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Questions & Answers about O verão é muito quente.
Why is the article o used before verão? In English, we just say “summer” without “the.”
Portuguese generally requires a definite article before seasons when speaking in general. So o verão literally means the summer, but that’s the normal way to refer to summer as a concept. English often drops the article in this context, but Portuguese does not.
Why is verão masculine?
Portuguese nouns have grammatical gender. Many nouns ending in -ão (like o avião, o coração) are masculine, so verão is masculine and takes o.
What is the function of é?
É is the third-person singular present tense of the verb ser (to be). It’s used here to state an inherent or general characteristic—namely, that summer is (generally) hot.
Why is muito used here, and why isn’t it muit?
Muito is the adverb meaning very or a lot. You always use the full form muito to intensify an adjective. There is no shorter form like muit in this context.
Why doesn’t muito agree in gender or number with verão?
Here muito is an adverb modifying the adjective quente, not an adjective describing verão. Adverbs in Portuguese are invariable—they never change for gender or number.
Why doesn’t quente change form to match the gender or number of verão?
Adjectives ending in -e have the same form for both masculine and feminine singular. To form the plural you’d add -s (e.g., quentes), but since verão is singular, quente stays unchanged.
Can I replace muito with tão? What would O verão é tão quente mean?
Yes. Tão is another adverb of intensity meaning so. O verão é tão quente translates to The summer is so hot, often implying comparison or surprise (e.g., “I didn’t expect it to be so hot”).
Is it acceptable to omit the article and simply say Verão é muito quente?
In casual speech, headlines or poetic contexts you might drop the article, but in standard Brazilian Portuguese you normally include it: O verão é muito quente.