Word
Mal chegue à curva, o piloto precisa de travar.
Meaning
As soon as he reaches the curve, the driver needs to brake.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Mal chegue à curva, o piloto precisa de travar.
a
to / at (direction)
precisar de
to need
chegar
to arrive
mal
as soon as
Questions & Answers about Mal chegue à curva, o piloto precisa de travar.
Why is the verb chegar in the subjunctive (chegue) instead of the indicative (chega)?
In this sentence, mal acts as a temporal conjunction meaning 'as soon as'. Because reaching the curve is a future, uncompleted action, it requires the subjunctive. If the sentence described a habitual action in the present (for example, 'Every lap, as soon as he reaches the curve, he brakes'), you would use the indicative: Mal chega à curva...
I learned that mal means 'badly' or 'poorly'. How do I know when it means 'as soon as'?
You have to look at the structure of the sentence. When mal modifies a verb on its own (like Ele dorme mal), it means 'badly'. But when it connects two clauses to show timing, it acts as a conjunction meaning 'as soon as' or 'barely'. The fact that it triggers the subjunctive chegue here is a huge clue that it is acting as a temporal conjunction!
Why does the sentence use à curva instead of na curva?
In English, we say 'arrive at' or 'arrive in', which tempts learners to use the Portuguese preposition em (em + a = na). However, the Portuguese verb chegar requires the preposition a to indicate a destination. So, a (the preposition) + a (the feminine article for curve) merges into à (à curva).