Esta sopa está melhor do que a do restaurante anterior, que tinha uma cozinha suja.

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Breakdown of Esta sopa está melhor do que a do restaurante anterior, que tinha uma cozinha suja.

• estar: to be
• ter: to have
• uma: a
• a sopa: the soup
• esta: this
• melhor: better
• do que: than
• sujo: dirty
• anterior: previous
• a: the one
• restaurante: restaurant
• a cozinha: the kitchen

Questions & Answers about Esta sopa está melhor do que a do restaurante anterior, que tinha uma cozinha suja.

Why does the sentence use está instead of é when describing the soup?

In Portuguese, está focuses on a temporary or immediate condition (how the soup tastes at the moment), whereas é would describe a more permanent quality. So Esta sopa está melhor… means that right now, compared to previous experiences, this soup happens to taste better.

Why does the sentence say melhor do que a do restaurante anterior? What does a do refer to?

The expression a do is a shortened way of saying a sopa do (the soup of). Portuguese allows you to drop a noun when referring back to it if it’s already clear from context. So a do restaurante anterior effectively means a sopa do restaurante anterior.

Can I say melhor que instead of melhor do que?

Generally, melhor que is acceptable in many contexts. However, melhor do que is the more common and often preferred form in Brazilian Portuguese when making comparisons.

What does anterior mean here, and can I replace it with passado?

Anterior means “previous”, referring to something that came before in sequence or order. While passado also means “past”, anterior is more precise in this context because it emphasizes the directly preceding restaurant rather than any restaurant in the past.

Why is que tinha uma cozinha suja placed at the end of the sentence?

The clause que tinha uma cozinha suja (which had a dirty kitchen) is an additional detail about the previous restaurant. In Portuguese, relative clauses like que tinha… typically follow the noun they describe (restaurante anterior). Placing it at the end is the standard structure to add an extra piece of information.