Question 1

Does the word enquanto require a special verb tense after it?

Accepted Answer

No, it does not! Enquanto simply means 'while' and links two ongoing actions. You just use regular indicative tenses after it. Here, it beautifully connects two present continuous actions happening at the exact same time.

Question 2

Why do we use estamos a construir instead of the normal present tense construímos?

Accepted Answer

This is the Portuguese present continuous tense, used for actions happening right now. In European Portuguese, we form it with the verb estar plus the preposition a followed by the infinitive of the main verb (construir). It works exactly like the English 'are building'.

Question 3

Could I drop the pronouns nós and vocês in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

You could easily drop nós because the verb estamos only ever belongs to 'we'. However, estão can mean 'they' or 'you all', so keeping vocês removes any guesswork. Furthermore, keeping both pronouns in this specific sentence strongly emphasizes the contrast between what 'we' are doing and what 'you' are doing.

Question 4

I see the word hospital is spelled exactly like it is in English. Does it sound the same?

Accepted Answer

Not quite! In Portuguese, an 'h' at the start of a word is always completely silent. The stress also goes on the very last syllable (os-pi-TAL), and the final 'l' has a deep, heavy sound at the back of the mouth.

Nós estamos a construir um hospital enquanto vocês estão a construir um parque.

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