Breakdown of O avô dividiu a avelãzinha e o cajuzinho connosco.
e
and
dividir
to share / to divide
connosco
with us
o avô
the grandfather
o caju
the cashew
a avelã
the hazelnut
Questions & Answers about O avô dividiu a avelãzinha e o cajuzinho connosco.
Why do avelã and caju use the suffix -zinho or -zinha instead of just -inho or -inha?
We add the -z- to make -zinho or -zinha when the base word ends in a stressed vowel, a nasal vowel, or the letter m. Since caju ends in a stressed u and avelã ends in a nasal ã, they both need the -z- to connect to the diminutive suffix smoothly.
Why does avelãzinha keep the tilde (~) from avelã, when other words drop their accents in the diminutive?
When adding -zinho or -zinha, you normally drop acute and circumflex accents (for example, avó becomes avozinha) because the main spoken stress shifts to the -zi- syllable. However, the tilde (~) isn't just a stress mark; it tells you the vowel is nasal. Because the nasal sound remains, the tilde stays in avelãzinha.
Why is 'with us' translated as connosco instead of com nós?
The preposition com (with) merges with certain pronouns to form unique single words. Com plus nós always becomes connosco. As a quick reminder for European Portuguese learners, this is spelled with a double n.
Why is the verb dividiu used here instead of dividia?
Dividiu is the past simple (pretérito perfeito) of dividir. It is used here because sharing the nuts was a single, completed action in the past. If the sentence used dividia (the imperfect past), it would mean he 'used to share' or 'was sharing' them over a period of time.
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