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Os motoristas fizeram greve ontem.

Os motoristas fizeram greve ontem.
The drivers went on strike yesterday.
From Lesson 298:O trabalho e os papéis (chumbar, a greve)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Breakdown of Os motoristas fizeram greve ontem.

ontem
yesterday
o motorista
the driver
fazer greve
to go on strike

Questions & Answers about Os motoristas fizeram greve ontem.

Why does the word motoristas use the masculine article os when it ends in an -a?
The word motorista is a noun that has the same form for both men and women. To show the gender of the person, you change the article: o motorista for a male driver and a motorista for a female driver. In this sentence, os motoristas means the group consists of men, or a mix of men and women.
Why is the verb fizeram (made/did) used here instead of a translation of 'went'?
In Portuguese, the expression for 'going on strike' is fazer greve (literally 'to make strike'). Direct translations often do not work for idioms and set phrases, so translating 'went' literally here would sound completely unnatural to a Portuguese speaker.
Why doesn't it say fizeram uma greve with an article before the word strike?
The set phrase is simply fazer greve. Just like in English where we say 'go to bed' or 'make peace' without an article, Portuguese drops the article here for the general action. You would only add uma if you were talking about one specific, distinct strike.
Could I use the imperfect tense faziam here instead of fizeram?
Not in this context. The word ontem (yesterday) pinpoints a specific, completed timeframe. Therefore, you must use the simple past (Pretérito Perfeito) form fizeram. If you used the imperfect faziam, it would mean 'they used to go on strike' or 'they were striking' in a vague, ongoing way in the past.

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