Log inSign up

O espião precisa de esconder a identidade.

O espião precisa de esconder a identidade.
The spy needs to hide his identity.
From Lesson 220:As if (como se)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Breakdown of O espião precisa de esconder a identidade.

precisar de
to need
esconder
to hide
o espião
the spy
a identidade
the identity

Questions & Answers about O espião precisa de esconder a identidade.

Why does the sentence use a identidade instead of a sua identidade for 'his identity'?
In Portuguese, when talking about body parts, clothing, or personal attributes where the owner is obvious from the context, you usually use the definite article (a or o) instead of a possessive pronoun like sua. Since the spy is hiding his own identity, a identidade sounds much more natural.
Why do we need the word de between precisa and esconder?
The verb precisar (to need) requires the preposition de when it connects to a noun or an infinitive verb. Because esconder (to hide) is an infinitive, we must say precisa de esconder.
If there were multiple spies, how would the word espião change?
Nouns ending in -ão have a few different plural patterns. For espião, the plural ending becomes -ões, making the word espiões. If you were talking about female spies, the singular is espiã and the plural is espiãs.

Learn O espião precisa de esconder a identidade and more in Portuguese

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Portuguese →