A mente está cansada.

The mind is tired.

Breakdown of A mente está cansada.

• estar: to be
• cansado: tired
• a mente: the mind

Questions & Answers about A mente está cansada.

Why is it a mente and not just mente?

In Portuguese, singular countable nouns normally use an article more often than in English. So a mente is the natural way to say the mind.

You can sometimes see mente without an article in more abstract or stylistic contexts, but in a basic sentence like this, a mente sounds most normal.

Why is mente feminine?

Because mente is a feminine noun in Portuguese, so it takes the feminine article a and feminine adjectives.

That is why the sentence has:

• a mente
• está cansada

not o mente or cansado.

Why do we use está instead of é?

Portuguese has two main verbs for to be: ser and estar.

Here, está is used because cansada describes a temporary state or condition: the mind is tired right now.

• está cansada = is tired, is in a tired state
• é cansada would sound odd here, as if tiredness were a permanent or defining characteristic

So estar is the correct choice.