Word
Queres o envelope? Dou-to.
Meaning
Do you want the envelope? I will give it to you.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Queres o envelope? Dou-to.
querer
to want
dar
to give
o envelope
the envelope
to
it to you / them to you (to, ta, tos, tas)
Questions & Answers about Queres o envelope? Dou-to.
What exactly does to mean in Dou-to?
to is a contraction of two pronouns: te (to you) and o (it, referring to the masculine noun o envelope). So, Dou-to literally means 'I give to you it'. In European Portuguese, when an indirect object pronoun (te) and a direct object pronoun (o) are next to each other, they merge into a single word.
Why is -to attached to the end of the verb with a hyphen instead of coming before it?
In European Portuguese, pronouns usually attach to the end of the verb in positive main clauses, like Dou-to. If the sentence were negative (like 'I won't give it to you'), the word não would pull the pronoun to the front: Não to dou.
Why is the present tense Dou used if the English translation says 'I will give'?
In Portuguese, the present tense is very commonly used for actions that are going to happen in the immediate future. Since the action of giving the envelope is about to happen right away, the present tense Dou (I give) sounds perfectly natural.
If I was talking about a feminine object, like a letter (a carta), how would Dou-to change?