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O senhor queimou-se no braço com o chá?

O senhor queimou-se no braço com o chá?
Did you burn your arm with the tea, sir?
From Lesson 81:Past tense reflexive verbs (-se)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about O senhor queimou-se no braço com o chá?

Why is there a hyphen in queimou-se?
Queimar-se (to burn oneself) is a reflexive verb. In this sentence, it is conjugated in the simple past tense for O senhor (formal you), which uses the 3rd-person form queimou. Because this is a standard affirmative question, the reflexive pronoun se attaches to the end of the verb with a hyphen.
Why does it say no braço instead of using a word for your arm?
In Portuguese, you generally do not use possessive words for body parts. Because the reflexive verb queimou-se already shows that the man burned himself, saying no braço (literally on the arm) makes it perfectly clear whose arm it is.
Where does the word no come from in this sentence?
No is a contraction of the preposition em (in or on) and the masculine singular definite article o (the). In this context, it translates to on the.
Why does this sentence use O senhor instead of você for you?
In Portugal, it is much more polite to use O senhor (for a man) or A senhora (for a woman) when speaking formally to someone, especially an older person or a customer. They take the exact same verb conjugations as ele or ela.

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