que is obligatory. You can’t say:
- ✗ Basta bebas água… (incorrect)
If you want to omit que, you must change the structure, for example to an infinitive:
- Basta beber água e descansar um pouco… (no que, different grammar)
- Basta beberes água e descansares um pouco… (personal infinitive, no que)
But within the “basta que + verb” pattern, que has to be there.
In “para a dor de cabeça melhorar”, “a dor de cabeça” is the subject of the verb melhorar:
- a dor de cabeça (subject)
- melhorar (to get better / to improve)
So literally: “for the headache to get better”.
If you say “para melhorar a dor de cabeça”, dor de cabeça becomes the object of melhorar, which sounds more like “to improve the headache” (as if “improve” were something you do to it). It’s not exactly wrong, but it’s not the natural way to express this idea.
Natural options:
…para a dor de cabeça melhorar.
“for the headache to get better”…para a dor de cabeça passar.
“for the headache to go away”
So the original has a subordinate clause with its own subject: [a dor de cabeça] melhorar.
Yes, that’s also correct:
- Basta que bebas água e descanses um pouco para a tua dor de cabeça melhorar.
This just adds the possessive tua (your), making it explicit that we’re talking about your headache.
In many contexts Portuguese prefers the definite article alone for common physical problems, without a possessive, when it’s clear whose it is:
- Tenho a cabeça a doer.
- Estou com dor de cabeça.
So “a dor de cabeça” in the original is naturally understood as your headache from context; “tua” is optional emphasis/clarity.
In European Portuguese, definite articles (o, a, os, as) are used much more than in English, especially:
- with parts of the body
- with many common ailments
So:
- a dor de cabeça = “the headache” (often equivalent to English “your headache / my headache” from context)
Saying:
- ✗ para dor de cabeça melhorar (without a)
sounds wrong in standard European Portuguese. You need the article:
- para a dor de cabeça melhorar.
Yes, that is perfectly acceptable and quite natural:
- Para a dor de cabeça melhorar, basta que bebas água e descanses um pouco.
This structure:
- keeps the same meaning
- slightly changes the emphasis, putting the result (“for the headache to get better”) first
Both orders are fine:
- Basta que bebas água… para a dor de cabeça melhorar.
- Para a dor de cabeça melhorar, basta que bebas água…
You can say:
- Bebe água e descansa um pouco.
“Drink water and rest a bit.”
That’s a direct command / instruction.
With “Basta que bebas…”, the tone is a bit different:
- Basta que bebas água e descanses um pouco para a dor de cabeça melhorar.
→ “You only need to drink water and rest a bit for the headache to get better.”
→ Focus on sufficiency: “That’s all it takes.”
So:
- Imperative: more direct, like giving an order or strong advice.
- Basta que…: explanatory or reassuring – “this is enough; nothing more is necessary.”
The forms bebas and descanses exist in Brazilian Portuguese (they’re the subjunctive of tu), but tu is not widely used in much of Brazil, and when it is, people often mix forms.
A more typical Brazilian version would avoid tu-marked forms and sound like:
- Basta beber água e descansar um pouco para a dor de cabeça melhorar.
Or:
- Basta que você beba água e descanse um pouco para a dor de cabeça melhorar.
Key differences:
- EP sentence: subjunctive of tu (bebas, descanses) without pronoun.
- BP preference: either infinitive (beber, descansar) with no pronoun, or você with 3rd person subjunctive (você beba, você descanse).
Since you’re learning European Portuguese, the original sentence is very natural for Portugal.
In Portuguese, verb endings show the subject very clearly, so the pronoun is usually dropped.
Present subjunctive of beber:
- (que) eu beba
- (que) tu bebas
- (que) ele/ela/você beba
Present subjunctive of descansar:
- (que) eu descanse
- (que) tu descanses
- (que) ele/ela/você descanse
The forms bebas and descanses can only match tu. So even without the pronoun, speakers automatically understand the subject is tu.
Basta here literally means “it is enough / it suffices”.
- Basta que bebas água e descanses um pouco…
→ “It’s enough if you drink water and rest a bit…”
It doesn’t directly mean “you must” or “you should”, but in context it often functions as advice:
- “All you need to do is drink water and rest a bit.”
Rough English equivalents:
- “You only have to…”
- “All it takes is for you to…”
Both are possible, with a small nuance:
…para a dor de cabeça melhorar.
→ “for the headache to get better / improve”
(may imply “less intense, easing”)…para a dor de cabeça passar.
→ “for the headache to go away”
(disappear entirely)
In everyday speech, “passar” is extremely common with pains and symptoms:
- Tomaste o comprimido para a dor passar?
- Depois de descansares, a dor de cabeça passa.
So you could absolutely say:
- Basta que bebas água e descanses um pouco para a dor de cabeça passar.
The original just frames it as “improving” rather than necessarily vanishing completely.