Breakdown of A época de exames é difícil.
ser
to be
de
of
o exame
the exam
difícil
difficult
a época
the period
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Questions & Answers about A época de exames é difícil.
Why do we use A before época instead of leaving it out?
In Portuguese, abstract or general nouns usually take a definite article. Época is a feminine singular noun, so you need the feminine singular definite article a. Saying A época de exames é difícil is equivalent to “Exam time is difficult” in English.
How do you know that época is feminine?
Most Portuguese nouns ending in -a are feminine (there are a few exceptions). Since época ends in -a, it’s classified as feminine. That’s why we pair it with a (the) and use feminine agreement where needed.
Why is it de exames and not dos exames?
Here de links época and exames to mean “period of exams.” We’re speaking in general, so we omit any article after de. If you said época dos exames, it would imply a specific set of exams (“the exams”). Época de exames is more idiomatic when you mean “exam period” in general.
Can I say época para exames instead of época de exames?
No—época de exames expresses the season or period about exams. Using para suggests purpose or intention (“for exams”) and doesn’t fit this idiom. If you need “time to take exams,” you might say tempo para fazer exames, but for the season itself, stick with época de exames.
Why is the verb é singular and not são?
The verb must agree with its subject, which here is época (singular). Therefore you use the third-person singular é (“is”). São would only be correct if the subject were plural.
Why is difícil in the singular, and why doesn’t it change for gender?
Adjectives in Portuguese agree in number and gender with the noun they modify. Since época is singular, difícil stays singular. Also, difícil is one of those adjectives that is identical for both masculine and feminine.
What does the accent mark in época indicate?
The acute accent on the first é shows that the stress falls on that syllable: É-po-ca. Without the accent, a learner might misplace the stress (Portuguese spelling rules rely on accents to mark non-standard stress patterns).
How do you pronounce the “x” in exames, and what about the final “s”?
In European Portuguese, exames is pronounced roughly [iˈzɐmɨʃ]. The “x” between vowels sounds like [z] (a voiced “s”), and the final “s” is pronounced [ʃ] (like the English “sh”).
Could I use período de exames or tempo de exames instead of época de exames?
Yes. Período de exames is perfectly correct and perhaps more formal. Tempo de exames is also grammatically fine but less idiomatic in Portugal. You’ll hear época de exames most often.
Is temporada de exames a valid alternative?
Not in academic contexts. Temporada typically refers to sports seasons or TV series seasons. For exam periods in European Portuguese, you should use época or período.