Breakdown of O corpo precisa de água e de sono.
a água
the water
precisar de
to need
o sono
the sleepiness / the sleep
o corpo
the body
Questions & Answers about O corpo precisa de água e de sono.
Why is de repeated before sono?
In Portuguese, when a verb requires a specific preposition (like precisar de), you generally must repeat that preposition before every noun in a list. While English says "needs water and sleep", Portuguese structures it as "needs of water and of sleep".
Why is it just de água and not da água?
Because water and sleep are being discussed in a general, uncountable sense. If you used da (which is de + a), you would be saying the body needs the specific water, rather than just water in general.
Can I leave out the de and just say precisa água?
No, in European Portuguese, the verb precisar (to need) must always be followed by the preposition de when it connects to a noun or an infinitive verb. Leaving it out is grammatically incorrect.
Why does the sentence start with the definite article O before corpo?
In Portuguese, nouns that act as the subject of a sentence almost always require a definite article (o, a, os, as). Even when speaking about things in a general or abstract sense, the article is expected.
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