Learn Portuguese (Portugal): A feiticeira levara a coroa para a montanha. - The sorceress had taken the crown to the mountain.

levara is the Pretérito Mais-Que-Perfeito Simples (Simple Pluperfect) of the verb levar. It translates to 'had taken'. You form it by starting with the third-person plural of the Past Simple (levaram), dropping the final -am, and adding the Simple Pluperfect endings. For the third-person singular, we add -a.

How do I pronounce levara, and how can I avoid confusing it with the future tense?

In levara, the stress falls naturally on the second-to-last syllable: le-VA-ra. If you stress the final syllable, it becomes levará ('will take'), which is the future tense. The lack of a written accent mark on the final letter is your visual clue that this is the Simple Pluperfect rather than the future tense.

Would Portuguese speakers use levara in casual conversation?

Rarely. The Simple Pluperfect is almost exclusively found in literature, journalism, and formal storytelling. In everyday speech, a Portuguese speaker would use the compound form instead: A feiticeira tinha levado a coroa.

Why does the sentence use para a montanha instead of à montanha?