Isto é importante.

to be

Breakdown of Isto é importante.

• importante: important
• isto: this (neutral pronoun)

Questions & Answers about Isto é importante.

What does isto mean, and when do I use it?

Isto is a demonstrative pronoun. It is used for this when you are referring to something close to the speaker or to something that has not yet been specified clearly.

In practice, in Brazilian Portuguese, isto often sounds a bit more formal or written. In everyday speech, Brazilians very often use isso instead.

Examples:

• Isto é importante.
• Isso é importante.

Both can be natural, but isso is usually more common in spoken Brazilian Portuguese.

What is the difference between isto and isso?

Traditionally:

• isto = this
• isso = that

More specifically:

• isto refers to something near the speaker, or something about to be mentioned
• isso refers to something near the listener, or something already mentioned

But in Brazilian Portuguese, this distinction is often weaker in daily speech, and isso is commonly used where a textbook might expect isto.

So:

• Isto é importante. = grammatically correct
• Isso é importante. = also very common, especially in conversation