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Questions & Answers about A casa é nossa.
What does A casa é nossa mean?
It means “The house is ours.” This sentence is used to claim possession, indicating that the house belongs to “us.” Notice that the structure is similar to English but with a difference in word order, as Portuguese often places the possessive pronoun after the verb when making such statements.
Why is the article a used before casa?
In Portuguese, the article a is used because casa is a feminine noun. The definite article a corresponds to the English “the” for feminine singular nouns, which is a standard part of Portuguese noun and article agreement rules.
What is the function of é in the sentence?
É is the third-person singular form of the verb ser, which means “to be.” In this sentence, é acts as a linking verb that connects the subject a casa to the possessive predicate nossa. This construction forms a complete statement asserting that the house belongs to us.
Why is nossa placed after the verb instead of before the noun, as in attributive constructions like nossa casa?
When expressing possession in a complete sentence in Portuguese, it’s common to use a copulative structure where the possessive pronoun comes after the verb ser. So, A casa é nossa emphasizes the result of the possession—stating that the house in question is indeed ours. In contrast, using nossa casa would describe the house directly as our house.
How does adjective agreement work with nossa in this sentence?
Portuguese possessive adjectives and pronouns must agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to. Since casa is feminine and singular, the form nossa is used. If the noun were masculine—say, carro (car)—the correct form would be nosso. This agreement is essential to maintain grammatical correctness in Portuguese.