Talking About Digital Habits
To talk about your screen time and digital routines, you will need some new vocabulary, such as a aplicação (the app) and descarregar (to download).
| the app | a aplicação |
| What app do you usually download? | Que aplicação costumas descarregar? |
Adverbs of Frequency
When describing how often you do these things, you will use adverbs of frequency. Here are some of the most common ones:
- sempre (always)
- frequentemente (frequently)
- muitas vezes (often / many times)
- às vezes (sometimes)
- raramente (rarely)
- diariamente (daily)
In Portuguese, single-word frequency adverbs are most commonly placed immediately after the verb.
| We always download new apps. | Nós descarregamos sempre aplicações novas. |
| They frequently look at the profile. | Eles olham frequentemente para o perfil. |
Emphasizing the Frequency
Portuguese sentence structure is quite flexible. To add emphasis to how often something happens, adverbs and adverbial phrases can be moved to the very beginning or the very end of the sentence.
Placing the adverb at the beginning is especially common with às vezes and raramente:
| Sometimes, she blocks the profile. | Às vezes, ela bloqueia o perfil. |
| I rarely block the notifications on my mobile phone. | Raramente bloqueio as notificações no meu telemóvel. |
You will also frequently see adverbs placed at the end of the clause or sentence, like diariamente (daily) or muitas vezes (many times):
| He browses the internet daily before having lunch. | Ele navega na internet diariamente antes de almoçar. |
| I forget the password many times. | Eu esqueço-me muitas vezes da palavra-passe. |
