Breakdown of Estas cadeiras são confortáveis.
ser
to be
confortável
comfortable
a cadeira
the chair
estas
these
Questions & Answers about Estas cadeiras são confortáveis.
What does Estas mean in this sentence?
Estas is the feminine plural demonstrative pronoun meaning these. It agrees in gender and number with cadeiras, which is also feminine plural.
Why is it estas and not essas or aquelas?
Portuguese has three sets of demonstratives indicating distance:
- estas / estes (close to the speaker)
- essas / esses (close to the listener)
- aquelas / aqueles (far from both)
We use estas because the chairs are assumed to be near the speaker.
How can I tell that cadeiras is feminine plural?
Most Portuguese nouns ending in -a are feminine. The singular form is cadeira, and you form the plural by adding -s: cadeiras.
Why does the sentence use são (from ser) instead of estão (from estar)?
Use ser for inherent, characteristic qualities—comfort is seen as an inherent trait of the chairs. Estar would imply a temporary or changeable state, which isn’t normally used for inanimate objects’ properties.
Why is confortáveis plural and why does it have an accent?
The base adjective is confortável (stress on the penultimate syllable). To make it plural, you add -s, yielding confortáveis. The accent remains because it marks the stressed syllable; without it, the stress pattern would change.
How do I pronounce Estas cadeiras são confortáveis?
A rough phonetic guide (European Portuguese) is:
eh-STAHSH kah-DAY-rahsh sãw kohn-for-TAH-vesh
– são has a nasal ãw sound.
– confortáveis stresses the TAH syllable and ends in a muted -esh.
How would I say this if I were talking about just one chair?
Change everything to singular:
Esta cadeira é confortável
– esta (feminine singular)
– cadeira (singular)
– é (3rd-person singular of ser)
– confortável (singular adjective)
How can I intensify the comfort (“very comfortable”)?
You can insert an adverb before the adjective:
- Estas cadeiras são muito confortáveis.
- Estas cadeiras são super confortáveis.
- Estas cadeiras são extremamente confortáveis.
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