A minha escova é azul, mas a da Ana é verde e maior.
My brush is blue, but Ana's is green and bigger.
Breakdown of A minha escova é azul, mas a da Ana é verde e maior.
ser
to be
Ana
Ana
minha
my
de
of
mas
but
e
and
grande
big
azul
blue
verde
green
a escova
the brush
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Questions & Answers about A minha escova é azul, mas a da Ana é verde e maior.
Why is the definite article a used before minha escova?
In European Portuguese it’s normal to place the definite article before a possessive pronoun. So instead of just saying minha escova, you say a minha escova. The article a agrees in gender (feminine) and number (singular) with escova.
Why is the possessive pronoun written as minha and not meu?
Possessive pronouns in Portuguese must agree in gender (and number) with the noun they modify. Since escova is feminine, you use minha (feminine) rather than meu (masculine).
What does da in a da Ana mean?
Da is the contraction of the preposition de + the feminine singular definite article a. So da Ana literally means “of the Ana,” functioning like “Ana’s.”
Why is it a da Ana instead of repeating escova?
Portuguese allows you to omit a noun when it’s already clear from context. You replace it with the appropriate article plus modifiers. Here a da Ana stands for a escova da Ana (“Ana’s brush”).
Why is the conjunction mas used between the two clauses instead of e?
Mas means “but” and introduces a contrast. You’re contrasting your blue brush with Ana’s green, larger one. If you said e (“and”), it would just link information without highlighting the contrast.
Why are the adjectives verde and maior joined by e?
When two (or more) adjectives equally describe the same noun, they’re connected by e (“and”). Both “green” and “bigger” apply to Ana’s brush, so you say verde e maior.
Why is it maior instead of mais grande, and why doesn’t it change to maiora?
Portuguese has irregular comparatives. The comparative of grande (“big”) is maior (“bigger”), so you don’t use mais grande. Also, these irregular forms (maior, menor) are invariable for gender; they only add -es in the plural (e.g. maiores, menores).