Breakdown of Há muito tempo que o mestre ajuda o novo carpinteiro.
novo
new / young
muito
much / very
o tempo
the time
ajudar
to help
que
that (conjunction)
há
ago / for (a period up to now)
o mestre
the master
o carpinteiro
the carpenter
Questions & Answers about Há muito tempo que o mestre ajuda o novo carpinteiro.
Why does this sentence use the present tense ajuda when the English translation says "has been helping"?
In Portuguese, when an action started in the past and is still happening right now, you use the present tense. The structure Há + time + que + present tense verb literally translates to "There is a long time that the master helps...", but it is the standard way to express that an action has been ongoing for a certain amount of time.
What is the purpose of the word que in this sentence? Can I leave it out?
In this specific structure, que acts as a bridge connecting the time expression at the beginning to the rest of the sentence. It adds emphasis to the duration, and you cannot leave it out if you start with Há muito tempo. However, if you move the time expression to the end of the sentence, the que disappears completely: O mestre ajuda o novo carpinteiro há muito tempo.
What exactly does mestre mean in this context?
While mestre directly translates to "master", in the context of manual trades like carpentry, it refers to a master craftsman or the senior, highly experienced worker who oversees and trains others (which is why he is helping the novo carpinteiro).
Could I use desde instead of há in this sentence?
Not with a duration of time like muito tempo. You use há to talk about a duration (for a long time, for two years). You use desde for a specific starting point in time (since 2015, since yesterday). If you wanted to use desde here, you would have to change the time expression to a starting point, for example: desde o ano passado (since last year).
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