Breakdown of A aldeia do meu avô fica numa colina tranquila.
meu
my
de
of
em
in
uma
a
ficar
to be located
a aldeia
the village
o avô
the grandfather
a colina
the hill
tranquilo
quiet
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Questions & Answers about A aldeia do meu avô fica numa colina tranquila.
Why do we use do in a aldeia do meu avô?
do is the contraction of de + o, equivalent to of the in English. Here o comes from the definite article for avô, so aldeia do meu avô literally means “the village of (the) my grandfather.”
Why is there an a before aldeia?
Portuguese often uses definite articles where English might drop them. A aldeia means “the village.” Omitting a would make it sound indefinite or overly poetic; with a, it’s clearly a specific, known village.
What does fica mean in this sentence?
Here fica comes from the verb ficar, and it indicates location—similar to “is located” or “lies” in English. So “A aldeia do meu avô fica numa colina tranquila” = “My grandfather’s village lies on a peaceful hill.”
Why use fica instead of está (is)?
While estar (está) can express location, ficar is more idiomatic when talking about where towns, landmarks or buildings are positioned. It emphasizes “being situated” rather than just “being”.
What is numa?
Numa is the contraction of em + uma, meaning “in a.” Instead of saying em uma colina, Portuguese speakers usually contract to numa colina for smoother flow.
Why does colina come before tranquila (tranquil)?
In Portuguese, descriptive adjectives typically follow the noun (noun + adjective). So colina tranquila is the normal order. Placing the adjective before (tranquila colina) is possible for poetic effect but uncommon in everyday speech.
Why is the adjective tranquila feminine and not tranquilo?
Adjectives in Portuguese agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify. Colina is a feminine noun (ends in -a), so the adjective takes the feminine form tranquila (also ends in -a).
Could I say a aldeia de meu avô instead of a aldeia do meu avô?
Technically yes, but Portuguese strongly prefers contracting de + o/a into do/da when a definite article follows de. So aldeia do meu avô sounds more natural than aldeia de meu avô.
Why don’t we need an extra article before meu avô?
The article o is already included in the contraction do (de + o). In other words, do meu avô contains both the preposition de and the definite article o that refers to avô.
Is this phrasing the same in Brazilian Portuguese?
Yes, the structure and contractions (do, numa, adjective agreement) are identical. One minor note: aldeia feels a bit more literary. In Brazil you might also hear vila or povoado for “village,” but nothing changes grammatically in this sentence.