A limonada gelada acaba rápido; quase não sobra para o café da manhã.

The cold lemonade runs out quickly; there is almost none left for breakfast.

Breakdown of A limonada gelada acaba rápido; quase não sobra para o café da manhã.

• não: not
• rápido: fast
• para: for
• quase: almost

Questions & Answers about A limonada gelada acaba rápido; quase não sobra para o café da manhã.

Why is there a definite article in a limonada gelada? English often says “cold lemonade” without “the.”

Portuguese normally uses definite articles before nouns when you’re speaking generally or about something specific.

• limonada is feminine, so you use a (feminine singular).
• Saying a limonada gelada can mean “the cold lemonade” (the one we were drinking) or “cold lemonade in general.”
  You could drop the article (“Limonada gelada acaba rápido”), but including it is more natural in many contexts.

Why is the adjective gelada placed after limonada? In English we say “cold lemonade,” adjective first.

In Portuguese, adjectives normally follow the nouns they describe. So you say limonada gelada instead of gelada limonada. Placing an adjective before the noun often adds emphasis or a poetic tone, but the standard order is noun + adjective.

What does acaba rápido mean here? Shouldn’t it be past tense if we already finished the lemonade?

Here acabar means “to run out” or “to finish.”

• acaba rápido is present‐tense, meaning “runs out quickly” (habitually or generally).
• If you wanted past tense (“it ran out quickly [yesterday]”), you’d say acabou rápido.

Why is there a semicolon (;) between acaba rápido and quase não sobra? Can’t you use a comma or a period?