Breakdown of Ela precisa de descansar no hotel.
ela
she
em
in / on / at
o hotel
the hotel
precisar de
to need
descansar
to rest
Questions & Answers about Ela precisa de descansar no hotel.
Why is there a de after precisa?
In Portuguese, the verb precisar (to need) is almost always followed by the preposition de when you are stating what someone needs to do. Even though English simply says 'needs to rest', Portuguese requires this extra word, so it looks a bit like saying 'she needs of to rest'.
Why isn't the verb descansar conjugated here?
Because it comes right after a preposition (de). In Portuguese, when a verb directly follows a preposition, it stays in its basic dictionary form, called the infinitive. We use descansar (to rest) rather than changing its ending to match Ela.
How does the word no mean 'at the' in this sentence?
The word no is a contraction made by squashing together the preposition em (in, on, or at) and the masculine word for 'the' (o). Because hotel is a masculine noun, em + o combine to become no.
Is the 'h' in hotel pronounced the same way as in English?
No, the letter 'h' is completely silent when it appears at the beginning of a word in Portuguese. You pronounce hotel by starting straight from the 'o' sound.
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