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Questions & Answers about A festa é formal.
What does each part of the sentence A festa é formal mean?
- A festa means the party—a is the feminine singular definite article, and festa means party.
- é is the third person singular form of the verb ser, meaning is.
- formal is an adjective that means formal, implying that the party requires formal attire or has a formal atmosphere. Overall, the sentence translates to "The party is formal."
Why is the article a used instead of o?
In Portuguese, nouns have gender. The word festa is feminine, so it naturally takes the feminine definite article a (which is equivalent to the for feminine nouns). Using o would be incorrect because o is used for masculine nouns.
What role does the verb é play in this sentence?
The verb é is the third person singular form of ser, which is used to link the subject to its characteristic. In A festa é formal, é connects a festa (the party) to the adjective formal, indicating that being formal is an inherent quality of the party.
Why is the adjective formal placed after the verb in this sentence?
In Portuguese, adjectives that describe a subject typically appear after the linking verb when used in a predicate. In A festa é formal, the structure follows the pattern Subject + ser + Predicate Adjective. This is different from attributive adjectives, which sometimes can come before or after a noun, but in this case, since formal is a predicate adjective, it comes after é.
Does formal in Portuguese carry the same meaning as formal in English?
Yes, it generally does. In both languages, formal implies that the event is expected to have a sophisticated or dressy atmosphere, often with specific attire requirements. However, cultural nuances might cause slight differences in interpretation, but the basic idea remains the same.
How would you change the sentence if you wanted to talk about multiple parties?
To refer to multiple parties, you need to adjust the article, the noun, the verb, and the adjective to their plural forms. The modified sentence would be:
As festas são formais.
Here:
- As is the feminine plural definite article.
- festas is the plural of festa.
- são is the third person plural form of ser.
- formais is the plural form of formal.