O amor é importante.

to be

Breakdown of O amor é importante.

• importante: important
• o amor: love

Questions & Answers about O amor é importante.

Why is there an O before amor?

In Portuguese, it is very common to use the definite article with nouns, even when English would not.

So o amor literally looks like the love, but in a sentence like O amor é importante, it usually means love in a general sense.

This is normal in Portuguese with abstract ideas:

• O amor é importante. = Love is important.
• A vida é curta. = Life is short.
• A música ajuda. = Music helps.

Is amor masculine? How do I know?

Yes, amor is masculine, which is why it takes o and not a.

You usually learn the gender together with the noun:

• o amor
• a casa
• o livro

There is not always a perfect rule, so it is best to memorize nouns with their article.

Why is it é and not está?

Portuguese has two main verbs for to be: ser and estar.

Here, é comes from ser, which is used for:

• general truths
• permanent or essential characteristics
• definitions

So O amor é importante means that love is important in a general sense.

If you used está importante, it would sound unnatural here, because estar is more for temporary states or conditions.