Breakdown of Fazemos uma fogueira depois de montar a tenda.
um
a / an / some (all forms)
a
to / at (direction)
fazer
to do
depois de
after
montar
to assemble
a fogueira
the campfire
a tenda
the tent
Questions & Answers about Fazemos uma fogueira depois de montar a tenda.
Why do we use the infinitive montar instead of saying 'we set up'?
In Portuguese, when an action comes immediately after prepositions like depois de (after) or antes de (before), you usually use the infinitive form of the verb. Because fazemos already tells us that 'we' are the ones doing the action, we can just use the basic infinitive montar (to set up).
The English translation says 'We make', but could fazemos also mean 'We will make'?
Exactly! Just like in English ('We are making a campfire later'), Portuguese frequently uses the present tense to talk about planned actions in the near future.
Why is there a de after depois?
On its own, depois just means 'afterwards' or 'later'. When you want to connect it to another action or a noun to say 'after [something]', you have to use the compound preposition depois de.
Since the subject is 'we', could we say montarmos instead of montar?
Yes, absolutely! When the subject is the same for both actions ('we make' and 'we set up'), using the basic uninflected infinitive montar is completely correct. However, using the personal infinitive montarmos to match the 'we' subject is also correct and very common in Portugal.
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