Faltam

Faltam is the third-person plural present indicative form of the Portuguese verb faltar. It denotes that something is missing, lacking, or insufficient relative to a need, deadline, or expectation. The verb faltar is used with plural subjects; the singular form is falta.

Faltam is widely used to express remaining time, quantity, or items. For example: faltam cinco minutos para o início do jogo; faltam dois itens na lista de compras; faltam informações no relatório. It also appears in contexts that describe a shortfall or deficiency, such as a budget or a supply, where the amount available is less than what is required.

The form is commonly used in everyday speech and in formal writing to convey urgency or incompleteness without naming the missing elements explicitly. In time expressions, faltam is especially frequent: faltam dias para o evento, faltam horas para a entrega, faltam minutos para a reunião.

Faltar and its forms originate from a Latin heritage related to lack or absence, a semantic field that includes other verbs and nouns around deficiency, shortage, and absence. In addition to faltam and falta, related forms include faltando (present participle) and os faltantes (those who are missing), though these are used in different syntactic constructions.

In summary, faltam is a versatile form used to indicate that several elements, items, or units are still needed or left over, with its singular counterpart being falta.