Hoje, tanto o café quanto o leite estão em promoção.
Today, both the coffee and the milk are on sale.
Breakdown of Hoje, tanto o café quanto o leite estão em promoção.
estar
to be
hoje
today
o café
the coffee
o leite
the milk
Questions & Answers about Hoje, tanto o café quanto o leite estão em promoção.
Why does the sentence use tanto ... quanto ...?
Tanto ... quanto ... means both ... and ... or as much ... as ..., depending on context.
In this sentence, it means:
- tanto o café quanto o leite = both the coffee and the milk
It is a common way in Portuguese to connect two items and say that the same statement applies to both of them.
A simpler alternative would be:
But tanto ... quanto ... adds emphasis, similar to both in English.
Why is there o before café and leite?
Portuguese often uses definite articles where English may not.
So:
- o café = the coffee
- o leite = the milk
Even when English would just say coffee or milk, Portuguese frequently uses o / a / os / as.
In this sentence, the articles help identify the items being talked about in a natural way. You could think of it as both the coffee and the milk.
Why is the verb estão plural?