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Portuguese (Portugal)

### Have Been Doing: "Andar a"

To talk about a recent, ongoing habit or something you "have been doing" lately, Portuguese uses a very common structure: the verb **andar** followed by the preposition **a** and an **infinitive**.

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Conjugate **andar** (which literally means "to walk") in the present tense to match the subject, add **a**, and keep your main action in the infinitive.

- **andar** (conjugated) + **a** + **infinitive**

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### Linking Multiple Actions

If you have been doing more than one thing, you usually repeat the preposition **a** before the second infinitive. You can easily connect these ongoing actions with conjunctions like **e** (and), **ou** (or), or **nem** (nor).

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### Asking Questions

As with any Portuguese sentence, turning these ongoing actions into questions is simply a matter of raising your intonation at the end of the sentence.

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Recent continuous actions (andar 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
to have been (doing)	andar a
to meditate	meditar
the yoga	o ioga
I have been meditating and doing yoga lately.	Eu ando a meditar e a fazer ioga ultimamente.
the diary	o diário
Lately, my little brother has been writing a diary.	Ultimamente, o meu irmãozinho anda a escrever um diário.
the marathon	a maratona
Either you have been training for the marathon, or doing yoga.	Ou andas a treinar para a maratona, ou a fazer ioga.
to save (money, resources)	poupar
She has been saving money for the marathon in London.	Ela anda a poupar dinheiro para a maratona em Londres.
the ecology	a ecologia
If you have been saving, do you want to study ecology with us?	Se andas a poupar, queres estudar ecologia connosco?
the documentary	o documentário
What a surprise! They have been watching a documentary about ecology.	Que surpresa! Eles andam a ver um documentário sobre ecologia.
the programming	a programação
I have neither been watching the documentary nor studying programming.	Nem ando a ver o documentário, nem a estudar programação.
to research	pesquisar
Have you been researching a lot about the new programming?	Andas a pesquisar muito sobre a nova programação?
Has the little cat been playing in the garden?	O gatinho anda a brincar no jardim?
the thesis	a tese
What a pity! The student hasn't been writing her thesis nor her diary.	Que pena! A aluna não anda a escrever a tese nem o diário.
They have been meditating before watching the documentary.	Eles andam a meditar antes de ver o documentário.
Lately, I have been researching for the thesis.	Ultimamente, eu ando a pesquisar para a tese.