Explaining a procedure in Portuguese
Explain how to get a workstation ready for a colleague. You will give four linked steps and say both when an action happens and what it is for. The equipment is only a setting: the goal is a clear procedure.
Bring back sequence, instructions and purpose
Primeiro means first and depois means then; instructions such as siga (go/follow) directly guide the listener. Tem que + infinitive states a requirement, while não precisa + infinitive removes the need: it does not prohibit the action. Serve para + infinitive describes a function; here para will explain the purpose of an action. You do not need the earlier lessons open to use these distinctions.
The equipment and familiar actions
O computador is the computer, o monitor the complete display device, and a tela its screen. O cabo de dados is a data cable, and o mouse is the mouse; this lesson uses a wired one. Ligar means turn on here, trabalhar means work, and começar means start the activity. The articles o and a identify the objects; e means and.
Read the connection map
Read left to right: computer — data cable — monitor; the cable links the two devices. This is a connection map, not the order of the actions, and it omits power supplies. Before connection, look closely at the cable; after switching on, inspect the screen to check the result. The table has no audio: use the sentence buttons in the next section to hear the instructions.
| Device | Link | Device |
|---|---|---|
| computador | — cabo de dados — | monitor |
Four steps for a colleague
Read or listen to the four sentences as one short procedure. Verificar means to examine something to check its condition here; verifique is the instruction “check”. Conectar means to make the physical connection; conecte is “connect”, and conecte o monitor ao computador means “connect the monitor to the computer” (ao = a + o). These are contextual alternatives to inspecionar and ligar in the linked verb cards; ligue in the third step means “turn on”, not “connect”. Por fim closes the sequence, and começar in the final step means starting work.
Primeiro, verifique o cabo de dados antes de conectar o monitor.
Depois, conecte o monitor ao computador para trabalhar.
Depois de conectar o monitor, ligue o computador e o monitor.
After connecting the monitor, turn on the computer and the monitor.
Por fim, verifique a tela antes de começar.
Order: before and after an action
Antes de conectar o monitor means “before connecting the monitor”: checking comes first, connecting second. Depois de conectar o monitor means “after connecting the monitor”: connecting comes first, turning on second. In these examples de is followed by the infinitive conectar, not the instruction conecte; likewise, antes de começar uses começar. The time phrase may come before or after the instruction, as the examples show. All these actions are carried out by the same understood listener; other participants are outside this lesson.
antes de / depois de conectar / ligar / começar
Primeiro, verifique o cabo de dados antes de conectar o monitor.
Depois de conectar o monitor, ligue o computador e o monitor.
After connecting the monitor, turn on the computer and the monitor.
Por fim, verifique a tela antes de começar.
Purpose: why do it?
Conecte o monitor ao computador para trabalhar gives the purpose: connect it in order to work. Here para is followed by the infinitive trabalhar; unlike English “before connecting”, Portuguese also keeps an infinitive after antes de. Para answers “what for?”, while antes de and depois de organize time. The intended purpose is not a promise that the equipment will work.
ação para trabalhar
Depois, conecte o monitor ao computador para trabalhar.
Your turn: prepare a different device
Now help a colleague with a wired mouse; the monitor is already ready. Before reading the answer, explain three steps in one message: inspect the data cable before connecting the mouse; connect the mouse to the computer to work; after connecting it, turn on the computer. Use primeiro, depois and depois de, keeping the noun mouse instead of learning a new pronoun. Compare your message with the three sentences, then say it again without copying.
Primeiro, verifique o cabo de dados antes de conectar o mouse.
Depois, conecte o mouse ao computador para trabalhar.
Depois de conectar o mouse, ligue o computador.
Check the logic of your explanation
For each instruction, name the action and its object. Use antes de + infinitive for an action still to come, depois de + infinitive for one already completed in that sequence, and para + infinitive for the purpose: antes de conectar, depois de conectar, para trabalhar. Can your colleague tell what to check, what to connect and when to switch on? Transfer the same structure to another familiar procedure; explain any new objects before using them.