Breakdown of O menino está sempre a tirar a fralda!
estar
to be (temporary / location)
sempre
always
tirar
to take
o menino
the little boy
a fralda
the diaper
Questions & Answers about O menino está sempre a tirar a fralda!
Why is sempre placed right in the middle of está a tirar?
This is a core feature of the European Portuguese continuous tense. Short, common adverbs like sempre, ainda, já, and bem frequently slip between the auxiliary verb (estar) and the preposition a. You could technically put it later in the sentence, but tucking sempre in the middle sounds much more natural and fluid to native speakers.
Why does the sentence use a fralda (the diaper) instead of a sua fralda (his diaper)?
In Portuguese, when an item of clothing, a body part, or a personal item obviously belongs to the subject of the sentence, the definite article (a or o) is preferred over a possessive pronoun. Since it is the boy's own diaper he is taking off, a fralda is the standard and most natural choice.
When should I use tirar instead of despir for taking off clothes?
Would it be acceptable to use the gerund and say está sempre tirando?
In standard European Portuguese, continuous actions are almost exclusively formed with estar a plus the infinitive, so está sempre a tirar is what you will hear. While está sempre tirando is standard in Brazilian Portuguese and exists in some regional dialects in southern Portugal, it sounds out of place in standard PT-PT.
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