Breakdown of A minha mãe mudou-se para outra cidade há muito tempo.
a mãe
the mother
muito
much / very
meu
my (m/f/pl: meu, minha, meus, minhas)
para
to / for
o tempo
the time
a cidade
the city
outro
other
mudar-se
to move
há
ago / for (a period up to now)
Questions & Answers about A minha mãe mudou-se para outra cidade há muito tempo.
Why is há used here to mean ago?
In Portuguese, the verb haver (which usually means to exist or there is) is used to talk about elapsed time. When paired with a completed past action like mudou-se, the word há translates to ago in English. So, há muito tempo literally means there is a lot of time, but we understand it as a long time ago.
Why does the verb mudou have -se attached to it?
Why do we use the preposition para instead of a for the destination?
You use para when going to a destination for a long time or permanently, like moving to a new city to live. If her mother were only taking a short, temporary trip to visit the city, you would use the preposition a instead.
Why is there an A at the very beginning of the sentence?
In European Portuguese, it is standard grammar to put a definite article (o or a) before a possessive word like minha (my). Since mãe (mother) is a feminine noun, the sentence starts with A minha mãe, which literally translates to the my mother.
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