Questions & Answers about Para de falar, por favor!
Wait, isn't para the word for 'to' or 'for'? Why is it used here?
You are thinking of the preposition para, but here para is actually a verb! It is the informal command (imperative) form of parar (to stop). Because the command form of the verb and the preposition look and sound exactly the same, you have to rely on context to tell them apart.
Why do we need the word de in this sentence?
In Portuguese, the verb parar requires the preposition de when it is followed by another action. The set pattern is always parar de + [infinitive verb], which means 'to stop doing [something]'.
The translation says 'talking', so why use falar (to talk) instead of an -ing form?
In English, we use 'stop' followed by an -ing word (stop talking). However, in Portuguese, whenever a verb comes directly after a preposition like de, it must stay in its basic, unconjugated infinitive form. So, 'stop talking' translates literally as 'stop of to talk'.
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