Questions & Answers about A caixa de som funciona bem na cabine.
Why does caixa de som mean speaker and not literally box of sound?
This is a fixed expression in Brazilian Portuguese. Caixa de som is the normal everyday way to say speaker or loudspeaker.
Literally:
- caixa = box
- som = sound
But together, caixa de som means a device that plays sound. This is very common in Portuguese: sometimes the literal pieces do not match the most natural English translation.
Examples:
- uma caixa de som Bluetooth = a Bluetooth speaker
- duas caixas de som = two speakers
Why is there A at the beginning?
A is the feminine singular definite article, meaning the.
It is used because caixa is a feminine noun:
- a caixa
- uma caixa
So:
- A caixa de som = the speaker
The article is also part of normal, natural Portuguese. Portuguese often uses articles more regularly than English does.
Why is it de som and not do som?