Deixar De in Portuguese: Stop Doing, Fail to Do—or Still Be?

Keep de before the infinitive

Caldas Aulete’s deixar entry records ceasing, interrupting or not carrying out an action with deixar de followed by an infinitive. The reference was checked on October 21, 2026.

• Deixei de estudar à noite. — “I stopped studying at night.”
• Ela deixou de responder à mensagem. — “She failed to reply to the message.”
• Deixamos de usar aquele endereço. — “We stopped using that address.”

The context tells you whether a habit ended or a particular action did not happen. Stopping night study does not say the speaker stopped all study. The time expression limits the claim. If a missing reply is a single event, do not assume a long-standing habit from that sentence alone.

Não deixe de can encourage an action

• Não deixe de conferir o horário. — “Be sure to check the time.”
• Não deixe de me avisar quando chegar. — “Be sure to let me know when you arrive.”
• Não deixe de experimentar essa atividade. — “Make sure you try this activity.”

In these recommendations, the speaker asks the listener not to omit an action. A natural English translation is be sure to, rather than a mechanical “do not stop.” The form deixe fits this request addressed to você. A recommendation still needs context: it is not proof that an activity is suitable for every learner.

Não deixa de ser preserves a qualified description

• É uma atividade simples, mas não deixa de ser útil. — “It is a simple activity, but it is still useful.”
• Foi só uma conversa curta, mas não deixa de ser prática. — “It was only a short conversation, but it still counts as practice.”
• Isso não deixa de ser uma mudança importante. — “That is still an important change.”

The speaker acknowledges a possible limitation and maintains an evaluation. In the first example, simple does not cancel useful. Do not read it as “it keeps stopping being useful.” A plain paraphrase can help: Mesmo assim, é útil — “Even so, it is useful.”

This use is narrower than the many everyday meanings in our general guide to deixar. A location after deixar, as in leaving a bag somewhere, is a different structure.

Original dialogue: change one habit without erasing all practice

B corrects the scope: the change concerns the time of day. The final deixam agrees with plural sessões, understood from the question. The dialogue is an original scheduling example. Choose the time that actually fits your circumstances; the grammar does not establish that afternoon study is better.

Practice: interpret the whole pattern

1. Complete Deixei ___ usar esse caderno.
2. Does Deixei de estudar à noite prove the speaker never studies?
3. Translate Não deixe de conferir o endereço as a useful instruction.
4. Paraphrase É simples, mas não deixa de ser útil.
5. Make the last pattern plural: As sessões não ___ de ser úteis.

Continue with real conversation practice

Use this activity in a short weekly Portuguese routine. The dialogues and exercises are original written practice. Try changing one detail and saying your own version aloud.

Continue with Real Life Portuguese for native Brazilian audio and everyday expressions. Choose a short exchange available in the app. Listen for the speaker’s intention, then use a pattern from this activity to prepare a reply that fits your own situation. Bruno Lopes is a co-founder of the app.