Questions & Answers about O documento permanece intacto.
Why is o used before documento instead of um?
- o is the definite article (“the”), signaling that we’re talking about a specific, known document.
- um is the indefinite article (“a/an”), used when the noun is nonspecific or mentioned for the first time.
What kind of verb is permanece, and why doesn’t it take a direct object?
- permanecer is an intransitive copular (linking) verb, similar to ficar or estar when indicating a state.
- It links the subject (o documento) to an adjective (intacto), so it never takes a direct object.
Why does intacto end in -o and not -a, -os or -as?
Adjectives in Portuguese agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. Since documento is masculine singular, intacto takes the masculine-singular form -o.
(If you were talking about two documents: os documentos permanecem intactos.)
Why is intacto placed after permanece rather than before documento?
- As a predicative adjective it follows the linking verb permanece to describe the subject’s state.
- While adjectives can precede nouns in Portuguese for emphasis or style, after a copular verb they normally come after the verb.
Could I say O documento está intacto instead? What’s the difference?
Yes.
- estar intacto is more common in everyday speech to express that something is intact.
- permanecer intacto sounds a bit more formal or literary, emphasizing that the intact state continues unchanged.
How do you pronounce permanece and intacto in European Portuguese?
- permanece: /pɛʁ.mɐ.nɐˈse(ɾ)/ with the stress on the final -ce.
- intacto: /ĩˈtak.tu/ with a nasalized in-, stress on the -ac-.
Is O documento permanece intacto formal or informal?
This sentence is fairly neutral but leans toward formal or written style, thanks to permanecer and the Latinate adjective intacto. In casual speech, you’d more often hear O documento está intacto or O documento ficou intacto.
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