Breakdown of Eles casaram-se há três meses.
eles
they (m)
três
three
o mês
the month
há
ago / for (a period up to now)
casar-se
to get married
Questions & Answers about Eles casaram-se há três meses.
How does há mean "ago" in this sentence?
The verb haver (which gives us há) is used to talk about elapsed time. When you use há with a period of time, it means that amount of time has passed since the action happened. In English, we put "ago" after the time period, but in Portuguese, há comes before the time period (há três meses = three months ago).
Why does the verb have -se attached to it (casaram-se)?
In Portuguese, getting married is usually expressed with the reflexive verb casar-se. If you just use casaram by itself, it can sound like they officiated a wedding for someone else. The -se shows that they are the ones who got married to each other.
Could I put the se before the verb, like Eles se casaram?
In European Portuguese, the pronoun usually goes after the main verb in a simple affirmative sentence like this one, joined by a hyphen (casaram-se). Putting it before the verb is standard in Brazilian Portuguese, but in Portugal, it sounds unnatural for this specific sentence.
Can I add the word atrás (behind/ago) to this sentence?
You will sometimes hear native speakers say há três meses atrás to emphasize how long ago it was. However, because há already means that time has passed, adding atrás is technically a repetition. Just using há três meses is the most natural and grammatically correct way to write it.
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