Breakdown of Eles começam a praticar piano agora.
eles
they (m)
agora
now
a
to / at (direction)
começar
to begin
o piano
the piano
praticar
to practice
Questions & Answers about Eles começam a praticar piano agora.
Why is there an a between começam and praticar?
The verb começar (to start) requires the preposition a when it is followed by another verb in the infinitive (like praticar). You cannot connect the two verbs directly. Whenever you want to say you are 'starting to do' something, the structure is always começar a + infinitive.
Since the translation says 'are starting', why doesn't the Portuguese sentence use estão a começar?
In Portuguese, the simple present tense (começam) can translate to either 'they start' or 'they are starting'. While estão a começar is grammatically correct, native speakers frequently use the simple present for verbs like começar when the word agora (now) already makes it perfectly clear that the action is happening right at this moment.
Why isn't there a 'the' (o) before piano?
In English, we say 'practice the piano', but in Portuguese, the definite article is often left out when talking generally about playing or practicing an instrument. You just say praticar piano or tocar piano.
Why does começam have a cedilla (ç) instead of a regular c?
The infinitive is começar. In Portuguese, a regular c makes a hard 'k' sound when followed by the vowels a, o, or u. To keep the soft 's' sound from the infinitive, we must use a cedilla before the -am ending.
Learn Eles começam a praticar piano agora and more in Portuguese
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free