Questions & Answers about O valor é maior do que ontem.
Why is there a definite article in O valor? In English we’d usually just say “Value is higher than yesterday” or “The price is higher than yesterday”.
In Portuguese, definite articles (o, a, os, as) are used more often than in English.
- O valor literally means “the value” / “the price”.
- Portuguese tends to put an article before most singular countable nouns, especially when you are talking about something specific and known in context.
So if both speaker and listener know which value/price is being discussed (for example, the price of a product, a bill, an exchange rate), Portuguese naturally uses O valor…, whereas English can often omit “the”.
What exactly does valor mean here: “value”, “price”, or something else?
The word valor is flexible, and the exact translation depends on context:
- value – in a general sense (numerical value, worth, measurement)
- price – very commonly, when talking about how much something costs
- amount – for bills, payments, transfers, etc.
In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, if someone says O valor é maior do que ontem, it will often be understood as:
- “The price is higher than yesterday.” or
- “The amount is higher than yesterday.”
So valor is often used where English might choose “price” or “amount”, not just “value”.
Why is it é and not está? Can I say O valor está maior do que ontem?