Question 1

Why do we use não é at the end instead of translating "don't you"?

Accepted Answer

In Portuguese, we don't translate English tag questions like "don't you?", "aren't we?", or "hasn't she?" word-for-word. Instead, for a positive statement like Tu lembras-te... (You remember...), we simply add não é? at the end. It literally means "isn't it?", but it is the standard way to ask for confirmation after a positive sentence.

Question 2

Could I use pois não? here instead of não é??

Accepted Answer

No, because pois não? is used to confirm negative statements. Since the main sentence Tu lembras-te da nossa professora is a positive statement, you must use não é? to ask for agreement.

Question 3

Why is it da nossa professora and not just a nossa professora?

Accepted Answer

The verb used here is lembrar-se, which means "to remember". In Portuguese, this verb requires the preposition de before the thing or person you are remembering. Here, de combines with the feminine article a (meaning "the") to make the word da.

Question 4

Why is there a -te attached to the verb in lembras-te?

Accepted Answer

The verb "to remember" in Portuguese is usually reflexive: lembrar-se (literally "to remind oneself"). Because the subject of this sentence is tu (you), the reflexive pronoun changes to match it, becoming -te.

Tu lembras-te da nossa professora, não é?

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