A reunião é online.

to be

Breakdown of A reunião é online.

• a reunião: the meeting
• online: online

Questions & Answers about A reunião é online.

What does A mean here? Is it a or the in English?

In A reunião é online, the A is the definite article and means the, not a.

• A reunião = the meeting
• If you wanted a meeting, you’d say uma reunião.

So the sentence translates as “The meeting is online.”

Why is it é and not está?

Portuguese has two verbs for to be: ser and estar.

• ser (é) is used for more permanent / defining characteristics or scheduled, fixed facts.
• estar (está) is used for temporary states or current situations.

A meeting being planned as an online meeting is treated like a fixed characteristic of that meeting (part of how it is organized), so Brazilians naturally say:

• A reunião é online. = The meeting is (an) online (meeting).

You might hear A reunião está online only in a very specific, more literal sense, like “the meeting is currently online (as opposed to offline),” but this is much less common and often sounds odd for a planned event.

Is reunião feminine? How can I tell?