When I Was Young
The following quote is by Bob Golen:
When I was young, I was very poor.
After years of struggle, já não sou novo.I'm no longer young.
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Click the sentence again to see the Portuguese
The Plus version of this story
Quando eu era* novo, era muito pobre.Depois de anos a penar*, já não* sou novo.When I was young, I was very poor.After years of struggle, I'm no longer young.
🔎 Words in this story
✴️ Depois de anos a penar (After years of struggle)
This is a fairly used expression, especially in newspapers, to refer to situations where people suffer or struggle for a long time to achieve their goals, such as fair work, better public schools, etc...
The verb “penar” on its own means “to suffer,” “to be in pain,” “to struggle” and is frequently used in the simple past.
- O que eu penei para conseguir este cargo. (How I have struggled to get this job position.)
We will also see “penar” as a main verb in progressive tenses: “estar a penar” and “andar a penar,” with similar meanings.
There is a Plus version of this story
The same story, taken further, for DailyNata Plus members. This one works on imperfect past.
- The whole story in Portuguese, and its English
- The words in it, explained, with examples
- 2 interactive exercises
Written for level B1. Every story has its own, anywhere from A1 to B2.