A franquia é muito alta.

The insurance deductible is very high.

Breakdown of A franquia é muito alta.

• ser: to be
• muito: very
• alto: high
• a franquia: the insurance deductible

Questions & Answers about A franquia é muito alta.

What does a mean at the beginning of the sentence?

Here, a is the definite article meaning the. It matches franquia, which is a feminine singular noun.

So:

• a franquia = the deductible / the franchise / the allowance, depending on context

It is not the preposition a meaning to in this sentence.

Why is franquia feminine?

Because franquia is a grammatically feminine noun in Portuguese. In Portuguese, nouns have grammatical gender, and other words often have to agree with that gender.

That is why you get:

• a franquia
• alta

A very useful habit is to learn nouns together with their article:

• a franquia, not just franquia

Why is it é and not está?

É comes from ser, and está comes from estar.

In this sentence, é usually sounds more natural if you are describing the fee/deductible/allowance as a general characteristic:

• A franquia é muito alta. = it is high, as a general fact

If you said A franquia está muito alta, that would usually sound more like:

• it is high right now
• it has become high
• you are commenting on its current state

So both can be possible in some contexts, but é is the safer, more neutral choice here.