"Eles passaram a levar trabalho para a delegação."

Translation: They started to take work to the delegation.

[cbdaniel]

I'm not used to passar with this meaning yet, so I peeked to see what passaram could mean and was told it was "they spread" or "they have spread." This has little to do with the sentence; I had to spend a heart to learn what the word actually means in this context.

[Marie_Marie]

I'll report that the hint isn't much help

[Jamesalex1]

Yes the hint is misleading, so I am reporting it, I hope others do.

[reno300]

I'm not sure I understand the translation of passaram here. Passar means 'to pass', can it also mean 'to start'? The hints don't indicate that, neither do other resources.

[Paulenrique]

Passei a morar aqui em 1998. (I started living here in 1998) Passar = pass (by), stop (by), to iron, to spend, to start

[KTKee-EnglishEng]

When I rule the world each word will only be allowed one meaning.

[sambadojazz]

Muito obrigado!

[reno300]

Thanks :)

[lugosky]

So, what's the present of start and the past of pass by in Portuguese?

[Paulenrique]

Present of start: passam. Past of pass by: passaram. Both conjugated for the 3rd plural person.

[lugosky]

So, are they the same word accommodated to different meanings?

[Paulenrique]

As well as in English when a word can have more than one meaning ;) Passar has many meanings in Portuguese: to stop(by), to pass(by/on), to iron, to spend, to get through.

[emeyr]

This one took a while to decipher. My answer was accepted: "They started to take work to the delegation."

[yvonneflaccus]

"They started to take work to the delegation" (o.O)?
I'm pretty confused here. Any help with English please?

[ChrisGull]

I too am confused! I'm native in English and this sentence means nothing to me.

But if I were to guess, maybe they mean something like, they started to give or divide work to/between everyone in the delegation.

[JHeaven]

Is "passar a levar" an idiom?

[Paulenrique]

it can be taken literally (take something to somewhere) or symbolic (take an action "ele passaram a levar vida dupla"?- they began to live double lives).

[d.hylton]

could you tell me why " they began to take work FOR the delegation" is wrong

[Asgador]

I think your translation would be right if it said 'pela' instead of 'para a'. I'm not native though.

[Jones_Rick]

Another false clue. I looked it up in my dictionary and there is no mention that the "passar" can have the meaning of "begin or start". This is not a good way to teach idiomatic phrases.

[Mareli0]

Why it is as transaltion (passaram"-"spread"- it is most confusing.....
And as I can see- others have also had the same trouble. Could not it be changed?

[Paulenrique]

Well, a Portuguese word may have many meanings in English =) choose the best for each context ;)

[KTKee-EnglishEng]

Looked up passar in the dictionary, no mention of start. http://www.wordreference.com/pten/passar

[pmm123]

"passar a" can mean "start to": http://dictionary.reverso.net/portuguese-english/passar