A alcatra está bem-passada.

Alcatra is a specific cut of beef in Brazil. In English, it is often translated approximately as top sirloin, rump, or sirloin cap area, but there is not always a perfect one-to-one match because meat-cut terminology varies by country.

So in this sentence, a alcatra means the alcatra cut of beef or the steak from that cut.

Because alcatra is a feminine noun in Portuguese.

That means it takes feminine forms such as:

• a alcatra = the alcatra
• uma alcatra = an alcatra / a piece of alcatra

This grammatical gender does not mean the meat itself is feminine in any real-world sense; it is just how the noun behaves grammatically.

Portuguese often uses estar for a state or condition, especially one that can result from a process or can vary.

Here, the meat is in the state of being well done, so está is the natural choice:

• A alcatra está bem-passada. = The steak is well done.

Using ser here would sound unnatural, because doneness is not treated as an essential identity of the meat; it is its current cooked state.

Literally, bem-passada means something like well passed/cooked through, but in natural English it means:

• well done
• cooked thoroughly

This is a common way to describe how meat is cooked in Portuguese.

Related terms you may also hear:

• malpassada = rare / underdone
• ao ponto = medium / just right
• bem-passada = well done

Because bem-passada agrees with alcatra, which is feminine singular.

Agreement in Portuguese affects many adjectives and participle-based descriptions:

• A alcatra está bem-passada.
• O bife está bem-passado.

So the ending changes to match the noun:

• feminine singular: passada
• masculine singular: passado
• feminine plural: passadas
• masculine plural: passados

In this expression, the hyphen is standard because bem- combines with passado/passada to form a fixed compound adjective describing doneness.

So you normally write:

• bem-passado
• bem-passada

This is especially common in food contexts.

Yes, it is natural. A Brazilian would understand it immediately as talking about the doneness of the meat.

It could be used in contexts like:

• at a restaurant
• checking an order
• commenting on how the meat was cooked

For example:

• A alcatra está bem-passada demais. = The sirloin is too well done.
• Eu pedi a alcatra malpassada. = I ordered the alcatra rare.

Usually, a alcatra sounds more natural in a normal sentence.

Portuguese often uses the definite article more than English does. So when you are talking about a specific cut or serving, a alcatra is the expected form.

Without the article, it may sound less natural or more like a heading, label, or note rather than an ordinary full sentence.

The main thing that changes is the article and the ending of bem-passado/a to match grammatical gender and number.

Examples:

• O bife está bem-passado. = The steak is well done.
• A carne está bem-passada. = The meat is well done.
• Os bifes estão bem-passados. = The steaks are well done.
• As carnes estão bem-passadas. = The meats are well done.

So this sentence is a good example of agreement in Portuguese.

A rough Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation guide would be:

a aw-KAH-tra es-TAH beng pah-SAH-da

A few helpful notes:

• alcatra has the stress on ca: al-CA-tra
• está has the stress on the last syllable: es-TÁ
• in Brazilian Portuguese, bem often sounds a bit like beng
• ss in passada sounds like an English s

The exact sound depends on regional accent, but this approximation is good for learners.

No. It is most commonly heard with meat, especially steak, but it can be used more generally for foods that can be more or less cooked through.

Still, it is especially common in the context of:

• steak
• hamburgers
• grilled meats

In everyday restaurant Portuguese, it is strongly associated with doneness.