Breakdown of De manhã, a minha rotina matinal inclui alongar, beber água e abrir as cortinas.
Questions & Answers about De manhã, a minha rotina matinal inclui alongar, beber água e abrir as cortinas.
In time expressions, Portuguese often uses de (not em/na) to mean “in the morning / at night / in the afternoon” in a general, habitual way:
- de manhã – in the morning
- à tarde – in the afternoon
- à noite – at night
Na manhã is much more specific, like “on/at that particular morning”, e.g. Na manhã de 3 de maio… (“On the morning of May 3rd…”).
So here, because it’s a routine (a habitual action), de manhã is the natural choice.
De manhã is an introductory time phrase. In both Portuguese and English, it’s normal to separate such a phrase with a comma:
- De manhã, a minha rotina…
- À noite, costumo ler.
You might see it without the comma in very informal writing, but the comma is standard and recommended.
In European Portuguese, possessives with a single possessed thing almost always take the definite article:
- a minha casa – my house
- o meu carro – my car
- a minha rotina – my routine
Leaving out the article (minha rotina) sounds foreign or Brazilian to most European Portuguese speakers, except in a few fixed expressions (e.g. letters: Minha querida mãe,). For everyday speech in Portugal, you should say a minha, o meu, as minhas, etc.
Rotina matinal literally means “morning routine”, so it specifies which routine you’re talking about.
You could say only a minha rotina if the context already makes it clear you mean your morning routine. But if you are introducing the idea, a minha rotina matinal sounds more natural and explicit: it contrasts with other possible routines (work routine, gym routine, etc.).
Both are understandable and correct, but:
- rotina matinal sounds a bit more compact and neutral, like a set phrase (“morning routine”).
- rotina da manhã literally “routine of the morning” is also fine but slightly longer and a bit less idiomatic in this specific collocation.
In practice, rotina matinal is what you’ll most often see in written language and in more “careful” speech.
It’s a little repetitive in meaning but still very natural stylistically, both in Portuguese and English (compare: “In the morning, my morning routine includes…”).
You could shorten it to either:
- De manhã, a minha rotina inclui…
- A minha rotina matinal inclui…
Both are correct; keeping both just adds emphasis and rhythm rather than being a grammatical mistake.
After verbs like incluir (to include), when you list activities in general, Portuguese normally uses the infinitive:
- A minha rotina inclui alongar, beber água e abrir as cortinas.
- O meu trabalho inclui viajar, responder a e‑mails e fazer reuniões.
You don’t say inclui que eu alongo… here. The infinitive acts almost like a noun (“the act of stretching, drinking water, opening the curtains”), just as in English “includes stretching, drinking water and opening the curtains” uses -ing forms.
The more “textbook” way to say “to stretch (oneself)” is alongar-se:
- Gosto de alongar-me antes de correr. – I like to stretch before running.
So, very carefully: inclui alongar-me, beber água e abrir as cortinas is the fully reflexive version.
However, in everyday European Portuguese, people often drop the reflexive pronoun in this type of list and just say alongar when the context is clear. Both versions will be understood; if you want to be very precise and formal, use alongar-me.
When talking about drinking water in general as a habit, Portuguese usually omits the article:
- Beber água faz bem. – Drinking water is good for you.
- Ele não costuma beber água.
If you say beber a água, you’re normally referring to some specific water (for example: “Drink the water that’s in your glass”). In this sentence, it’s a general part of your routine, so beber água is the natural choice.
Here we’re talking about a specific set of curtains (the ones in your room/house), not curtains in general as a substance or concept. For specific, countable things, Portuguese normally uses the definite article:
- abrir as cortinas – open the curtains
- fechar as janelas – close the windows
So abrir as cortinas matches the English “open the curtains”; leaving out as (abrir cortinas) would sound odd here.
Yes, Portuguese is flexible with these time expressions:
- De manhã, a minha rotina matinal inclui…
- A minha rotina matinal, de manhã, inclui… (less common, more “written”)
- A minha rotina matinal inclui, de manhã, alongar… (possible but a bit clunky)
- A minha rotina matinal inclui alongar, beber água e abrir as cortinas de manhã.
The most natural options here are at the very beginning (as in the original) or at the end of the sentence.
Yes. Portuguese separates list items with commas and normally does not use an “Oxford comma” before e:
- alongar, beber água e abrir as cortinas
Putting a comma before e (alongar, beber água, e abrir…) is usually considered unnecessary or incorrect in standard European Portuguese, except in some special cases for clarity.
The sentence is perfectly understandable in both varieties. The two main European-Portuguese “signals” here are:
- The consistent use of the article with the possessive: a minha rotina matinal (Brazilians more often say minha rotina matinal, without a).
- Pronunciation differences, of course, but that doesn’t show in writing.
In Brazil, someone might be slightly more likely to say minha rotina matinal inclui alongar-me, beber água e abrir as cortinas, but your original sentence is still fine and natural to any Portuguese speaker.