Breakdown of Como a feiticeira fizera um feitiço, a rainha adormeceu.
um
a / an / some (all forms)
fazer
to do
a rainha
the queen
adormecer
to fall asleep
como
since / as (causal)
a feiticeira
the sorceress
o feitiço
the spell
Questions & Answers about Como a feiticeira fizera um feitiço, a rainha adormeceu.
What tense is fizera, and how do I figure out its root?
fizera is the Simple Pluperfect (Pretérito Mais-Que-Perfeito Simples) of fazer, meaning "had cast" or "had made". To form this tense, you start with the "eles/elas" form of the Simple Past. For fazer, that is fizeram. Drop the final -am to get the root fizer-, and then add the new ending, which is -a for the "ela" form.
Could I use tinha feito instead of fizera here?
Yes, absolutely. tinha feito is the Compound Pluperfect, and it means the exact same thing. The simple form (fizera) is mostly used in literature, formal writing, and storytelling (perfect for fairy tales about a queen and a sorceress), whereas tinha feito is what you will almost always hear in everyday spoken Portuguese.
Is there a more specific Portuguese verb for "casting" a spell, or do we always just use fazer?
I usually translate como as "how" or "like". How do I know when it means "as" or "because"?
When como is placed at the very beginning of a sentence to introduce a full clause, it frequently acts as a causal conjunction meaning "as", "since", or "because". In this sentence, it sets up the cause (the spell) for the result in the second half (the queen falling asleep).
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