Without in Portuguese

By James Hall / / (2) Beginning Portuguese, (3) Intermediate Portuguese
without in Portuguese

To say “without stopping” it’s just sem - without- plus the verb (almost any verb) in it’s infinitive form. You can use this format to say things like, sem falar, sem pagar, sem pensar, sem perguntar and so on. Very useful.

sem falar = without saying
sem pagar = without paying
sem pensar = without thinking
sem perguntar = without asking

Notice that in each case, the English translation is an -ing verb! It's similar to how Portuguese says things like stop talking, before paying and, after doing and ETC.

We don't really say with looking, with saying, etc. Why not? It just sounds wrong. We say, without looking, without saying, and so on. All_the_time.

And so do Brazilians.

Without in Portuguese: useful examples

*I'm not talking about saying, without in the simpler usage like, Ela está sem roupa. (She's naked).

Vou comer sem beber. > I'm going to eat without drinking.
Ele consegue andar sem cair? > Is he able to walk without falling?
Eu já fiquei três dias sem dormir > I've already gone three days without sleeping.
Vamos conversar sem gritar. > Let's talk without yelling.

Can you say, without in Portuguese with other verbs in-between?

Pode sim!

Just as we would say something like, You can go to the show with having to wear formal attire, you can do that in Portuguese. In this case, both verbs stay in the infinite tense.

Consegue comer sem querer beber? > Can you manage to eat without wanting to drink?
Ele pode andar sem precisar parar? > Can he walk without needing to stop?

If you wanted to say this using ter que it would be: Ele pode andar sem ter que parar?