Este percurso é longo?

to be

Breakdown of Este percurso é longo?

• este: this
• longo: long
• o percurso: the route; course

Questions & Answers about Este percurso é longo?

Why is it é and not está here?

Because longo is being treated as a characteristic of the route itself, not a temporary condition.

• ser + adjective is commonly used for more inherent qualities: é longo, é curto, é difícil
• estar is usually for temporary states or conditions

So Este percurso é longo? sounds natural for asking whether the route is long in general.

Why is there no special word order for the question? Shouldn't it change like in English?

No. In Portuguese, yes/no questions are usually formed just by intonation and a question mark, not by changing the word order.

So:

• Este percurso é longo. = statement
• Este percurso é longo? = question

The structure stays the same.

What does este mean here, and why not esse?

Este means this.

In traditional grammar:

• este = this, near the speaker
• esse = that, near the listener
• aquele = that over there, farther from both

In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, though, people often use esse where older rules might prefer este. So in real speech, Esse percurso é longo? is also very common.

Is percurso a common everyday word?