Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Podemos passar pelo túnel?

Podemos passar pelo túnel?

Can we go through the tunnel?

Breakdown of Podemos passar pelo túnel?

through the (m.sg, pela, pelos, pelas)

o túnel

the tunnel

Questions & Answers about Podemos passar pelo túnel?

Why does this sentence use pelo instead of just the preposition por?

Pelo is a mandatory contraction. It combines the preposition por (through) with the masculine singular word for 'the' (o), because túnel is a masculine noun. Whenever por is directly followed by o, they merge into pelo.

I thought por meant 'by' or 'for'. Why does it translate to 'through' here?

The preposition por has a few different meanings depending on the context. When you pair it with a verb of motion like passar (to pass or go) and a physical place like a tunnel, street, or door, it usually translates to 'through'.

Why is passar left in its base dictionary form instead of being conjugated?

When two verbs are used together to express a single idea, only the first verb changes its ending to match the speaker. Here, Podemos (we can) is already conjugated, so the second verb passar (to go/pass) stays in its basic infinitive form.

Where is the word for 'we' (nós) in this sentence?

In Portuguese, the verb ending usually tells you exactly who is doing the action. Because Podemos can only mean 'we can', including nós at the start of the sentence is optional and is usually left out in everyday conversation.