Breakdown of A batedeira vai misturando os ingredientes.
a
to / at (direction)
ir
to go
misturar
to mix
o ingrediente
the ingredient
a batedeira
the mixer
Questions & Answers about A batedeira vai misturando os ingredientes.
Why use vai misturando instead of está a misturar?
In European Portuguese, you usually use estar a + infinitive to say an action is happening right now. However, using ir + gerund (like vai misturando) adds a special nuance. It shows that the action is happening gradually, steadily, or bit by bit. It gives the feeling of watching the ingredients slowly come together in the bowl.
Does European Portuguese normally use the gerund (-ndo)? I thought that was mostly a Brazilian feature.
It is a common myth that European Portuguese never uses the gerund! While it is true that Portugal prefers estar a + infinitive for standard continuous actions (unlike Brazilian Portuguese, which uses the gerund everywhere), the gerund is still mandatory in Portugal when using auxiliary verbs like ir or vir to express a gradual, unfolding process.
Since we say está a misturar, could I also say vai a misturar for a gradual action?
No, you cannot mix those two structures. The auxiliary verb estar pairs with a + infinitive (está a misturar), but the gradual auxiliary verb ir must pair directly with the gerund (vai misturando). If you said vai a misturar, it would literally mean the mixer is physically traveling to another location in order to mix something.
How does the word batedeira relate to its function?
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