A criança quer subir na árvore.

The child wants to climb the tree.

Breakdown of A criança quer subir na árvore.

• querer: to want
• a criança: the child
• a árvore: the tree
• subir: to climb

Questions & Answers about A criança quer subir na árvore.

Why is it a criança and not o criança?

Because criança is a feminine noun in Portuguese, so it takes a in the singular and as in the plural.

• a criança = the child
• as crianças = the children

This is true even if the child is a boy. The grammatical gender of criança is feminine, but the real-life person can be male or female.

If criança is feminine, does that mean the child must be a girl?

No. In this sentence, a criança can refer to any child, boy or girl.

This is an important difference between grammatical gender and natural gender:

• grammatical gender: the noun is feminine, so it uses a
• natural gender: the actual child could be male or female

If you wanted to make the child's sex clear, you would usually add more context, for example:

• A criança, um menino, quer subir na árvore.
• A criança, uma menina, quer subir na árvore.

Why is quer used here? What form is it?