O furto é um crime.

to be

Breakdown of O furto é um crime.

• um: a
• o furto: the theft (without violence or threat)
• o crime: the crime

Questions & Answers about O furto é um crime.

Why does the sentence start with o? What does it mean here?

O is the masculine singular definite article, equivalent to the in English.

In o furto, it literally means the theft, but in Portuguese, the definite article is often used to talk about something in a general sense. So O furto é um crime naturally means Theft is a crime.

This is very common in Portuguese:

• O açúcar faz mal em excesso. = Sugar is bad for you in excess.
• A honestidade é importante. = Honesty is important.

Why is it furto and not roubo?

This is an important vocabulary point.

In Brazilian Portuguese legal usage:

• furto = theft, stealing something without direct confrontation or threat
• roubo = robbery, stealing something with violence, threat, or intimidation

So:

• If someone secretly steals a phone from a table, that is furto.
• If someone points a weapon at a person and takes the phone, that is roubo.

In everyday English, both may loosely be called stealing, but Portuguese often distinguishes them more clearly.

Why is it é and not está?