Breakdown of Eu levanto-me cedo todos os dias.
eu
I
cedo
early
todos os dias
every day
levantar-se
to get up
Questions & Answers about Eu levanto-me cedo todos os dias.
Why does the verb have -me attached to it?
In Portuguese, the action of getting up is expressed with a reflexive verb, levantar-se. Literally, you are saying "I raise myself." Since the subject is Eu (I), the reflexive pronoun must match it, which is why we use -me (myself).
Why is the pronoun attached to the end with a hyphen (levanto-me) instead of coming before the verb?
In European Portuguese, pronouns normally attach to the end of the verb with a hyphen in simple, affirmative main sentences. Putting the pronoun before the verb (like me levanto) is common in Brazilian Portuguese, but in Portugal, levanto-me is the correct standard rule for a sentence starting like this.
If I drop the -me and just say Eu levanto cedo, does it mean the same thing?
No! Without the reflexive pronoun, levantar just means "to lift" or "to raise". If you say Eu levanto cedo, a Portuguese speaker will wait to hear what object you are lifting early in the morning. To say you get yourself out of bed, you must include -me.
Why do we say todos os dias for "every day" instead of just todos dias?
In Portuguese, when you use todo or todos to mean "every" or "all", you almost always need to include the definite article (o, a, os, as) right after it. So, "every day" translates literally as "all the days": todos + os + dias.
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