Breakdown of Há dois degraus que estão por arranjar nas escadas.
haver
to be (there is / there are)
estar
to be (temporary / location)
em
in / on / at
dois
two
a
to / at (direction)
por
through / by / for / because of
a escada
the stairs / the staircase
que
who / which / that (relative)
arranjar
to fix; to get hold of
o degrau
the step (stair)
Questions & Answers about Há dois degraus que estão por arranjar nas escadas.
Why does estão por arranjar translate as passive ("to be repaired") when arranjar is an active verb?
The structure estar por + infinitive describes a pending action—something that has not been done yet but is expected to happen. When the subject is an inanimate object (like dois degraus), the meaning naturally becomes passive in English: the steps are waiting for someone to repair them. You do not need to put the Portuguese verb into the passive voice here.
Since there are two steps, why doesn't the sentence start with a plural verb instead of the singular Há?
Is degraus an irregular plural? I often confuse plurals for words ending in a vowel plus -u.
Could I use reparar instead of arranjar here?
Yes, reparar is a perfectly good verb for "to repair." However, in everyday European Portuguese, arranjar is the most versatile and common verb for fixing, organizing, or sorting things out. You will hear arranjar used for everything from fixing broken stairs to getting a haircut.
Learn Há dois degraus que estão por arranjar nas escadas 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