Eles vão pelos caminhos novos.

Questions & Answers about Eles vão pelos caminhos novos.

Where does the word pelos come from if the word for 'through' is por?
The word por blends together with the word for 'the'. Because caminhos (paths) is masculine and plural, we use the article os. When por and os meet, they contract into pelos. You will never see 'por os' written as two separate words in Portuguese.
Could pelos also mean 'hairs' in Portuguese?
Yes, the noun pelos means 'hairs' (like animal fur or body hair). However, you can easily tell from the context of going (vão) and paths (caminhos) that here it is the preposition meaning 'through the'.
Why is it caminhos novos instead of novos caminhos?
In Portuguese, describing words (adjectives) almost always come after the thing they are describing. You are literally saying 'paths new'. Also, notice how novos ends in -os to match the masculine, plural word caminhos.
Which verb does vão come from?
Vão is the 'they' form of the highly irregular verb ir, which means 'to go'. Because it is irregular, it looks completely different from its dictionary form!

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