Breakdown of Trago a partitura para eles tocarem com os violoncelos.
eles
they (m)
com
with
a
to / at (direction)
para
to / for
trazer
to bring
o
him/it (m)
tocar
to play (an instrument)
a partitura
the sheet music
o violoncelo
the cello
Questions & Answers about Trago a partitura para eles tocarem com os violoncelos.
Why is it tocarem and not just the normal infinitive tocar?
This is the personal infinitive in action! It comes after the preposition para. Because the people doing the playing are "they" (eles), we have to conjugate the infinitive to match. The base verb tocar gets the -em ending for the "they" form, becoming tocarem.
Since Portuguese often drops pronouns, do we really need eles here?
What verb does trago come from?
It is the "I" (eu) form of the verb trazer (to bring). This is a very irregular verb in the present tense, which is why it looks quite different from its infinitive form.
I learned that tocar means "to touch". Why is it translated as "to play" here?
Tocar is the correct verb to use for playing musical instruments, as well as for touching things. Because the sentence mentions sheet music (partitura) and cellos (violoncelos), the musical meaning is clearly the right one here. If you wanted to talk about playing a sport or a game, you would use a different verb: jogar.
Learn Trago a partitura para eles tocarem com os violoncelos and more in Portuguese
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free