cessamos

Cessar is a Portuguese verb meaning to stop or to cease. The form cessamos is the first person plural of cessar and can appear in present indicative (we stop) or in pretérito perfeito simple (we ceased), depending on context. For example: Nós cessamos as atividades agora (we stop the activities now); Ontem nós cessamos as atividades (yesterday we ceased the activities).

Etymology and cognates: cessar comes from Latin cessare, which in turn shares roots with other Romance languages. Its cognates include Spanish cesar and French cesser, all conveying the idea of stopping, ending, or becoming still.

Usage and meanings: Cessar is commonly used to indicate the end of an action, process, or state, as well as to describe the cessation of hostilities. It is frequent in legal, administrative, and formal contexts, such as cessar atividades, cessar o fogo (cease fire), and cessar operações. The verb can take different prepositions or constructions depending on what is being stopped, for example cessar de fazer algo (to cease doing something) or cessar com algo (to cease with something).

Form and morphology: As a regular -ar verb, cessar follows standard Portuguese conjugation patterns. The plural forms for nós (we) appear in both present and past tenses, which can make the same spelling ambiguous without contextual clues. Other forms include cessas (tu), cessa (ele/ela), cessáis (vós), cessam (eles/elas).

Context and nuance: In everyday Brazilian and European Portuguese, cessar is common in formal speech and writing. It often appears in policy statements, legal texts, and official communications when describing the ending of actions, restrictions, or conflicts.