Breakdown of Eles costumam ver o neto todos os dias.
eles
they (m)
ver
to see
todos os dias
every day
costumar
to usually do
Questions & Answers about Eles costumam ver o neto todos os dias.
Why are we using the verb costumar here instead of just a word for "usually"?
In Portuguese, to express a habit or something you "usually" do, it is very common to use the verb costumar (to tend to / to be in the habit of) followed by an infinitive verb. Here, costumam (they usually) is paired with the infinitive ver (to see). It acts a bit like "They are in the habit of seeing".
Could I use an adverb like normalmente instead of costumar?
Yes, you absolutely can! Saying Eles normalmente veem o neto means the exact same thing. However, the costumar + infinitive structure is extremely natural and widely used by native speakers, so it's a great pattern to add to your vocabulary.
The English translation says "their grandson", but the Portuguese sentence just says o neto (the grandson). Where is the word for "their"?
In Portuguese, when the context makes it obvious whose family member it is, native speakers often drop the possessive pronoun (like seu or deles) and just use the definite article (o or a). Because the sentence starts with Eles (They), it is naturally assumed that o neto refers to their grandson.
Does todos os dias literally translate to "all the days"?