Word
Olha para a direita antes de atravessar.
Meaning
Look to the right before crossing.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Olha para a direita antes de atravessar.
para
to / for
antes de
before
olhar
to look
a direita
the right (side)
Questions & Answers about Olha para a direita antes de atravessar.
Why is the verb olha instead of olhas?
Olha is an informal command, giving an instruction to someone you would address as tu. To make a positive command for tu, you just take the normal present tense form (olhas) and drop the final 's'. If you were speaking formally to a você, you would use olhe.
Why does the sentence use para a direita instead of à direita?
Para a direita emphasizes the physical direction, meaning 'towards the right'. À direita is usually used for a static location, meaning 'on the right' (like a shop being on the right). When telling someone where to point their eyes, para a is the most natural choice here.
The translation says 'crossing', so why is atravessar in the basic infinitive form?
In Portuguese, whenever a verb comes directly after a preposition like de, it must stay in its basic infinitive form. English often uses the '-ing' form for this (like 'before crossing' or 'without looking'), but Portuguese strictly uses the infinitive.
Do I always need the word de after antes?