Breakdown of Há um mês que compramos as batatas à tonelada.
um
a / an / some (all forms)
haver
to be (there is / there are)
comprar
to buy
o mês
the month
a
to / at (direction)
à
at the (fem. sg.) / to the (fem. sg.)
que
that (conjunction)
a tonelada
the ton
a batata
the potato
Questions & Answers about Há um mês que compramos as batatas à tonelada.
Why is it à tonelada instead of something like "por tonelada" to mean "by the ton"?
In Portuguese, when expressing that something is sold, bought, or measured by a certain unit, we use the preposition a combined with the definite article for that unit. Because tonelada is feminine singular, the preposition a and the article a contract to form à.
Why is the present tense compramos used here when the English translation says "have been buying"?
To express an action that started in the past and continues into the present, Portuguese uses the present tense accompanied by a time expression. The structure Há [time] que plus a present tense verb literally translates to "There is [time] that we do [action]", which takes the place of the English present perfect continuous tense.
How can we tell just by looking at the word that compramos is in the present tense and not the past tense?
In European Portuguese, the "we" form of regular "-ar" verbs has a spelling difference between the present and past tense. The past tense is written with an acute accent (comprámos) to show an open vowel sound. Because this sentence uses compramos without the accent, we know it is the present tense.
What is the purpose of the word que in Há um mês que?
The word que acts as a bridge between the time expression and the main action. While há um mês alone means "a month ago", adding que changes the structure to mean "it has been a month that..." or "for a month", securely connecting the time duration to the ongoing action.
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