Breakdown of Nós viemos mais cedo do que a tripulação para embarcar.
nós
we
cedo
early
para
to / for
mais
more
do que
than
vir
to come
a tripulação
the crew
embarcar
to board
Questions & Answers about Nós viemos mais cedo do que a tripulação para embarcar.
Is viemos in the present or past tense here?
It is in the past tense. For the irregular verb vir (to come), the past tense for "we" is viemos (we came). Be careful not to confuse it with the present tense form, which is vimos (we come).
Why do we use do que instead of just que for "than"?
When making comparisons like "earlier than" (mais cedo do que), European Portuguese speakers often add do before que. You can also just say mais cedo que, but do que is extremely common and sounds very natural.
Why is para used before embarcar?
Using para directly before an infinitive verb like embarcar (to board) shows the purpose of an action. It translates to "in order to". We came early in order to board.
Since the current lesson is about the subjunctive, why isn't there any subjunctive in this sentence?
The subjunctive is only used when a sentence has a specific trigger, like a verb of desire (querer que, preferir que). This sentence is just stating a fact about something that actually happened (viemos, we came), so we use the normal past tense instead.
Learn Nós viemos mais cedo do que a tripulação para embarcar 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