Breakdown of Quero que o passageiro aperte o cinto.
querer
to want
que
that (conjunction)
o passageiro
the passenger
apertar
to fasten
o cinto
the belt
Questions & Answers about Quero que o passageiro aperte o cinto.
In English we say "I want the passenger to fasten". Why doesn't Portuguese use the infinitive here?
When expressing a desire for someone else to do something, Portuguese does not use the infinitive. Instead, you must use que (that) followed by the other person and a verb in the subjunctive mood. Literally, you are saying "I want that the passenger fastens...". If you wanted to fasten your own seatbelt, the subjects would match and you would use the infinitive: Quero apertar o cinto.
Why does the verb apertar change to aperte?
The phrase Quero que... (I want that...) triggers the present subjunctive. For regular -ar verbs like apertar (to fasten), the vowel flips in the subjunctive: the usual -a endings become -e endings. Since o passageiro is a third-person singular subject, the correct form is aperte.
Is cinto the exact word for seatbelt?
What if I wanted to say "We want the passenger to fasten the seatbelt"?
You would change the first verb to Queremos (We want). The rest of the sentence stays exactly the same: Queremos que o passageiro aperte o cinto. The subjunctive verb aperte only depends on who is doing the fastening (the passenger), not on who is doing the wanting!
Learn Quero que o passageiro aperte o cinto 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