A folha de pagamento está pronta.

to be

Breakdown of A folha de pagamento está pronta.

• pronto: ready
• a folha de pagamento: the company payroll

Questions & Answers about A folha de pagamento está pronta.

Why is it a folha and not o folha?

Because folha is a feminine noun in Portuguese. That means it takes feminine words with it, such as the article a.

• a folha
• a folha de pagamento

This is grammatical gender, so it does not necessarily match any real-world gender. It is simply part of the noun and must be learned with it.

What does folha de pagamento literally mean, and is it a fixed expression?

Literally, folha de pagamento is something like payment sheet or sheet of payment. In real usage, though, it is a standard expression in Brazilian Portuguese for payroll or payroll sheet.

So even if the literal pieces are easy to see, the whole phrase should be learned as one business/accounting expression.

Why is there de in folha de pagamento?

In Portuguese, de often links two nouns, similar to of in English.

So:

• folha = sheet
• pagamento = payment
• folha de pagamento = sheet of payment / payroll sheet

English often prefers noun + noun combinations, like payroll sheet, while Portuguese very often uses noun + de + noun.

Why is está used instead of é?