Breakdown of Ora escrevo a letra primeiro, ora começo pelo refrão.
a
to / at (direction)
começar
to begin
por
through / by / for / because of
escrever
to write
o
him/it (m)
primeiro
first
ora
now / sometimes (e.g. ora... ora...)
a letra
the lyrics
o refrão
the chorus
Questions & Answers about Ora escrevo a letra primeiro, ora começo pelo refrão.
How does ora... ora... change the tone compared to just saying às vezes... às vezes...?
Ora... ora... is an alternating conjunction that emphasizes a frequent, almost rhythmic switching between two actions or states, much like saying 'one minute... the next...'. While às vezes... outras vezes... is perfectly correct for 'sometimes... sometimes...', ora... ora... sounds a bit more literary and dynamic.
Why is letra singular when the English translation says 'lyrics'?
In Portuguese, the words to a single song are referred to as a singular entity: a letra. If you were to say as letras, a native speaker would likely assume you were talking about individual letters of the alphabet, or the lyrics to several different songs.
Why does the sentence use pelo instead of com o to say 'with the chorus'?
The verb começar (to start) pairs with the preposition por to indicate the first step in a sequence or a point of origin. Here, por contracts with the masculine article o (from o refrão) to become pelo. Even though we say 'start with' in English, directly translating it to começo com would sound unnatural in this context.
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