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Ele deita o lápis na gaveta.

Ele deita o lápis na gaveta.
He lays the pencil in the drawer.
From Lesson 61:Present continuous (estar a)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about Ele deita o lápis na gaveta.

How would I say "He is laying the pencil in the drawer" using the present continuous from this lesson?
To say "is laying", you use the verb estar (to be) plus a and the dictionary form (infinitive) of the main verb, which is deitar. For ele (he), estar becomes está. So, you would change the sentence to: Ele está a deitar o lápis na gaveta.
The word lápis ends in an "s". How can we tell he is only laying down one pencil?
The noun lápis is spelled exactly the same way in both the singular and the plural. You have to look at the word right before it: the singular masculine article o (the) tells us it is just one pencil. If it were multiple pencils, it would be os lápis.
Why does the sentence use "na gaveta" instead of just "em a gaveta" for "in the drawer"?
In Portuguese, the word em (in/on/at) almost always merges with the word for "the". Because gaveta (drawer) is a feminine noun, "the drawer" is a gaveta. When you combine em + a, they merge to form na.
Does the verb deitar always mean "to lay"?
It generally means to lay something down flat (like a pencil) or to pour something. Portuguese has other words for "to put" or "to place" (like pôr and colocar). You will also commonly see deitar used for going to bed (deitar-se, meaning to lay oneself down) or for throwing things in the trash (deitar fora).

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