Breakdown of Temos de lavar o biberão e mudar a fralda.
e
and
ter de
to have to
lavar
to wash
mudar
to change
o biberão
the baby bottle
a fralda
the diaper
Questions & Answers about Temos de lavar o biberão e mudar a fralda.
How would we change the first part of this sentence to say "We are always washing the baby bottle" to practice the current lesson's grammar?
You would use Estamos sempre a lavar o biberão. Notice how the short adverb sempre slips right between the conjugated verb (estamos) and the preposition a. This "adverb intrusion" is a very common and natural feature of the European Portuguese continuous tense.
Why use temos de lavar here instead of temos que lavar?
In strict European Portuguese, ter de is the proper way to express an obligation or duty (we must do it). Ter que is traditionally used when you literally have "things" to do (for example, Tenho muito que fazer). While you will frequently hear native speakers use ter que for obligations in casual, everyday speech, ter de remains the safest and most standard choice.
Why isn't the preposition de repeated before the second verb, mudar?
When you connect two infinitives with e (and) under the exact same obligation, you don't need to repeat the auxiliary setup. The temos de at the beginning naturally carries over to both lavar and mudar. Saying temos de lavar o biberão e de mudar a fralda is grammatically correct, but omitting the second de is more concise and sounds much smoother.
Is mudar the only verb used for "changing" a diaper?
In Portugal, mudar is the standard and most common verb for changing a baby's diaper (fralda), just as it is used for changing clothes (mudar de roupa). You might already know the verb trocar (to exchange/swap), which is the standard choice for diapers in Brazilian Portuguese, but mudar is what you will hear most in Portugal.
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