Questions & Answers about A avaria e o prejuízo são grandes.
Why is the verb são plural here?
Because the subject is compound: A avaria e o prejuízo = two things joined by e (and).
In Portuguese, when two singular nouns are joined by e, the verb normally goes in the plural:
- A avaria e o prejuízo são grandes.
- O carro e a moto são novos.
So é would be wrong here in standard Portuguese, because that would be singular.
Why does the sentence use a before avaria and o before prejuízo?
Those are the definite articles in Portuguese:
So:
- a avaria
- o prejuízo
English uses just one word, the, but Portuguese articles change according to gender and number.
Why is the article repeated before both nouns? Why not just A avaria e prejuízo?
In Portuguese, it is very common and natural to repeat the article before each noun:
- A avaria e o prejuízo...
That sounds complete and standard.
You may sometimes hear article omission in certain contexts, but in a sentence like this, repeating the article is the most natural choice. For a learner, it is best to copy this pattern.