Question 1

Why do we use uns aos outros here instead of um ao outro?

Accepted Answer

We use the plural uns aos outros because a team (equipa) usually consists of more than two people. If the team only had two people helping each other, you would use the singular expression um ao outro.

Question 2

If ajudamo-nos already means "we help each other", why do we need to add uns aos outros at the end?

Accepted Answer

Adding uns aos outros strongly reinforces that the action is reciprocal (helping each other) rather than just reflexive (helping ourselves). While ajudamo-nos can mean both depending on the context, the extra phrase makes it completely clear that the team members are helping one another.

Question 3

Why is the verb spelled ajudamo-nos instead of ajudamos-nos?

Accepted Answer

Whenever you attach the pronoun -nos to a verb that ends in -mos (the "we" form), you must drop the final -s of the verb. This makes the word flow better and is easier to pronounce, so ajudamos + -nos becomes ajudamo-nos.

Question 4

Why does the sentence start with Na rather than just Em?

Accepted Answer

Na is the mandatory contraction of the preposition em (in) and the feminine word for "the" (a). In European Portuguese, you generally must use "the" before possessives like nossa, so "in our team" translates literally to "in the our team" (em + a nossa equipa).

Na nossa equipa, ajudamo-nos uns aos outros.

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