Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Ele esquia bem.

Ele esquia bem.

He skis well.

Breakdown of Ele esquia bem.

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Questions & Answers about Ele esquia bem.

How do we get esquia from the verb esquiar?

Esquiar is the dictionary form, meaning "to ski". Because this is a regular -ar verb, we drop the -ar and add -a to match ele (he), giving us esquia.

How do you pronounce esquia?

The stress falls on the i, sounding like "eesh-KEE-ah". Also notice that the s sounds like a "sh" because in European Portuguese, an s before a consonant (like the q here) takes on that "sh" sound.

Why use bem instead of bom?

Bom means "good" and describes things or people. Bem means "well" and describes how an action is done. Since we are describing the action of skiing, we must use bem.

If I wanted to say "He likes to ski" for my current lesson, would I use esquia?

No, you would say Ele gosta de esquiar. Whenever you use gostar de (to like to) followed by another action, that second action must stay in its full dictionary form (esquiar), rather than the conjugated form (esquia).