Getting dental braces is a big adjustment.
| The orthodontist recommends that I wear the braces. | O ortodontista recomenda que eu use o aparelho. |
Finding it Hard: Custar a
To express that someone is finding an action difficult to perform, use the verb custar followed by a and an infinitive.
| to be hard (for someone) to do | custar a |
Literally "it costs [someone] to [do something]", this structure requires a shift in perspective. In English, you might say "I find it hard," making "I" the subject. In Portuguese, the action is the subject ("it is hard"), and the person experiencing the difficulty is the indirect object.
Because the action is the subject, custar stays in the third-person singular, paired with an indirect object pronoun (like me, te, lhe, nos, or lhes).
| I find it hard to bite solid food. | Custa-me a trincar comida sólida. |
Notice how custa is paired with the indirect object pronoun me and the preposition a before the infinitive trincar.
The indirect object pronoun changes depending on who is finding the action difficult. Custar can also be used in different tenses, like the past (custou):
| Did the orthodontist tell you that you find it hard to chew? | O ortodontista disse-te que te custa a mastigar? |
| He found it hard to speak quietly because the braces were rubbing on the sore. | Custou-lhe a falar baixo porque o aparelho roçava na ferida. |
| Whether it is solid or soft, we find it hard to bite the bread. | Seja sólido seja mole, custa-nos a trincar o pão. |
| My smile is beautiful, but I find it hard to laugh. | O meu sorriso é lindo, só que custa-me a rir. |
