É importante alongar o corpo antes de fazer exercício.

It is important to stretch the body before exercising.

Breakdown of É importante alongar o corpo antes de fazer exercício.

• ser: to be
• antes de: before
• importante: important
• alongar: to stretch

Questions & Answers about É importante alongar o corpo antes de fazer exercício.

Why does the sentence start with É importante instead of Está importante?

Portuguese uses ser in É importante because this is a general statement: It is important...

• ser is used for general qualities, definitions, and lasting characteristics.
• estar is used more for temporary states or conditions.

So:

• É importante alongar o corpo... = It is important to stretch the body...
• Está importante would sound wrong here.

Why is there an accent in É?

The accent shows both pronunciation and meaning.

• É = is (from the verb ser)
• e = and

So the accent helps distinguish two different words:

• É importante = It is important
• e importante would be wrong here

In pronunciation, é has an open vowel sound, roughly like eh.

What does alongar mean here?