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Questions & Answers about Eu comprei calça jeans.
What does the word comprei mean, and which tense is it used in?
Comprei is the first-person singular form of the verb comprar in the simple past tense (pretérito perfeito). It indicates that the action of buying was completed in the past.
Why is there no article before calça jeans? Shouldn't it be uma calça jeans?
In Brazilian Portuguese, it’s common—especially in casual contexts—to omit the article when referring to clothing items. While saying Eu comprei uma calça jeans (I bought a pair of jeans) is perfectly correct, the version without uma is often used informally.
What is the gender of calça, and why is it significant?
Calça is a feminine noun. This is significant because any adjectives or articles that modify calça must agree with its feminine gender (for example, you would say a calça jeans if you include an article).
Why does the word jeans remain unchanged in this sentence, and does it have a plural form?
Jeans is a loanword from English and is used as a descriptor here. It remains invariant, meaning it doesn’t change form for gender or number. Context typically makes it clear whether the reference is to one or more items.
How does the word order in "Eu comprei calça jeans" compare to English sentence structure?
The sentence follows a typical Subject-Verb-Object order, just like English. Eu (I) is the subject, comprei (bought) is the verb, and calça jeans (jeans) is the object of the sentence.
Can the sentence be modified by including an article, and if so, how does that affect its meaning?
Yes, you can include the indefinite article. For example, Eu comprei uma calça jeans explicitly means "I bought a pair of jeans." Both forms are acceptable, with the version including uma being slightly more explicit about the singular garment.
What role does jeans play in the phrase calça jeans?
In the phrase calça jeans, jeans functions as a descriptor that specifies the type of calça. In Portuguese, descriptors like this often follow the noun they modify, which is why jeans comes after calça.