Minha irmã gosta de usar um casaco azul quando faz frio.

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Breakdown of Minha irmã gosta de usar um casaco azul quando faz frio.

• um: a
• minha: my
• quando: when

Questions & Answers about Minha irmã gosta de usar um casaco azul quando faz frio.

Why is it minha irmã and not meu irmã?

In Portuguese, possessive adjectives (like meu/minha/meus/minhas) agree with the noun they modify, not with the person who owns it.

• Irmã is feminine singular → you must use minha.
  
  • minha irmã = my sister
• Irmão is masculine singular → you use meu.
  
  • meu irmão = my brother

So even if the speaker is a man, he still says minha irmã, because the possessive follows the gender and number of irmã, not of “me.”

Also, you might sometimes hear a minha irmã in Brazilian Portuguese. With close family members, Brazilians often drop the article (minha irmã), but a minha irmã is also grammatically correct.

Why isn’t there an ela (she) before gosta?

Portuguese can drop subject pronouns when the subject is clear from context or from the verb ending. This is called a pro-drop language.

In this sentence the subject is already expressed as a noun phrase: Minha irmã. Because of that, adding ela would be redundant:

• Correct and natural:
  
  • Minha irmã gosta de usar um casaco azul quando faz frio.
• Grammatically possible but odd / emphatic:
  
  • Minha irmã, ela gosta de usar… (sounds like emphasis or an afterthought)

So you don’t need ela here; minha irmã is already the subject.

Why is it gosta de usar and not ?