A adoção aconteceu hoje.

The adoption happened today.

Breakdown of A adoção aconteceu hoje.

• hoje: today
• acontecer: to happen
• a adoção: the adoption

Questions & Answers about A adoção aconteceu hoje.

Why is there A at the beginning?

A is the feminine singular definite article, equivalent to the.

So a adoção means the adoption.

Portuguese usually uses articles more often than English, especially with nouns that are the subject of the sentence. In this sentence, it sounds natural to say A adoção aconteceu hoje rather than just Adoção aconteceu hoje.

Why is adoção feminine?

Because adoção is a feminine noun, so it takes a, not o.

A very useful pattern is that many Portuguese nouns ending in -ção are feminine:

• a adoção
• a informação
• a situação
• a reunião is different in form, but also feminine

So once you see -ção, it is usually safe to expect a feminine noun.

What kind of word is adoção?

It is a noun, specifically the noun form related to the verb adotar.

• adotar = to adopt
• adoção = adoption

English works the same way:

• to adopt
• adoption

So Portuguese is using the event noun adoção as the subject of the sentence.

What tense is aconteceu?