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Questions & Answers about Isto é um presente.
What does Isto mean in this sentence, and when should it be used?
Isto translates to "this" in English. It is a demonstrative pronoun used to refer to something near the speaker—whether in terms of physical proximity, recent mention, or immediate context. In Portuguese, similar pronouns include isso (referring to something a bit farther away) and aquilo (referring to something distant).
What role does é play in the sentence?
é is the third person singular form of the verb ser, which means "to be." In this sentence, it functions as a linking verb that connects the subject (Isto) with the predicate (um presente). It essentially translates to "is" in English.
What does presente mean here, and can it have other meanings in Portuguese?
In this context, presente means "gift." Although the word might remind English speakers of "present" referring to the current time, in Portuguese, when used in a sentence like this, presente strictly means a gift that is given to someone.
Why is the article um used before presente, and what does that indicate about the noun?
The use of um indicates that presente is a masculine singular noun. In Portuguese, articles must match the gender and number of the noun they accompany. Hence, um is the appropriate indefinite article for a masculine noun, just as uma would be used for a feminine noun.
Can you break down the structure of Isto é um presente.?
Certainly. The sentence follows a basic subject-linking verb-predicate structure: • Isto – the subject (a demonstrative pronoun meaning "this"). • é – the linking verb (the third person singular of ser, meaning "is"). • um presente – the predicate, where um is the masculine singular indefinite article and presente means "gift". This structure is a simple way to express identification or classification in Portuguese.