A criança ficou doente ontem.

the child

Breakdown of A criança ficou doente ontem.

• ontem: yesterday
• ficar: to become
• doente: ill; sick

Questions & Answers about A criança ficou doente ontem.

Why does the sentence start with a? Does it mean a/an or the?

Here a means the, not a/an.

In Portuguese, a is the feminine singular definite article:

• a criança = the child

The indefinite article a/an would be uma:

• uma criança = a child

So:

• A criança ficou doente ontem. = The child got sick yesterday.
• Uma criança ficou doente ontem. = A child got sick yesterday.

Why is it a criança? Can criança refer to both boys and girls?

Yes. Criança can refer to either a boy or a girl.

It is a grammatically feminine noun, so it takes:

• a as its article
• feminine agreement with words that change for gender

But its real-life meaning is still child, regardless of sex.

For example:

• A criança está cansada. = The child is tired.

Even if the child is a boy, many speakers still say a criança because the noun itself is feminine.

If you want to make the sex clear, you can use:

• o menino = the boy
• a menina = the girl

What tense is ficou?