Word
O sinal do celular no aeroporto é fraco, por isso é melhor confirmar antes.
Meaning
The cell phone signal at the airport is weak, so it's better to confirm beforehand.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Lesson
Breakdown of O sinal do celular no aeroporto é fraco, por isso é melhor confirmar antes.
ser
to be
melhor
better
antes
before
do
of the
Questions & Answers about O sinal do celular no aeroporto é fraco, por isso é melhor confirmar antes.
What does sinal do celular mean?
Sinal do celular literally means “cell phone signal.” Here sinal = “signal” and celular = “cell phone” or “mobile phone,” so together it refers to the reception strength your phone gets.
Why is there do in sinal do celular instead of just de?
Do is the contraction of de + o (“of the”). Portuguese often contracts prepositions with definite articles. So sinal do celular = sinal de + o celular.
Why do we say o sinal with an article? In English we’d say “cell phone signal” without “the.”
Portuguese normally uses definite articles (o, a) before nouns, even in general statements. O sinal here is referring to the signal in a specific context (the airport), so the article o is required.
What does no aeroporto mean, and why no?
No is again a contraction, this time of em + o (“in the”). So no aeroporto means “in the airport.” Portuguese regularly uses em + o/a → no/na for locations.
Why is no aeroporto placed after sinal do celular? Could it go first?