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Estou a limpar o pincel sujo.

Estou a limpar o pincel sujo.
I am cleaning the dirty paintbrush.
From Lesson 61:Present continuous (estar a)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about Estou a limpar o pincel sujo.

How does this sentence say "I am cleaning" without using an "-ing" word?
In Portugal, the present continuous (meaning you are doing something right now) is built using the verb estar (to be) + the word a + the full dictionary form of the main verb. Here, we use estou (I am) + a + limpar (to clean).
Where is the word for "I" in this sentence?
It is hidden in the verb! Because estou specifically means "I am" (from the verb estar), the pronoun eu (I) is normally dropped. You could say Eu estou a limpar, but it is much more natural to leave it out.
Why does sujo (dirty) come after pincel (paintbrush)?
In Portuguese, describing words (adjectives) almost always come after the thing they describe. So instead of "dirty paintbrush", the order is "paintbrush dirty" (pincel sujo).
How do we know to use sujo instead of suja?
Adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. We can see the word for "the" is o, which tells us pincel is a masculine noun. Because of this, we must use the masculine form of the adjective, sujo, rather than the feminine form suja.

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