Breakdown of Este carro é grande demais para o estacionamento.
Questions & Answers about Este carro é grande demais para o estacionamento.
Este means this.
In traditional grammar:
- este = this, near the speaker
- esse = that, near the listener or already mentioned
- aquele = that over there, farther away
So Este carro is a very direct way to say this car.
A useful Brazil-specific note: in everyday Brazilian Portuguese, many people often use esse where older grammar rules would prefer este. So both Este carro... and Esse carro... may be heard, but este is still fully correct and often sounds a bit more careful or formal.
It uses é because the sentence describes a characteristic of the car: its size.
- ser → é is usually used for identity, essential characteristics, or more permanent descriptions
- estar → está is usually used for temporary states or conditions
So:
- Este carro é grande = This car is big
- A porta está aberta = The door is open
In this sentence, the idea is that the car itself is too large for that space, so é grande demais is the natural choice.
Here, demais means too much or too, in the sense of excessively.
So:
- grande demais = too big
It is stronger than just very big.
Compare:
- muito grande = very big
- grande demais = too big
So demais adds the idea that the size is a problem.
In Portuguese, demais usually comes after the adjective it modifies.
So the normal order is:
- grande demais = too big
- caro demais = too expensive
- longe demais = too far
Demais grande would sound wrong in standard Portuguese.
In Portuguese, adjectives often come after the noun.
So:
- carro grande = big car
- casa bonita = beautiful house
- livro interessante = interesting book
That is the normal pattern.
Sometimes Portuguese can put an adjective before the noun, but that often changes the tone or meaning. For example, grande carro can sound more like great car or a more literary expression, not just big car. So for physical size, carro grande is the normal choice.
Literally, it means for the parking area or for the parking space.
In English, the most natural translation depends on context:
- too big for the parking lot
- too big for the parking space
- too big for the garage
The Portuguese word estacionamento can refer to a parking lot, parking garage, or parking area in general. In a sentence like this, the idea is that the car is too large to fit appropriately in that place.
So para here has the sense of for in the meaning of suitable for.
O is the masculine singular definite article, meaning the.
So:
- o estacionamento = the parking lot / the parking area
Portuguese uses articles more often than English does, so seeing o here is very normal.
If you said um estacionamento, that would mean a parking lot or a parking area, which is less specific.
Yes. In Brazilian Portuguese, para o is very often reduced to pro in speech and informal writing.
So these mean the same thing:
- para o estacionamento
- pro estacionamento
The full form para o is more neutral and is always safe to use. Pro is extremely common in everyday spoken Brazilian Portuguese.
The accent in é helps distinguish it from e.
- é = is
- e = and
So the accent is important because these are different words with different meanings.
It also shows the stressed vowel pronunciation.
Yes, here it is one word: demais.
In this sentence:
- grande demais = too big
That is the correct spelling.
De mais as two words exists in some other structures, but it is not what you use here. For a learner, the safest rule is:
- after an adjective with the meaning too, use demais as one word
Examples:
- alto demais = too tall
- difícil demais = too difficult
- rápido demais = too fast
Several words would change to agree in number.
Singular:
- Este carro é grande demais para o estacionamento.
Plural:
- Estes carros são grandes demais para o estacionamento.
Changes:
- este → estes
- carro → carros
- é → são
- grande → grandes
Notice that demais does not change.
So:
- grande demais
- grandes demais
The adjective changes for plural, but demais stays the same.