Phrase · 🥗 Health & habits

Parei de fumar há dois anos.

I quit smoking two years ago.

B1talking about habitsAudio · coming soon

Why every word is where it is

Parei1verbI stoppedparar · past · 1st sing.de1preposition(of)fumarverbsmokinginfinitivehá2verbagohaver · present · 3rd sing.doisdeterminertwoanosnounyearsano · masc. · pl..

Parei → de: preposition
Parei → fumar: periphrasis
há → anos: governs

Word for word: “(I) stopped of smoking has two years.”

Why it's built this way

The notes match the numbers above.

1
parar de + infinitive = to stop doing. Spanish dejar de = deixar de, also correct. Aspectual periphrases I: começar a, parar de, voltar a… →
2
há + time = ago (with h, from haver). In speech also faz dois anos. Time expressions: faz/há, desde, atrás, já, ainda →

Variations

Parei de fumar faz dois anos.
Deixei de fumar há dois anos.
Faz dois anos que eu não fumo.