Breakdown of É importante olharem para o maestro antes de entrarem no compasso.
ser
to be
no
in the / on the / at the (m, f, pl forms: na, nos, nas)
para
to / for
entrar
to enter
o
him/it (m)
importante
important
antes de
before
olhar
to look
o maestro
the conductor (orchestra)
o compasso
the measure
Questions & Answers about É importante olharem para o maestro antes de entrarem no compasso.
Why do the verbs olhar and entrar have an -em at the end?
This is the personal infinitive in action! In English, we say "for you to look". In Portuguese, instead of adding a separate word for "you", we change the infinitive verb itself to show who is doing the action. Adding -em to olhar and entrar makes them olharem and entrarem, which means "for you (plural)" or "for them" to look and enter.
Why do we use the personal infinitive after antes de?
This is exactly what your current lesson covers! When you have a preposition like antes de (before) or depois de (after), Portuguese requires an infinitive verb. If you need to specify exactly who is doing that action (in this case, "you all"), you use the personal infinitive. So, antes de entrarem means "before you (plural) enter".
The translation says "for you to look", but where is the Portuguese word for "you"?
Why is it olharem para and not just olharem o maestro?
In Portuguese, the verb olhar (to look) is almost always followed by the preposition para (to/towards) when you are looking at a specific person or thing. So you literally say "look towards the conductor".
Quick refresher: what does no mean in no compasso?
no is a mandatory contraction of the preposition em (in/on) and the masculine word o (the). Because compasso means the musical measure or beat, no compasso translates to "in the measure" or "on the beat".
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