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Portuguese (Portugal)

### Powering Machines with "a"

In Portuguese, when you want to describe how a machine, tool, or device is powered or operated, use the preposition **a** followed directly by the power source. This simple construction is the equivalent of the English suffixes "-powered", "-driven", or the prefix "hand-". 

Notice that no article (like *o* or *a*) is used after the preposition in these phrases.

### Fuels and Elements

You will frequently see this pattern used with traditional fuels and elements, especially when talking about vintage machinery. Common examples include **a vapor** (steam-powered), **a gás** (gas-powered), and **a petróleo** (oil-powered).

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### Manual and Mechanical Power

This exact same rule applies to physical mechanisms, whether they require human effort or an internal engine. You can use it with mechanisms like **uma manivela** (a crank) or **um pedal** (a pedal) to describe how the gears (**a engrenagem**) are turned.

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Mechanisms and instruments (a)

adjective

adverb

conjunction

contraction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

particle

phrase

prefix

prep

preposition

pron

pronoun

sentence

verb

Demonstratives and the verb to be (isto é, o, a)

Subject pronouns and negation (eu, não)

Yes/no questions and question words (quem, o que)

Plural pronouns, articles, and verbs (somos, são, os, as)

Origin and possession (de, do, da)

Introductions (chamar-se)

Indefinite articles (um, uma, uns, umas)

The verb to be for locations (estar)

Contrasting the two verbs to be (ser vs. estar)

Preposition for locations (em, no, na)

Numbers 0 to 10 (zero, um, dois)

The verb to have (tenho, tem)

Regular -ar verbs (falar, trabalhar)

Regular -er verbs (comer, beber)

Regular -ir verbs (abrir, partir)

My, your, and our (o meu, a nossa)

His, hers, and theirs (dele, dela)

Adjective agreement and placement

Days of the week (segunda-feira)

Months of the year (janeiro)

Counting by tens to 100 (trinta, quarenta...)

Telling time (é uma, são...)

Asking about time (quando, a que horas)

The verb to go (ir)

Prepositions of direction (a, para)

Preposition a contractions (ao, à, aos, às)

Prepositions of place (ao lado de, em frente de...)

Demonstratives (este, esse, aquele)

Contractions with demonstratives (neste, desse, daquele)

Asking which and how many (qual, quanto)

Plurals ending in -ão (-ões, -ãos, -ães)

Plurals ending in consonants (-ns, -is, -es)

The verb to like (gostar de)

The verb to need (precisar de)

The verb to want (querer)

The verb can or may (poder)

Expressing obligation (ter de)

Adverbs of degree (muito, pouco)

Quantifiers (muito, pouco)

Comparatives (mais... do que, menos... do que)

Equality comparisons (tão... como)

The preposition com (comigo, contigo)

Coordinating conjunctions (e, mas, ou, porque)

The preposition por (pelo, pela)

Double negation (nunca, nada, ninguém)

Present continuous (estar a)

Near future (ir)

Past tense of regular -ar verbs

Past tense of regular -er and -ir verbs

Past tense of ser and ir (fui, foi)

Direct object pronouns (me, te, o, a, nos, os, as)

Pronoun placement with negatives and questions

Greetings and courtesy (bom dia, obrigado)

Physical states with ter (ter fome, ter frio)

Asking the way (à direita, sempre em frente)

Colours (vermelho, amarelo, cor-de-rosa)

Money and shopping (custar, a moeda)

Getting around (o motorista, a paragem de autocarro)

Weather and seasons (faz calor, o inverno)

Omitting the subject pronoun

Where things are: ficar (Onde fica...?)

Richer questions: que + noun and é que

Numbers above 100 (cento e vinte, mil)

First-person sound changes (durmo, prefiro)

Advice and ability: dever and saber

Asking why: porquê and porque

When one thing happens: quando-clauses

Here and there: aqui, aí, ali (cá e lá)

Formal and plural possessives: o seu, o vosso

Irregular presents: ver, vir, dar

Present irregulars

Reflexive verbs (me, te, se, nos)

Stem-changing reflexives

Attached object pronouns (-lo, -la, -los, -las)

Nasal attached pronouns (-no, -na, -nos, -nas)

Pronoun placement with adverbs

Past tense of fazer, dizer, and trazer

Past tense of ter, estar, poder, and saber

Past tense of querer and vir

Past tense of ver, dar, and ler

Past tense reflexive verbs (-se)

Time elapsed in the past (há)

Question	Answer
the valve	a válvula
the steam	o vapor
The valve of the steam train broke down many years ago.	A válvula do comboio a vapor avariou há muitos anos.
the pump	a bomba
The steam pump needs more water.	A bomba a vapor precisa de mais água.
the gramophone	o gramofone
the crank	a manivela
I bought a hand-cranked gramophone at the flea market.	Comprei um gramofone a manivela na feira da ladra.
the lever	a alavanca
He pulled the lever and the hand-cranked gramophone started playing.	Ele puxou a alavanca e o gramofone a manivela pôs-se a tocar.
the gear	a engrenagem
I hope that the gear works with this lever.	Espero que a engrenagem funcione com esta alavanca.
the gas	o gás
the petroleum	o petróleo
We do not have a gas oven, but we have an oil lamp.	Não temos um forno a gás, mas temos um candeeiro a petróleo.
This oil lamp needs a new valve.	Este candeeiro a petróleo precisa de uma válvula nova.
the fan	o ventilador
The motor-driven fan broke down ten years ago.	O ventilador a motor avariou há dez anos.
I hope that the gas stove works well.	Espero que o fogão a gás funcione bem.
The pedal pump has a broken gear.	A bomba a pedal tem uma engrenagem avariada.
I burst out laughing when I saw the pedal-powered fan.	Desatei a rir quando vi o ventilador a pedal.