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Study Resource: Brazilian Portuguese adverbials beginning with ‘a’

By: Fabiana Dametto Oliveira
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These activities are part of our Brazilian Portuguese Grammar series. The skills we are practicing here are covered in our article:

The following are some common adverbial phrases in Brazilian Portuguese that begin with the preposition a.

Adverbial phrase
Example

à beira de

on the edge of

A região está à beira de um colapso.

The region is on the edge of collapse.

à deriva

adrift

O barco ficou à deriva.

The boat was adrift.

à força

by force

Abriram a janela à força.

They opened the window by force.

à prestação

on installments

Pagamos o carro à prestação.

We pay the car in installments.

à risca

strictly/to the letter

Eles seguem as regras à risca.

They follow the rules to the letter.

ao relento

in the open

Os animais dormiram ao relento.

The animals slept in the open.

às avessas

in reverse / topsy-turvy

O personagem é um herói às avessas.

The character is a hero in reverse (= anti-hero).

às escondidas

on the sly / secretly

Saíram de casa às escondidas.

They left home secretly.

às pressas

in a rush

Foram ao hospital às pressas.

They went to the hospital in a rush.

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