Learn Portuguese (Portugal): O engarrafamento era grande, por isso cheguei atrasado. - The traffic jam was big, so I arrived late.

O engarrafamento era grande, por isso cheguei atrasado.

The traffic jam was big, so I arrived late.

Breakdown of O engarrafamento era grande, por isso cheguei atrasado.

Questions & Answers about O engarrafamento era grande, por isso cheguei atrasado.

How exactly does por isso work here, and what does it literally mean?

It literally translates to "for that" (por = for, isso = that). It acts as a bridge connecting a cause ("The traffic jam was big") to its consequence ("I arrived late"). In Portuguese, this is the most common and natural way to say "so" or "therefore".

Why do we use era for the traffic jam, but cheguei for arriving?

This is a classic past-tense combination! We use the imperfect tense (era) to describe the background situation or ongoing state (the traffic jam being big). We use the preterite tense (cheguei) for the single, completed action (arriving) that happened during that background situation.

I usually see tarde for "late". Why does this sentence use atrasado?

Tarde generally refers to a late time of day (like late at night). Atrasado specifically means "delayed" or "behind schedule", which fits perfectly here. Also, because atrasado is an adjective describing the speaker, it changes with gender. A male speaker says cheguei atrasado, but a female speaker must say cheguei atrasada.

Engarrafamento is such a long word! Is there an easy way to remember it?