O macarrão está delicioso.

Breakdown of O macarrão está delicioso.

estar
to be
delicioso
delicious
o macarrão
the pasta
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Questions & Answers about O macarrão está delicioso.

Why is it está and not é?

Portuguese often uses estar for a temporary/current state and ser for a more permanent/defining characteristic.
So O macarrão está delicioso means the pasta (this serving/this dish right now) tastes delicious.
Using é (O macarrão é delicioso) can sound more like a general statement: pasta as a category is delicious, or this dish is “inherently” delicious.


What does the accent in está do?

The accent marks the stressed syllable and the vowel quality: es-TÁ.
It also distinguishes it from esta (no accent), which is a form of este/esta meaning this (feminine): esta cadeira = this chair.


Why is it O macarrão (with a definite article)? Can I omit it?

Brazilian Portuguese commonly uses the definite article before singular nouns in everyday speech: O macarrão, A pizza, O café.
You can omit it in some contexts (headlines, recipes, or certain regional/style choices), but Macarrão está delicioso sounds unnatural for most everyday conversation.
If you want “some pasta,” you might say Um macarrão (less common) or more naturally Um prato de macarrão.


Is macarrão singular or plural here? What if I mean “noodles” (plural)?

Macarrão is grammatically singular and often works like an uncountable food noun (“pasta”).
If you want to emphasize strands/noodles as countable items, you can use plural forms like macarrões (types of pasta) or say os noodles isn’t standard; people usually still use macarrão or specify the type: espaguete, talharim, etc.


Why is delicioso masculine? What would the feminine look like?

Adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.
macarrão is masculine singular, so: delicioso.
Feminine singular would be deliciosa, for example: A sopa está deliciosa.
Plural: deliciosos/deliciosas.


Is delicioso an adjective here, or an adverb meaning “deliciously”?

It’s an adjective describing o macarrão. Portuguese typically uses an adjective with estar to describe how something is: está delicioso, está ótimo, está ruim.
English often uses “tastes delicious,” but Portuguese commonly just says it is delicious (right now): está delicioso.


How do I pronounce macarrão and what does -ão sound like?

macarrão is roughly mah-kah-HAW̃ (nasal ending). The -ão is a nasal diphthong, not a clear “ow.”
The stress is on the last syllable: ma-ca-RRÃO.
Also, rr is a stronger sound in Brazilian Portuguese, often like an English h in many accents (e.g., ma-ka-HÃO-ish).


Can I say O macarrão é gostoso instead of está delicioso?

Yes, but the nuance changes:

  • está delicioso = stronger, “this is delicious (right now).”
  • é gostoso = “it’s tasty,” often more general and a bit less emphatic.
    gostoso is very common in Brazil for food, and delicioso can sound a little more “fancy” or emphatic.

How would I intensify it (like “really/so delicious”)?

Common options:

  • O macarrão está muito delicioso. (grammatical, but muito delicioso can sound slightly redundant to some people)
  • O macarrão está delicioso demais! (very common, “too/so delicious!”)
  • O macarrão está uma delícia! (extremely natural: “The pasta is a delight!”)
  • O macarrão está tão delicioso! (“so delicious”)

Can I change the word order? For example: Delicioso, o macarrão está.

Portuguese allows flexible word order, but in everyday speech the most natural is:

  • O macarrão está delicioso.
    Fronting the adjective (Delicioso, o macarrão está) is possible but sounds poetic, emphatic, or stylized—less conversational.

What’s the difference between macarrão and massa?

In Brazil:

  • macarrão usually refers to pasta/noodles as a dish or ingredient (often cooked pasta).
  • massa is broader: “dough/batter” and also “pasta” in a more general sense.
    So you might also hear A massa está deliciosa, but it depends on what exactly you’re talking about (dough vs pasta dish).

How would I make it more specific, like “This pasta is delicious”?

Very natural options are:

  • Este macarrão está delicioso. (this pasta)
  • Esse macarrão está delicioso. (also very common; “this/that” depending on region/context)
  • O macarrão aqui está delicioso. (the pasta here is delicious)
  • Esse prato de macarrão está delicioso. (this pasta dish is delicious)