Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Ora componho depressa, ora não faço nada. - Sometimes I compose fast, sometimes I do nothing.

The conjunction ora... ora... highlights a direct, often rapid or unpredictable alternation between two contrasting states or actions. While às vezes... às vezes... simply means 'sometimes... sometimes...', ora... ora... gives a stronger feeling of 'one minute I do this, the next minute I do that.'

componho comes from the verb compor. Why doesn't it end in -o like regular -ar, -er, or -ir verbs?

compor belongs to a special group of verbs ending in -por (derived from the base verb pôr, meaning 'to put'). These verbs are highly irregular. You conjugate them just like pôr, which gives us the first-person singular form componho.

Is the double negative in não faço nada strictly necessary?

Yes. In Portuguese, when a negative word like nada (nothing), ninguém (nobody), or nunca (never) appears after the verb, you must precede the verb with não. Saying faço nada without the não sounds incomplete and incorrect in standard European Portuguese.

Could I say componho rápido instead of componho depressa?