Questions & Answers about Precisas de dormir mais?
Why is there a de between precisas and dormir?
The verb precisar (to need) almost always requires the preposition de right after it in European Portuguese, whether it is followed by a noun or an infinitive verb like dormir (to sleep). You can think of it as saying "to have need of". Because of this rule, you must say precisas de dormir, not just precisas dormir.
Where is the word for "you" in this sentence?
In Portuguese, you do not usually need to include the subject pronoun because the verb ending gives it away. The -s ending in precisas tells us exactly who is doing the action: tu (you, informal). You could say Tu precisas de dormir mais?, but it is much more natural to leave tu out.
There is no word for "Do" at the beginning. How do we know it is a question?
Unlike English, Portuguese does not use helper words like "do" or "does" to ask a question, and you do not need to change the word order either. To turn the statement Precisas de dormir mais (You need to sleep more) into a question, you simply raise the pitch of your voice at the end when speaking, or add a question mark when writing.
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