O livro marcado está na estante.

The marked book is on the shelf.

Breakdown of O livro marcado está na estante.

• estar: to be
• o livro: the book
• em: on
• a estante: the shelf
• marcado: marked

Questions & Answers about O livro marcado está na estante.

Why is there a definite article o before livro, even though in English we sometimes drop “the” in generic statements?

In European Portuguese, definite articles are used more often than in English. Key points:

• O is the masculine singular definite article (“the”).
• Portuguese requires it before most nouns in specific or generic contexts (e.g. O café “coffee” in general, O livro “the book”).
• Omitting the article (saying just “Livro marcado está na estante”) sounds unnatural in Portuguese.

What is marcado in this sentence? Why is it used after livro?

Marcado is the past participle of the verb marcar used here as an adjective.

• As an adjective, it describes the state of the book (“marked”).
• It agrees in gender/number with livro (masculine singular), so we use marcado (not marcada or marcados).
• It comes after the noun because most Portuguese adjectives follow the noun they modify.

Why is the verb estar (está) used here and not ser (é)?

Portuguese distinguishes ser and estar by type of information:

• Ser expresses permanent or defining characteristics (“A água é líquida”).
• Estar indicates states or locations.
  Here, está marks the location of the book.
• O livro está na estante = “The book is (located) on the shelf.”
  If you said O livro é na estante, it would be ungrammatical.

What does na stand for, and why do we contract em + a?

Na = em (in/on/at) + a (the, feminine singular).

• Em can translate as “in,” “on,” or “at” depending on context.
• Since estante is feminine singular (a estante), we contract em + a → na.
• Similarly: em + o → no, em + as → nas, em + os → nos.

How do adjectives agree with nouns in Portuguese?

Adjectives must match the noun’s gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural).
Examples with marcado:

• Masculine singular: o livro marcado
• Feminine singular: a revista marcada
• Masculine plural: os livros marcados
• Feminine plural: as revistas marcadas

Is marcado forming a passive construction here or just functioning as an adjective?

In this sentence, marcado is an adjective describing a state (“the book is marked”).

• Passive voice in Portuguese uses ser
  • past participle (e.g. O livro foi marcado “The book was marked”).
• Estar
  • participle often conveys a resulting state rather than an action in progress.

Could we omit the article or change the word order, for example, “Livro marcado está na estante”?

No, that would sound unnatural.

• Portuguese normally requires the article before singular countable nouns.
• Adjectives almost always follow the noun (“livro marcado”).
• Dropping o or moving marcado before livro (i.e. “marcado livro”) is possible only in poetic or highly stylized contexts, not in everyday speech.

How would you say “The marked books are on the shelf” or adapt this sentence to a feminine noun?

Apply agreement rules and plural forms:

• Masculine plural: Os livros marcados estão na estante.
• Feminine singular (e.g. revista): A revista marcada está na estante.
• Feminine plural: As revistas marcadas estão na estante.

Note that na estante can stay singular if you mean all those marked items are on one shelf. If you had multiple shelves, you’d use nas estantes.