Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Como o servidor está lento, precisamos de reiniciar o sistema. - Since the server is slow, we need to restart the system.

Como o servidor está lento, precisamos de reiniciar o sistema.

Since the server is slow, we need to restart the system.

Breakdown of Como o servidor está lento, precisamos de reiniciar o sistema.

estar

to be (temporary / location)

Questions & Answers about Como o servidor está lento, precisamos de reiniciar o sistema.

Can I start this sentence with porque instead of como?

It is much more natural to use como when the reason comes at the very beginning of the sentence, meaning "since" or "because". You usually only use porque in the middle of a sentence, like this: Precisamos de reiniciar o sistema porque o servidor está lento.

Why do we need the word de after precisamos?

The verb precisar (to need) is almost always followed by the preposition de when it connects to a noun or an action. To say "we need to restart", you must say precisamos de reiniciar.

Why does the sentence use está instead of é for the slow server?

We use está (a form of the verb estar) because the slowness is a temporary problem happening right now. If you used é (from the verb ser), it would imply that the server is inherently and permanently a slow machine.

How is the word reiniciar formed?

It works just like English! The verb iniciar means "to start" or "to initiate". Adding the prefix re- makes it reiniciar, which is the standard term for "to restart" or "to reboot" a computer system.