Breakdown of A contração não para e o marido está prestes a gritar.
e
and
não
not / no
parar
to stop
gritar
to shout
o marido
the husband
estar prestes a
to be about to
a contração
the contraction
Questions & Answers about A contração não para e o marido está prestes a gritar.
How do we form the phrase está prestes a gritar in this sentence?
This is a common structure used to show that an action is imminent, meaning it is going to happen at any second. You form it with the verb estar (conjugated for the subject, which is o marido here), followed by the fixed phrase prestes a, and finally the infinitive verb, which is gritar (to scream).
Could I use está para gritar instead of está prestes a gritar here?
Yes, but there is a slight difference in urgency. Estar prestes a means to be just about to or on the verge of, implying the husband will scream right this second. Estar para also means to be about to, but it can feel a bit less immediate or refer to a general intention. In this tense hospital scenario, prestes a captures the panic perfectly!
Why does the verb para not have an accent mark to separate it from the preposition?
Before the 1990 spelling reform (Acordo Ortográfico), the verb form for he/she/it stops was written as pára to distinguish it from the preposition para (for/to). The accent was removed, so they are now spelled exactly the same. You have to rely on context. Here, não para clearly means doesn't stop because it follows the subject A contração and the negative word não.
Does contração refer to a medical contraction or a grammatical one?
It can mean both, just like in English. However, given the context of a husband who is about to scream, this sentence is definitely talking about a muscle contraction during childbirth, rather than combining two words together!
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