A franquia é menor do que a indenização.

Not in this sentence.

Although franquia can mean franchise in business contexts, here it most likely means an insurance deductible (or excess in some varieties of English).

That is because it appears with indenização, which is an insurance/legal word meaning something like compensation, indemnity, or claim payout.

So in this context:

• franquia = deductible
• indenização = compensation / indemnity / payout

This is a good example of why you should not always translate a Portuguese word by its most obvious English look-alike.

Those are the feminine singular definite articles, both meaning the.

• a franquia = the deductible
• a indenização = the compensation / the payout

Both nouns are feminine singular, so they take a.

This sentence is talking about specific things, not just any deductible or any compensation in general, which is why the definite article is used.

In this sentence, you can tell because both are preceded by a:

• a franquia
• a indenização

That tells you the nouns are feminine singular.

Also, many nouns ending in -ção are feminine in Portuguese, so indenização follows a very common pattern.

É is the third-person singular form of the verb ser (to be).

So here:

• A franquia é... = The deductible is...

A quick comparison:

• eu sou = I am
• você é = you are
• ele/ela é = he/she is
• a franquia é = the deductible is

The accent on é matters. Without it, e means and.

Menor means smaller and is the normal comparative form of pequeno (small).

Just like English has:

• good → better
• bad → worse

Portuguese has:

• pequeno → menor
• grande → maior
• bom → melhor
• mau → pior

So:

• menor = smaller
• mais pequeno = more small

Both may be understood, but menor is the standard and much more natural choice here.

Do que means than in this sentence.

So:

• menor do que = smaller than

This is part of a comparison structure.

Examples:

• maior do que = bigger than
• melhor do que = better than
• pior do que = worse than

You will very often see do que after comparative words like these.

Because Portuguese often uses do que after comparatives like maior, menor, melhor, and pior.

So these are common:

• menor do que
• maior do que
• melhor do que
• pior do que

You may also hear or read menor que in some contexts, but menor do que is very common and very safe to use.

A useful learner rule is:

• with comparative adjectives, do que often corresponds to English than

Yes. Do is the contraction of:

• de + o = do

In do que, the do is part of the comparison expression. You do not need to analyze it word by word every time; it is best to learn menor do que as a chunk meaning smaller than.

Portuguese uses many contractions with prepositions and articles, and do is one of the most common ones.

Yes, but the original word order is the most neutral and natural:

• A franquia é menor do que a indenização.

You could also say:

• A indenização é maior do que a franquia.

That means essentially the same thing, but it changes the focus.

Portuguese usually follows this straightforward order here:

subject + verb + comparative + do que + noun

Normally, no—not in standard natural Portuguese for this specific sentence.

Portuguese uses articles much more often than English does. In a sentence like this, leaving them out sounds unnatural or incomplete.

Natural:

• A franquia é menor do que a indenização.

Unnatural in most normal contexts:

• Franquia é menor do que indenização.

So as an English speaker, one useful habit is to expect Portuguese to use the more often than English does.

Not always exactly. It depends on context.

Indenização is often used in:

• insurance
• legal situations
• damages
• reimbursement after loss or injury

Possible English translations include:

• compensation
• indemnity
• damages
• payout

So the best translation depends on the situation. In this sentence, because franquia suggests insurance, payout, claim payment, or indemnity may fit especially well.

A rough pronunciation guide for Brazilian Portuguese is:

a fran-KEE-zhya eh meh-NOR doo kee a een-deh-nee-za-SOWN

A few pronunciation notes:

• franquia: the qui sounds like kee
• é sounds like eh
• menor has stress on the second syllable: me-NOR
• do que often sounds like doo kee
• indenização has stress on the last syllable because of -ção

The ending -ção sounds roughly like sown or saong, depending on how detailed you want to be with accent imitation.

The pattern is:

[noun] + é + [comparative adjective] + do que + [noun]

So here:

• A franquia = subject
• é = is
• menor = smaller
• do que = than
• a indenização = the compensation / payout

You can reuse this pattern very easily:

• O carro é mais caro do que a moto.
  The car is more expensive than the motorcycle.

• Ela é melhor do que eu nisso.
  She is better than me at that.

• A sala é menor do que o escritório.
  The room is smaller than the office.

Usually, menor is the best choice here.

• menor = smaller / less large in size or amount
• mais pequena = more small, which is grammatical but less natural here
• mais baixa = lower / shorter, which changes the meaning

For example:

• mais baixa is more about height or level
• menor is the normal word for smaller

So in this sentence, menor is definitely the natural option.