Word
Há um mês que o aprendiz limpa a oficina.
Meaning
For a month, the apprentice has been cleaning the workshop.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Há um mês que o aprendiz limpa a oficina.
um
a / an / some (all forms)
o mês
the month
limpar
to clean
que
that (conjunction)
Questions & Answers about Há um mês que o aprendiz limpa a oficina.
Why is limpa in the present tense when the English translation says 'has been cleaning'?
In Portuguese, when an action started in the past and is still happening right now, we use Há + time + que + the present tense. English uses the present perfect continuous ('has been cleaning'), but Portuguese simply treats it as an ongoing present action.
Can I write this sentence without using the word que?
Yes, but the word order would change. You could say O aprendiz limpa a oficina há um mês. When you put Há um mês at the beginning of the sentence to emphasize the time duration, you must use que to connect it to the main action.
Is oficina a false friend? It looks exactly like 'office'.
Yes, it is a massive false friend! oficina means a workshop or a repair shop, such as an auto mechanic's garage. If you want to talk about a business office where people do administrative work, you must use the word escritório.