O cantil está cheio?

to be

Breakdown of O cantil está cheio?

• cheio: full
• o cantil: the water canteen

Questions & Answers about O cantil está cheio?

Why is it o cantil and not um cantil?

O means the, while um means a/an.

So o cantil refers to a specific canteen/flask that both speaker and listener already know about.

• O cantil está cheio? = Is the canteen full?
• Um cantil está cheio? would sound more like Is a canteen full?, which is much less natural in most situations.

What exactly does cantil mean in Brazilian Portuguese?

Cantil usually means a canteen or flask, especially the kind used for hiking, camping, military use, or carrying water.

In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, people might also use other words depending on the object:

• garrafa = bottle
• garrafinha = small bottle
• squeeze = sports water bottle

So cantil is correct, but it refers to a fairly specific type of container.

Why is it está instead of é?