Breakdown of A escultura de pedra no parque foi feita por um artista local.
ser
to be
um
a
de
of
em
in
por
by
o parque
the park
local
local
a escultura
the sculpture
a pedra
the stone
feito
made
o artista
the artist
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Questions & Answers about A escultura de pedra no parque foi feita por um artista local.
Why do we say A escultura instead of O escultura?
In Portuguese every noun has a grammatical gender. Escultura is a feminine noun, so we use the feminine singular definite article a, not o.
What does de pedra mean and why not use em or another preposition?
Here de indicates the material something is made of: “made of stone.” Using em would suggest location (“in stone”) rather than material. So escultura de pedra literally means “sculpture of stone,” i.e. “stone sculpture.”
Why is it no parque instead of em o parque?
Portuguese contracts em + o into no. Thus no parque = em + o parque = “in the park.”
What is the function of foi feita here?
This is the passive voice. Foi is the third-person singular preterite of ser, and feita is the past participle of fazer. Together they form “was made.”
Why is it feita and not feito?
Past participles in passive constructions agree in gender and number with the noun. Since escultura is feminine, we use feita (feminine form) instead of feito (masculine).
Why do we use por before um artista local?
In Portuguese passive voice, the agent (the doer) is introduced by por, just like English “by.” Hence feita por um artista local = “made by a local artist.”
Why is it um artista local and not um local artista?
While some adjectives can precede nouns, most descriptive adjectives in Portuguese follow the noun. Local is descriptive here, so it comes after artista.
Can we omit the article before artista local?
Omitting the article (saying feita por artista local) sounds odd in Portuguese. Indefinite articles (um, uma) are normally used before professions or roles when they refer to an unspecified person.