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A avó costuma fazer tricô para dar à neta.

A avó costuma fazer tricô para dar à neta.
The grandmother usually knits to give to the granddaughter.
From Lesson 162:Expressing habits (costumar)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about A avó costuma fazer tricô para dar à neta.

How does costuma fazer translate to "usually knits"?
To express a habit in Portuguese, you use the helper verb costumar (meaning "to be in the habit of" or "usually do") followed directly by an infinitive verb. Here, it is conjugated for the grandmother (costuma) and followed by fazer (to do/make).
Why is it fazer tricô instead of a single verb for "to knit"?
In Portuguese, "to knit" is not a single action verb. Instead, it is expressed as a phrase using fazer (to do/make) plus the noun tricô (knitting). Literally, she "usually does knitting."
Why do we use para before dar?
In this sentence, para means "in order to." When you want to show the purpose of an action, you use para followed by an infinitive verb (the basic, unconjugated form of the verb). She knits in order to give (para dar) it to her granddaughter.
What does the backward accent on à in à neta mean?
The à with a grave accent is a contraction of two identical letters: the preposition a (to) and the feminine definite article a (the). Because the verb dar (to give) requires the preposition a when giving something to someone, a + a neta combines into à neta (to the granddaughter).

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