Breakdown of Fugir do ruído da cidade é difícil.
ser
to be
de
of
a cidade
the city
difícil
difficult
o ruído
the noise
fugir
to escape
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Questions & Answers about Fugir do ruído da cidade é difícil.
Why do we say fugir do ruído da cidade instead of fugir de ruído da cidade?
In Portuguese you almost always use a definite article with general or known nouns like ruído or cidade. When you combine the preposition de with the masculine article o, you get do (“de + o”), and with the feminine article a, you get da (“de + a”). That’s why it’s fugir do ruído da cidade, not just fugir de ruído da cidade.
What is the function of the infinitive fugir at the beginning of the sentence?
Here fugir (to flee/escape) is an infinitive used as the subject of the verb é. In English you might say “Escaping the city’s noise is difficult.” In Portuguese it’s common to have an infinitive clause act as the thing being talked about.
Why is it é difícil and not está difícil?
Portuguese distinguishes between ser (to be, expressing an inherent quality) and estar (to be, expressing a temporary state). Saying é difícil treats the action (“escaping the noise”) as inherently or generally difficult. If you said está difícil, you’d be implying a temporary or changing condition.
Can we use escapar instead of fugir? Which preposition would we use?
Yes. Escapar is a near-synonym and also takes de. You’d say escapar do ruído da cidade. Both verbs work, but fugir often feels a bit stronger or more dramatic, while escapar can sound a bit more neutral.
What’s the difference between ruído and barulho?
Both mean “noise,” but ruído is a bit more formal or technical (e.g. acoustic science, environmental noise), while barulho is everyday speech (e.g. a loud party, banging). In casual talk you might hear barulho, but ruído is perfectly fine, especially in writing or formal contexts.
Why is there an accent on ruído (ru-í-do)?
The sequence uí here is not a true diphthong but a hiato where each vowel is pronounced separately and the i carries the stress. The acute accent on í marks both the stress and the break in the vowel sequence. Without it, it would be pronounced as one sound and stressed on the wrong syllable.
Why isn’t there a preposition like de between difícil and fugir? Should it be é difícil de fugir…?
When an adjective like difícil qualifies an action, Portuguese allows you to place the infinitive directly after it: é difícil fugir…. You will sometimes see é difícil de entender, but more formal or standard usage favors dropping the de. With fácil it’s more common to keep de (e.g. é fácil de usar), but with difícil the trend is é difícil fugir…. Both forms are understood, though.