Breakdown of É preciso usar a motosserra e o cinzel para esculpir o gelo.
e
and
para
to / for
usar
to use / to wear
o gelo
the ice
é preciso
it is necessary
esculpir
to sculpt
a motosserra
the chainsaw
o cinzel
the chisel
Questions & Answers about É preciso usar a motosserra e o cinzel para esculpir o gelo.
Why is it É preciso usar instead of É precisa usar since motosserra is feminine?
Why does the word motosserra have a double 's'?
Motosserra is a compound word made from moto (motor) and serra (saw). In Portuguese, when a prefix or word ending in a vowel is joined with a word starting with 's' or 'r', that consonant is doubled to preserve its original strong sound. If it were spelled with one 's', it would be pronounced with a 'z' sound because it sits between two vowels.
Why do we use para instead of por before esculpir?
You use para here because it expresses purpose or an end goal, translating to "in order to." You are using the tools specifically to achieve the goal of sculpting the ice. A common refresher: por is generally used for the cause of an action, movement through a space, or the means of doing something, rather than the final objective.
What is the plural of o cinzel?
Words ending in -el drop the -l and add -is in the plural, and they often gain an acute accent to maintain the stress on that final syllable. Therefore, o cinzel becomes os cinzéis.
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