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Questions & Answers about É importante conhecer gastronomia local.
Why is there an accent in É, and how is it different from e?
The acute accent on É shows that it is the verb ser in the third-person singular present (“it is”). Without the accent, e is the conjunction and. The accent also tells you to pronounce it as an open-mid vowel (/ɛ/) rather than the /i/ or schwa you hear in unstressed e.
Why do we use ser (“É”) here instead of estar?
Portuguese uses ser for permanent or inherent qualities and in impersonal constructions (É importante, É preciso, É possível). Estar importante would imply a temporary or evolving state, which isn’t how we express general importance.
Why is conhecer in the infinitive, and when do we use an infinitive after É importante?
After impersonal expressions like É importante, Portuguese takes an infinitive to indicate the action in general: É importante viajar, É importante estudar. The infinitive here means “to get to know,” so É importante conhecer gastronomia local = “It’s important to get to know local cuisine.”
Why is there no article before gastronomia local? Can I add one?
When speaking about something in a generic sense, Portuguese often omits the definite article: conhecer música clássica, apreciar arte moderna. You can add it for emphasis or specificity: conhecer a gastronomia local is also correct and means “to get to know the local cuisine” in a slightly more defined way.
Why is local placed after gastronomia? Can adjectives come before nouns in Portuguese?
The normal word order in Portuguese is noun + adjective: gastronomia local, livro antigo, cidade grande. Placing the adjective before (e.g. local gastronomia) is possible but sounds poetic or emphatic and is not standard in everyday speech.
Is there any difference between gastronomia local and culinária local?
They overlap but have a nuance: culinária focuses on the cooking techniques and dishes themselves, while gastronomia includes the broader cultural, historical and sensory aspects of food. In practice, native speakers often use them interchangeably.
How would you pronounce É importante conhecer gastronomia local in European Portuguese?
A rough phonetic guide:
É – /ɛ/
importante – /ĩ.poɾˈtɐ̃.tɨ/
conhecer – /ku.ɲɨˈseɾ/
gastronomia – /ɡɐʃtɾu.nuˈmi.ɐ/
local – /luˈkaɫ/
Stress falls on the bold-capital syllables: EH im-por-TAN-tɨ ko-nɨ-SEHR gas-tro-no-MI-ɐ lo-CAL.
Can I invert the sentence and say Conhecer gastronomia local é importante?
Yes. Both orders are correct. Putting the infinitive clause first shifts the focus slightly onto the action:
|É importante conhecer gastronomia local.| (Impersonal emphasis: “It is important…”)
|Conhecer gastronomia local é importante.| (Action-centered: “Getting to know local cuisine is important.”)
Why is there no que after É importante, and when would I need it?
With an infinitive construction, you don’t use que. If you want to specify a personal subject (e.g. “you”), you switch to que + subjunctive:
• É importante conhecer gastronomia local. (general)
• É importante que tu conheças a gastronomia local. (directly addressing “you” in informal European Portuguese)
