Breakdown of A costureira está a fazer um vestido para a minha irmã.
a irmã
the sister
um
a / an / some (all forms)
estar
to be (temporary / location)
meu
my
para
to / for
o vestido
the dress
fazer
to do
o
him/it (m)
a costureira
the seamstress
Questions & Answers about A costureira está a fazer um vestido para a minha irmã.
Since this lesson is about andar para, how would the meaning change if we said anda para fazer instead of está a fazer?
Está a fazer is the standard present continuous, meaning the seamstress is actively working on the dress right now. If we swapped it for anda para fazer, it would express a delayed intention: she 'has been meaning to make' or 'has been planning to make' the dress for a while, but hasn't actually started yet.
Could we use the preposition por instead of para when making something for someone?
Why is there an a before minha irmã?
As a quick refresher, European Portuguese almost always requires a definite article before a possessive pronoun. While in English we just say 'for my sister', in Portuguese we say 'for the my sister' (para a minha irmã). Dropping the article is common in Brazilian Portuguese, but sounds unnatural in Portugal.
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