Breakdown of A Ana trouxe uma ligadura extra, porque a picada de mosquito ainda dava comichão.
Questions & Answers about A Ana trouxe uma ligadura extra, porque a picada de mosquito ainda dava comichão.
In European Portuguese, it is very common to put the definite article before a person's first name:
- a Ana
- o João
- a Maria
So A Ana trouxe... is completely normal in Portugal. It does not mean anything special like the Ana in English; it is just a regular feature of the language.
A few notes:
- In more formal styles, the article may sometimes be omitted.
- This is much more typical of Portugal than of Brazilian Portuguese.
Trouxe is the pretérito perfeito (simple past / preterite) of trazer, meaning to bring.
Here it is the 3rd person singular form, because the subject is A Ana:
- eu trouxe = I brought
- tu trouxeste = you brought
- ele/ela trouxe = he/she brought
- nós trouxemos = we brought
It looks different because trazer is an irregular verb.
So:
- A Ana trouxe... = Ana brought...
In Portuguese, adjectives often come after the noun, much more often than in English.
So:
- uma ligadura extra = an extra bandage
With extra, the post-noun position is the most natural here.
Also, extra often stays unchanged, especially in this kind of everyday use:
- uma ligadura extra
- duas ligaduras extra
So the sentence sounds natural as written.
Picada de mosquito means mosquito bite.
A few useful details:
- picada comes from picar
- with insects, picada often corresponds to English bite
- de mosquito means from/by a mosquito
The article a is there because the speaker is talking about a specific bite, one already known in the context:
- a picada de mosquito = the mosquito bite
If it were not specific, you might get:
- uma picada de mosquito = a mosquito bite
Also, Portuguese often uses de + noun without an article in this kind of expression, so picada de mosquito is perfectly normal.
The comma here marks a natural pause before the explanation:
- A Ana trouxe uma ligadura extra, porque...
In a short sentence like this, many writers would also write it without a comma:
- A Ana trouxe uma ligadura extra porque...
So the comma is not the main grammar point here; it is mostly a matter of rhythm, style, and how strongly the speaker wants to separate the explanation from the main statement.
Here porque means because, so it is written as one word.
That is the normal form when you are introducing a reason:
- Ela saiu porque estava cansada.
- Trouxe uma ligadura extra porque a picada...
Learners often confuse these forms:
- porque = because
- por que = why / for which reason
- porquê = the reason
- por quê = used mainly at the end of a question
In this sentence, because is needed, so porque is correct.
This is about the difference between two past tenses.
- trouxe is in the preterite: a completed action
- Ana brought an extra bandage.
- dava is in the imperfect: an ongoing background state
- the bite was still itchy / was still causing itching
So the sentence uses a very common Portuguese contrast:
- one completed event: trouxe
- one continuing condition in the background: dava comichão
If you said deu comichão, it would sound more like a completed episode: it itched / it gave itching at some point.
But ainda dava comichão suggests the irritation was still going on at that time.
Dar comichão is a very natural Portuguese way to say that something itches or causes itching.
Literally, it is something like:
- to give itchiness
So:
- A picada dava comichão
literally: The bite gave itchiness
natural English: The bite itched / was itchy
And comichão means itching or itchiness.
This is a useful pattern:
- dar dor = to cause pain
- dar sono = to make someone sleepy
- dar comichão = to cause itching
Also, be careful not to confuse this with coçar:
- coçar = to scratch
- dar comichão = to itch / cause itching
Ainda means still here, and in Portuguese adverbs like this often go before the conjugated verb:
- ainda dava comichão = was still itchy / still caused itching
That is the most neutral and natural position in this sentence.
So the structure is:
- ainda = still
- dava = was giving / used to give / was causing
- comichão = itching
Putting ainda there makes it clear that the itching had not stopped yet.