Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): A mala é pesada, por isso vou levá-la devagar. - The suitcase is heavy, so I am going to carry it slowly.

In Portuguese you almost always need the definite article (o, a, os, as) before a singular, countable noun when you are referring to a specific thing.

A mala = the suitcase (a specific one we already know about)
Mala é pesada sounds wrong/unnatural in standard Portuguese.

So:

A mala é pesada. ✅ natural
Mala é pesada. ❌ incorrect in normal speech/writing

This is different from English, which can sometimes drop the article (“Breakfast is ready”, “Nature is beautiful”). Portuguese is much more “article-heavy” in this sense.

Why is the suitcase described with “é pesada” instead of “está pesada”?

Both are possible, but there is a nuance:

é pesada (with ser): describes a more inherent or typical characteristic — “The suitcase is (by nature) heavy.”
está pesada (with estar): describes a temporary state or condition — “The suitcase is (right now) heavy.”

In this sentence:

A mala é pesada, por isso vou levá-la devagar. → Suggests you think of this suitcase as generally heavy; its weight is seen as an inherent trait.

If you were focusing on a specific occasion (“Today it’s heavier than usual”), you might say:

Hoje a mala está pesada, por isso vou levá-la devagar.
→ “Today the suitcase is heavy, so I’m going to carry it slowly.”

What exactly does “por isso” mean here, and how is it different from “porque”?

por isso literally: “for that (reason)” → “therefore / so / that’s why”.

A mala é pesada, por isso vou levá-la devagar.
→ “The suitcase is heavy, so I’m going to carry it slowly.”

It introduces a result or consequence.

porque = because, and it introduces a reason:

Vou levá-la devagar porque a mala é pesada.
→ “I’m going to carry it slowly because the suitcase is heavy.”

So:

por isso → “so / therefore / that’s why” (result)
porque → “because” (cause)

The meaning link is the same, but the direction changes:

Cause → Result: A mala é pesada, *por isso vou levá-la devagar.*
Result → Cause: Vou levá-la devagar *porque a mala é pesada.*

What is “vou” doing here? Is this a type of future tense?

Yes. Vou levá-la is the “ir + infinitive” future, very common in spoken Portuguese.

Structure:

ir (conjugated) + infinitive
→ vou levar = “I’m going to carry”

Other forms:

vou levar – I’m going to carry
vais levar – you (sg.) are going to carry
vai levar – he/she is going to carry
vamos levar – we are going to carry
vão levar – they are going to carry

There is also a “simple” future (levarei, “I will carry”), but in everyday speech people much more often say:

vou levar instead of levarei.

So:

vou levá-la devagar = “I’m going to carry it slowly.”

What does “levá-la” mean, and why is it written with a hyphen?

levá-la = levar + a (to carry + her/it).

levar = to carry / to take
a = direct object pronoun “her / it” (referring to a feminine singular noun, here a mala)
In European Portuguese, object pronouns are usually attached to the verb with a hyphen (enclisis) when there is no word that pulls them before the verb.
So: levar + a → levá-la.

The “-la” is the clitic pronoun attached to the verb. The hyphen shows that the pronoun is clitic and belongs to the verb.

Meaning:

Vou levá-la devagar.
→ “I’m going to carry it (the suitcase) slowly.”

Why does “levar” become “levá-” in “levá-la”? Where does the accent come from?

There are two things happening:

The final “r” of the verb is dropped when you attach the direct object pronoun “a” after a verb ending in -r, -s, or -z.
- levar + a → levá- + la → levá-la
- the bare pronoun a changes to la after dropping the r.
A written accent is added to preserve the original stress of the verb:
- leVAR (stress on the last syllable -var)
- when you drop the r and add -la, stress must remain on that same syllable → levÁ-la, so you write á.

This is a regular spelling rule in Portuguese:

amar + o → amá-lo
fazer + o → fazê-lo
trazer + a → trazê-la
levar + a → levá-la

So “levá-la” looks strange at first, but it’s just levar + a with:

dropped final r
pronoun a → la
added accent to keep the stress.

Why do we use “-la” and not just “-a” for “it/her”? What are these “lo, la, nos, nas” forms?

The basic direct object pronouns are:

o, a, os, as = him/it, her/it, them (masc.), them (fem.)

But they change form after certain verb endings:

After verbs ending in -r, -s, -z:
- drop the final r/s/z
- o, a, os, as → lo, la, los, las
- add an accent if needed

Examples:

levar + a → levá-la
fazer + o → fazê-lo
dizer + os → dizê-los

After verbs ending in -m, -ão, -õe:
- o, a, os, as → no, na, nos, nas

Example:

vêm + a → vêm-na
põem + o → põem-no

So in our sentence:

verb ends in -r: levar
pronoun is a (feminine sing., referring to a mala)
result: levá-la (not levar-a or levar a).

Why is it “vou levá-la devagar” and not something like “vou la levar” or “vou levá-la a devagar”?

Two points: pronoun position and position of “devagar”.

Pronoun position in European Portuguese

With “ir + infinitive” and no special trigger word (like não, que, já), the default is to attach the pronoun to the infinitive:

vou levá-la ✅ (standard EP)
vou la levar ❌ (wrong in standard EP)
vou a levá-la sounds strange here; ir a + infinitive is used differently (often more literal “go to do X”).

In spoken Brazilian Portuguese, you will often hear:

vou levar ela devagar (pronoun not clitic, after the verb),
but in European Portuguese and in standard written language, “vou levá-la” is the correct pattern.

Position of “devagar”

devagar is an adverb and is most often placed:

after the verb or verb+pronoun group:
- vou levá-la devagar ✅
- vou devagar levá-la sounds odd/poetic; not typical normal speech.

So:

vou levá-la devagar is the natural order.

What is “devagar”? Is it an adjective or an adverb? Could we use “lentamente” instead?

devagar is an adverb meaning “slowly”. It is invariable (doesn’t change for gender or number):

Vou levá-la devagar. – I’m going to carry it slowly.
Eles conduzem devagar. – They drive slowly.

Portuguese often forms adverbs with “-mente” (similar to English “-ly”):

lento → lentamente (slow → slowly)

So:

Vou levá-la lentamente. is also correct and means the same thing.

Difference in feel:

devagar is shorter and more common in everyday speech.
lentamente can sound a bit more formal or “written style” in many contexts.

Both are okay here.

Could we change the word order, e.g. “Vou levá-la devagar, porque a mala é pesada”? Does that sound natural?

Yes, you can change the order and it stays natural. Some options:

Original (cause → result)
- A mala é pesada, por isso vou levá-la devagar.
  “The suitcase is heavy, so I’m going to carry it slowly.”
Result → cause
- Vou levá-la devagar porque a mala é pesada.
  “I’m going to carry it slowly because the suitcase is heavy.”
You can also put porque at the start:
- Porque a mala é pesada, vou levá-la devagar.

All of these are grammatically correct. The difference is just which part you want to highlight first: the reason (mala é pesada) or the decision (vou levá-la devagar).

Is the comma before “por isso” necessary? Would we also use a comma before “porque”?

por isso here introduces a new clause that is a consequence of the first one, so a comma is standard:

A mala é pesada, por isso vou levá-la devagar. ✅

With porque, the comma is different:

Normally, no comma before porque when it introduces a reason in the same sentence:
- Vou levá-la devagar porque a mala é pesada. ✅
You might see a comma before porque in more complex or literary sentences, or when porque starts the sentence:
- Porque a mala é pesada, vou levá-la devagar.

So:

Comma + por isso: very usual to separate two main clauses.
No comma + porque (in the middle of the sentence): usual for “because”.