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Questions & Answers about A casa é grande.
Why is the feminine article A used before the noun casa instead of something like O?
In Portuguese, all nouns have a grammatical gender. The noun casa is feminine, so it takes the feminine article a. If the noun were masculine (for example, carro), you would use o.
Why is the verb é used here instead of está?
In Portuguese, ser (conjugated as é) generally refers to permanent or defining characteristics, while estar refers to temporary or changing states. Because grande describes a characteristic that is seen as inherent to the house, é is used.
Is it possible to say A grande casa instead of A casa é grande?
Yes, you can place grande before the noun (as in A grande casa) for emphasis or a more formal/poetic tone. However, in everyday speech, it is more common to follow the standard structure A casa é grande, which uses the subject + verb + complement order.
Do I always need to include the article A before casa?
In Portuguese, you typically use the definite article when referring to a specific house or talking about it in a general sense. If you want to refer to a house in an indefinite way, you would use Uma casa (a house). But in most contexts, especially if you have a particular house in mind, A casa is appropriate.
Is casa closer to house or home in English?
In Portuguese, casa often translates directly to house, but it can also be used to mean home in a personal sense. Whether it means house or home depends on context and the way the speaker uses it.
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