Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Dado que está cansado, ele tem de fazer uma sesta.

Dado que está cansado, ele tem de fazer uma sesta.

Since he is tired, he has to take a nap.

Breakdown of Dado que está cansado, ele tem de fazer uma sesta.

ele

a / an / some (all forms)

estar

to be (temporary / location)

cansado

tired

Questions & Answers about Dado que está cansado, ele tem de fazer uma sesta.

Why does Dado que take the indicative verb está here instead of the subjunctive?

The conjunction Dado que (given that / since) is used to state an established fact or the actual cause of something. Because it deals with concrete facts rather than doubt, emotion, or hypothetical scenarios, it requires the indicative mood rather than the subjunctive.

In English we say we take a nap. Why does this sentence use fazer instead of tomar?

Languages often pair different verbs with everyday actions. While you use tomar for taking a shower (tomar um duche) or having a meal (tomar o pequeno-almoço), taking a nap in Portuguese always pairs with fazer (fazer uma sesta).

Could I say ele tem que fazer instead of ele tem de fazer?

In everyday spoken Portuguese, you will often hear people say tem que. However, strictly speaking, ter de is the grammatically correct structure to express a duty or obligation. At a B2 level, it is best practice to use ter de in your writing and formal speaking.

If I wanted to change the second half of the sentence to mean he is always taking a nap using the continuous tense, how would I apply the adverb placement from this lesson?

You would use the continuous structure estar a plus infinitive, and place the short adverb sempre right after the conjugated verb estar. The phrase would become ele está sempre a fazer uma sesta.