Breakdown of O extraterrestre olhou para a criatura sem piscar os olhos.
para
to / for
olhar
to look
sem
without
o olho
the eye
a criatura
the creature
o extraterrestre
the alien
piscar
to blink
Questions & Answers about O extraterrestre olhou para a criatura sem piscar os olhos.
Why does the Portuguese sentence use os olhos instead of a possessive like os seus olhos for 'its eyes'?
In Portuguese, when an action is performed on one's own body parts or clothing, you typically use the definite article (o, a, os, as) rather than a possessive pronoun. Since it is obvious the alien is blinking its own eyes, os olhos is the natural choice.
Why do we use para after olhou here? Could we just say olhou a criatura?
While you will sometimes see olhar used directly with a noun (like olhar a paisagem for 'to look at the landscape'), when directing your gaze at a specific person or creature, the preposition para is standard in European Portuguese. Olhou para a criatura emphasizes the focus of the alien's gaze.
Why is piscar in the infinitive here, rather than a gerund like in the English 'blinking'?
In Portuguese, prepositions like sem (without) are always followed by the infinitive form of the verb. Because the subject doing the blinking is the same as the main clause (the alien), we just use the basic, uninflected infinitive: sem piscar.
Since this lesson covers como se + Mais-Que-Perfeito do Conjuntivo, how would we adapt this sentence to say 'as if it had not blinked'?
To make that unreal past comparison, you would replace sem piscar with como se não tivesse piscado. The phrase como se (as if) triggers the subjunctive, and because we are talking about a hypothetical completed action in the past, we use the Mais-Que-Perfeito do Conjuntivo (the imperfect subjunctive of ter + the past participle).
Learn O extraterrestre olhou para a criatura sem piscar os olhos 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