Portuguese Year 4: Linking, stretching and shortening sentences
Portuguese, Year 4 (Portugal): Connectors that show how ideas relate (porque, mas, ou, se), and how to add detail to a sentence or cut it down to the essentials.
Words that link, sentences that grow and shrink
Connectors are words that link sentences and show how they relate: «e» adds, «mas» contrasts, «ou» gives a choice, «porque» gives the cause, «se» sets a condition. To expand a sentence is to add information to it (who, when, where, how). To reduce it is to take away what is not essential and keep the core: who does something and what they do.
A text in pieces or a text that flows
Without connectors, a text falls into pieces: «Gosto de futebol. Não gosto de ténis.» (I like football. I do not like tennis.) With a connector, the relation is clear: «Gosto de futebol, mas não gosto de ténis.» (I like football, but I do not like tennis.) Expanding gives colour and detail to a story; reducing helps you summarise and say the essentials. A good text, spoken or written, uses both.
From «O Rui chegou.» to a fuller sentence, and back
Start with «O Rui chegou.» (Rui arrived.) Step 1: expand with when, how and where: «Ontem à noite, o Rui chegou muito cansado a casa.» (Last night Rui arrived home very tired.) Step 2: link with «mas» (contrast): «O Rui chegou muito cansado, mas não queria dormir.» (…but he did not want to sleep.) Step 3: another connector gives another idea; with «porque» (cause): «O Rui chegou muito cansado porque jogou à bola todo o dia.» (…because he played football all day.) Step 4: reduce again: «O Rui chegou.»
The wrong connector, or only «e»
The connector must say the right relation. «Não fui à festa, mas estava doente» ✗ (I did not go to the party, but I was ill) makes no sense: «mas» shows contrast, and here there is a cause: «porque». Another mistake is using only «e» again and again: «Fui à praia e comi um gelado e vi o mar e…» Vary: «mas», «ou», «porque», «se». And when you reduce, do not remove the essentials: «O Rui cansado» has lost its verb.
Telling, explaining and summarising
You use connectors when you explain why («porque…», because…), when you choose («ou…», or…), when you set a condition («Se chover, fico em casa.», If it rains, I stay at home.) or when you write a story. Expanding and reducing are used in compositions and summaries: telling a story with more detail, or saying only the essentials in a single sentence.
Test what you learned
«Fiquei em casa ___ estava doente.» (I stayed at home ___ I was ill.) Which connector gives the cause?
- a) mas
- b) ou
- c) porque
- d) se
Correct answer: c) porque — Yes: «porque» gives the cause. He stayed at home because he was ill.
Which is the reduced sentence (the essentials) of «Ontem à tarde, a minha avó preparou um bolo delicioso para nós»?
- a) Ontem à tarde, a minha avó.
- b) Preparou ontem à tarde.
- c) Um bolo delicioso para nós.
- d) A avó preparou um bolo.
Correct answer: d) A avó preparou um bolo. — Yes: it keeps who does it (a avó), what she does (preparou) and what she prepared (um bolo).
«Queria ir à praia, ___ estava frio.» (I wanted to go to the beach, ___ it was cold.) Which connector fits best?
- a) mas
- b) porque
- c) ou
- d) se
Correct answer: a) mas — Yes: wanting to go to the beach and the cold work against each other. «Mas» shows contrast.
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