Breakdown of Tu mesmo podes provocar uma lesão se a postura for má.
ser
to be
tu
you
um
a / an / some (all forms)
poder
can / may (verb)
mau
bad / ill, unwell
se
if
provocar
to cause, to provoke
a lesão
the injury
a postura
the posture
mesmo
-self (emphatic)
Questions & Answers about Tu mesmo podes provocar uma lesão se a postura for má.
Why does the sentence say Tu mesmo? Could it be Tu mesma?
Could I use próprio instead of mesmo in this sentence?
Yes! You can say Tu próprio (or Tu própria if speaking to a woman). When emphasizing that someone did something themselves ("you yourself", "I myself"), mesmo and próprio are completely interchangeable and both are very common.
Why is the verb for used instead of é for "is"?
for is the future subjunctive form of the verb ser (to be). We use the future subjunctive after se (if) when talking about a hypothetical situation that might happen. Even though English simply uses the present tense ("if the posture is bad"), Portuguese requires this special form for an open future possibility.
provocar looks like "provoke". Is it normal to use it for "cause" instead of causar?
Yes, it is very natural! While causar also means "to cause" and works perfectly fine here, provocar is heavily used in Portuguese when talking about bringing about a physical result, such as an injury (uma lesão), an illness, or an accident.
Learn Tu mesmo podes provocar uma lesão se a postura for má and more in Portuguese
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free