Na garagem, faço marcha-atrás devagar, porque o espaço é pequeno.

Because na is the contraction of em + a.

• em = in / at
• a = the (feminine singular)

So:

• em a garagem → na garagem

This kind of contraction is very common in Portuguese:

• em + o = no
• em + a = na
• em + os = nos
• em + as = nas

Since garagem is feminine, you use a garagem, so in the garage becomes na garagem.

The phrase Na garagem has been moved to the front of the sentence to set the scene.

The basic idea is:

• Faço marcha-atrás devagar na garagem...

But Portuguese often puts a place expression first for emphasis or context:

• Na garagem, faço marcha-atrás devagar...

The comma helps separate that introductory location phrase from the rest of the sentence. It is similar to English sentences like:

• In the garage, I reverse slowly...

Faço is the 1st person singular present of the verb fazer.

• fazer = to do / to make

But in this expression, fazer marcha-atrás means to reverse / to back up.

So:

• faço = I do / I make
• but faço marcha-atrás = I reverse / I back up

It is an irregular verb:

• eu faço
• tu fazes
• ele/ela faz
• nós fazemos
• vós fazeis
• eles/elas fazem

A learner may expect fazo, but the correct form is faço.

Marcha-atrás is a noun expression related to driving.

It can mean:

• reverse gear
• reversing / backing up

In this sentence, fazer marcha-atrás means to reverse the car.

Literally, it is something like:

• marcha = gear / movement
• atrás = backwards / behind

So the whole expression refers to moving the car backwards.

In European Portuguese, this is a very normal driving expression.

Because it is treated as a fixed compound expression.

In Portuguese, some compound nouns are written with a hyphen, and marcha-atrás is one of them.

So you should learn it as a set phrase:

• fazer marcha-atrás

It is best not to translate it word by word every time; just remember it as the standard expression for reversing.

Because in the expression fazer marcha-atrás, Portuguese normally uses the noun without an article.

So the standard phrase is:

• fazer marcha-atrás

not usually:

• fazer a marcha-atrás

This is similar to how some verbs in many languages combine with nouns in a fixed way. It is simply the idiomatic pattern you need to learn.

Devagar is an adverb meaning slowly.

In Portuguese, adverbs often come after the verb or after the verbal expression:

• faço marcha-atrás devagar

That word order is very natural.

You may also hear other placements in some contexts, but this is the most neutral and common one here.

Compare:

• Falo devagar. = I speak slowly.
• Conduzo devagar. = I drive slowly.

Both can mean slowly, but devagar is much more common in everyday speech.

• devagar = common, natural, conversational
• lentamente = more formal, more bookish, sometimes more deliberate in tone

So in a normal sentence about parking or reversing a car, devagar sounds much more natural.

Here porque means because, so it is the conjunction introducing a reason.

That is why the correct form is:

• porque o espaço é pequeno = because the space is small

Very roughly:

• porque = because
• por que = for what / why (in certain question structures)
• porquê = the noun reason (usually with an article, as in o porquê)

So in this sentence, porque is the only correct choice.

Portuguese uses definite articles more often than English.

Here, o espaço means the space, referring to the available space in that specific situation, such as the room in the garage for moving the car.

Even when English might sometimes say just space, Portuguese often prefers the article when the speaker has a specific space in mind.

So:

• o espaço é pequeno = the space is small

Because ser is used for an inherent or defining characteristic, while estar is more often used for a temporary state.

Here, the sentence is describing the size of the available space:

• o espaço é pequeno = the space is small

That sounds like a characteristic of the space itself in this context, so ser is the natural choice.

If you said está pequeno, it would sound unusual here.

Garagem is feminine:

• a garagem
• na garagem

You usually learn noun gender together with the article, so it is best to memorize it as:

• a garagem = the garage

Not all nouns ending in -agem are obvious to English speakers at first, but many of them are feminine, for example:

• a viagem = the trip
• a paisagem = the landscape
• a garagem = the garage

It could be either, depending on context.

The Portuguese present tense often covers both:

• something happening now
• something that usually happens

So faço marcha-atrás devagar can mean:

• I’m reversing slowly or
• I reverse slowly

If the sentence is being used to describe what the speaker is doing at that moment, the present works perfectly well in Portuguese.

Yes. Portuguese word order is flexible, though some versions sound more natural than others depending on emphasis.

For example:

• Na garagem, faço marcha-atrás devagar, porque o espaço é pequeno.
• Faço marcha-atrás devagar na garagem, porque o espaço é pequeno.

Both are possible, but the original version puts the location first, which gives a nice scene-setting effect.

So the difference is mainly one of focus and style, not basic meaning.

The ç is called cê cedilha, and it makes an s sound before a, o, or u.

So:

• faço is pronounced roughly like FAH-soo in European Portuguese, though the final vowel is much weaker than in English.
• espaço also has that s sound: es-PA-soo roughly

Without the cedilla, ca, co, and cu would normally have a k sound, so the ç is there to keep the soft s sound.

In this sentence it means physical space, specifically the room available for maneuvering the car.

But espaço is a flexible word and can also mean:

• space in general
• a place or area
• room
• even outer space, depending on context

Here, because the sentence is about reversing in a garage, it clearly means available room or maneuvering space.