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Os reformados costumam gostar de jardinagem.

Os reformados costumam gostar de jardinagem.
The retired men usually like gardening.
From Lesson 162:Expressing habits (costumar)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Breakdown of Os reformados costumam gostar de jardinagem.

gostar de
to like
costumar
to usually do
reformado
retired
a jardinagem
the gardening

Questions & Answers about Os reformados costumam gostar de jardinagem.

How does the phrase costumam gostar translate to "usually like"?
The verb costumar expresses being in the habit of doing something. To talk about a habit, you conjugate costumar (here, costumam for the "they" form) and follow it with an infinitive verb (here, gostar meaning to like). You do not need a separate adverb for the word "usually".
Why is there a de between gostar and jardinagem?
The verb gostar always needs the preposition de to connect it to the thing you like. While in English we just say "like gardening", in Portuguese you must say gostar de jardinagem.
Does the word reformados mean "reformed"?
No, it is a false friend! In European Portuguese, a reforma means retirement or a pension. Therefore, os reformados refers to retired people or pensioners.
How is jardinagem formed from the word for garden (jardim)?
The suffix -agem is often added to Portuguese words to describe an activity, process, or collection. Added to the root of jardim (garden), it creates jardinagem, which means the activity of gardening.

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