Este café é forte.

to be

Breakdown of Este café é forte.

• este: this
• o café: the coffee
• forte: strong

Questions & Answers about Este café é forte.

What’s the difference between este café, esse café, and aquele café?

Este refers to something close to the speaker (“this coffee here”), esse to something close to the listener or just mentioned (“that coffee by you/that coffee we talked about”), and aquele to something distant from both (“that coffee over there”). In Brazil most people use esse more generally, but if you’re pointing at a cup in front of you you’d normally say este.

Why isn’t there a definite article o before café? Could I say Este o café é forte?

When you use a demonstrative (este/esse/aquele) as a determiner, you normally drop the article. Este café already means “this coffee,” so adding o would sound clumsy or old‐fashioned. You could say O café é forte (“The coffee is strong”) or Este café é forte, but not Este o café é forte in everyday speech.

Why is the verb é (from ser) used instead of está (from estar) here?

In Portuguese ser describes inherent or permanent qualities. Saying Este café é forte means “this coffee has the intrinsic characteristic of being strong.” If you said Este café está forte, it would sound odd—like you’re judging its strength temporarily or comparing it to an earlier sample.

Why is the adjective placed after the noun , instead of before?