Breakdown of Ela quis o presente porque compreende a minha intenção.
ela
she
meu
my
querer
to want
compreender
to understand
porque
because
o presente
the gift
a intenção
the intention
Questions & Answers about Ela quis o presente porque compreende a minha intenção.
Why is the past tense of "querer" spelled as quis here instead of following normal verb rules?
Why does the sentence use the past tense for quis but the present tense for compreende?
The action of wanting the gift happened in the past (quis), but her understanding of your intention is an ongoing, current truth (compreende). Just like in English, Portuguese can safely mix tenses when a past event is driven by a continuing present reality.
Why is there an a before minha? Doesn't minha already mean "my"?
In European Portuguese, you almost always need to put a definite article (o or a) before a possessive word. Because intenção (intention) is a feminine noun, the phrase must be a minha intenção (literally "the my intention").
How do you pronounce the s at the end of quis in this specific sentence?
Because the very next word is a vowel (o), the s at the end of quis links to it and makes a "z" sound in spoken Portuguese. If you were to say quis all by itself or at the end of a sentence, that same s would make a "sh" sound instead.
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