Breakdown of A minha irmã também teve uma picada no tornozelo, porque havia muitos mosquitos no jardim.
Questions & Answers about A minha irmã também teve uma picada no tornozelo, porque havia muitos mosquitos no jardim.
In European Portuguese, it is very common to use the definite article before a possessive:
- a minha irmã = my sister
- o meu irmão = my brother
In English, we do not use the here, but Portuguese often does. In Portugal, a minha irmã sounds very natural and standard.
You may sometimes hear minha irmã without the article, but a minha irmã is the safer choice for learners of Portuguese from Portugal.
Também means also or too.
So:
- A minha irmã também teve... = My sister also had/got...
Its position is flexible, but here it naturally modifies the whole idea that my sister also experienced this.
Compare:
- A minha irmã também teve uma picada... = My sister also got a bite...
- A minha irmã teve também uma picada... = also possible, but a bit less neutral in everyday speech
The version in the sentence is very natural.
Teve is the pretérito perfeito (simple past) of ter:
- eu tive
- tu tiveste
- ele/ela teve
- nós tivemos
- vocês tiveram
- eles/elas tiveram
Here, ter uma picada means to have/get a bite.
So:
- teve uma picada = had/got a bite
It refers to a completed event in the past, which is why the simple past is used.
Portuguese often expresses this idea with ter uma picada:
- ter uma picada = to have/get a bite
- literally: to have a bite
This is a very normal way to say someone was bitten by an insect.
Other possible ways exist, but teve uma picada is simple, natural, and common.
Picada usually refers to a bite or sting, especially from insects.
In this sentence, because it mentions mosquitos, uma picada clearly means a mosquito bite.
A useful contrast:
- picada = bite/sting from an insect, needle prick, etc.
- mordida = a bite from teeth, for example from a dog or person
So with mosquitos, picada is the right word.
No is a contraction of:
- em + o = no
So:
- no tornozelo = in/on the ankle
This is very common in Portuguese. Other examples:
- na casa = in the house
- no jardim = in the garden
- nos braços = on the arms
With body parts, Portuguese usually uses the definite article:
- no tornozelo = on the ankle
Tornozelo is the standard Portuguese word for ankle.
So:
- pé = foot
- perna = leg
- joelho = knee
- tornozelo = ankle
In this sentence, no tornozelo means the bite was located on the ankle.
This is a very important point.
In Portuguese, when haver means there is / there are / there was / there were, it is impersonal. That means it stays in the singular.
So:
- há muitos mosquitos = there are many mosquitoes
- havia muitos mosquitos = there were many mosquitoes
Even though mosquitos is plural, havia stays singular.
In standard Portuguese, haviam muitos mosquitos is considered incorrect in this meaning.
Havia is the imperfect form of haver.
It is used here to describe the background situation:
- havia muitos mosquitos no jardim = there were many mosquitoes in the garden
Meanwhile, teve gives the main completed event:
- teve uma picada = got a bite
So the sentence combines:
- completed event → teve
- background circumstance → havia
This is a very common pattern in Portuguese storytelling.
Here porque means because, giving the reason:
- ..., porque havia muitos mosquitos no jardim.
- ..., because there were many mosquitoes in the garden.
That is why porque is written as one word.
Very roughly:
- porque = because
- por que = for what reason / why, in certain question structures
In this sentence, because is clearly needed, so porque is correct.
Jardim usually means garden.
In some contexts, English might translate it as yard, depending on what kind of outdoor space is meant. But the basic meaning is garden.
So:
- no jardim = in the garden
In European Portuguese, jardim is a very common everyday word.
Yes, that is grammatically possible.
However, A minha irmã também teve uma picada... sounds more neutral and natural in most everyday contexts.
Placing também before the verb is often the most straightforward option.
So both are possible, but the original sentence is the better model for a learner.
Both words contain nasal sounds, which English speakers often find difficult.
- irmã ends in a nasal ã
- também ends in a nasal ém
A few tips:
- h in havia is silent
- irmã does not end with a clear English a sound
- também does not end like English may; the ending is nasal
A rough guide:
- irmã ≈ eer-MAHN with a nasal ending
- também ≈ tam-BANG / tam-BAYNG very roughly, with nasalization
These are only approximations. If you are learning European Portuguese, it helps a lot to listen to native audio because the nasal vowels are hard to capture in English spelling.
Because it refers to one bite, not a specific previously mentioned bite.
- uma picada = a bite
- a picada = the bite
Here, the bite is being introduced for the first time, so uma is the natural choice.
Yes, that is a possible English translation.
But in natural English, people often say:
- My sister also got a bite on the ankle
- My sister also got bitten on the ankle
- My sister also had a bite on her ankle
All of these fit the Portuguese sentence reasonably well. Portuguese uses no tornozelo literally on the ankle, while English often prefers on her ankle.
Portuguese often uses the definite article with body parts where English uses a possessive:
- no tornozelo = literally on the ankle
- natural English: on her ankle
This is very common in Portuguese:
- lavou as mãos = washed his/her hands
- doía-me a cabeça = my head hurt
- uma picada no tornozelo = a bite on the ankle
So Portuguese and English structure this idea differently.