Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic (Modern Standard)

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Dari

Farsi

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

Portuguese (Portugal)

### Starting Suddenly: Pôr-se a

To express that someone suddenly or deliberately starts doing something, use the reflexive verb **pôr-se** followed by the preposition **a** and an **infinitive**. It often describes immediate reactions.

Because **pôr** is highly irregular, here is a quick reminder of its present and preterite (past) forms:

| Pronoun | Present | Preterite (Past) |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| eu | **ponho-me** | **pus-me** |
| tu | **pões-te** | **puseste-te** |
| ele / ela / você | **põe-se** | **pôs-se** |
| nós | **pomo-nos** | **pusemo-nos** |
| eles / elas / vocês | **põem-se** | **puseram-se** |

Notice how **pôr-se a** sets the scene for unexpected actions:

{{item:1037608}}

{{item:1037618}}

{{item:1037621}}

### Bursting Into: Desatar a

For an uncontrollable, emotional outburst—such as bursting into tears, erupting in laughter, or breaking into a sudden run—use **desatar a** followed by an **infinitive**. 

While **pôr-se a** means "to start," **desatar a** implies a sudden, intense release of energy or emotion. **Desatar** is a regular *-ar* verb.

{{item:1037612}}

{{item:1037616}}

{{item:1037620}}

Starting suddenly (pôr-se a, desatar 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 prank	a brincadeira
harmless	inofensivo
to start	pôr-se a
If I play a harmless prank, you start crying.	Se eu faço uma brincadeira inofensiva, tu pões-te a chorar.
hilarious	hilariante
to burst into	desatar a
uncontrollably	descontroladamente
The joke was hilarious, so they burst out laughing uncontrollably.	A anedota era hilariante, por isso eles desataram a rir descontroladamente.
the tomfoolery	a palhaçada
to terrify	apavorar
to sob	soluçar
The clowning terrified the boy and he started sobbing.	A palhaçada apavorou o miúdo e ele desatou a soluçar.
the grimace	a careta
She made a face and the baby started sobbing.	Ela fez uma careta e o bebé pôs-se a soluçar.
We find the prank hilarious, but the girl makes a face.	Nós achamos a brincadeira hilariante, mas a rapariga faz uma careta.
The harmless dog terrifies the neighbor and she starts running uncontrollably.	O cão inofensivo apavora a vizinha e ela desata a correr descontroladamente.
I don't understand what this nonsense is, but they started jumping.	Eu não percebo o que é esta palhaçada, mas eles puseram-se a saltar.
I was preparing the prank and you started screaming uncontrollably.	Eu preparava a brincadeira e tu desataste a gritar descontroladamente.
The clown makes a hilarious face and starts dancing.	O palhaço faz uma careta hilariante e põe-se a dançar.
If the shadow terrifies the child, she starts sobbing.	Se a sombra apavora a criança, ela desata a soluçar.