Portuguese Phrase
A gente devia distribuir as responsabilidades.
Meaning
The sentence suggests that the group should allocate or share the various duties among its members. It carries a mild, polite recommendation rather than a strict command.
When to use
Use this phrase when you are planning a project, organizing a team, or discussing how tasks should be shared. It works well in informal meetings, classroom group work, or casual workplace conversations.
✦Grammar Breakdown
Agentedeviadistribuirasresponsabilidades.
A gente
Colloquial first‑person plural pronoun; verb agreement is third‑person singular.
devia
Imperfect of 'dever' used here with a conditional nuance meaning ‘should / ought to’.
distribuir
Infinitive verb that follows a modal verb (devia) to express the action to be performed.
as responsabilidades
Feminine plural noun phrase; the definite article ‘as’ matches the plural noun.
🗨In Conversation
A gente devia distribuir as responsabilidades antes de começar o projeto.
We should distribute the responsibilities before starting the project.
Concordo, assim todo mundo sabe o que fazer.
I agree, that way everyone knows what to do.
✕Common Mistakes
A gente devíamos distribuir as responsabilidades.
With ‘a gente’ the verb must stay singular; ‘devíamos’ is the plural form used with ‘nós’.
A gente devia distribuir as responsabilidade.
The article must agree in number with the noun; use ‘as responsabilidades’ for plural.
↔Alternatives
Precisamos dividir as responsabilidades.
We need to divide the responsibilities.
Seria prudente que distribuíssemos as responsabilidades entre nós.
It would be prudent for us to distribute the responsibilities among us.
Cultural Tip
In Brazil, ‘a gente’ is the go‑to informal way to say ‘we’, but in formal writing you should use ‘nós’. The verb always stays in third‑person singular with ‘a gente’, even though it refers to a group. Using ‘devia’ softens the suggestion, making it sound polite rather than demanding.