Breakdown of Cada planeta foi descrito num painel com imagens e textos simples.
Questions & Answers about Cada planeta foi descrito num painel com imagens e textos simples.
In Portuguese, cada (each) is a determiner that already specifies the noun, so it is not followed by an article.
- Correct: cada planeta, cada pessoa, cada casa
- Incorrect: cada o planeta, cada a pessoa
Also note that the verb agrees in the singular:
- Cada planeta foi descrito… (each planet was described) – singular
Not: Cada planeta foram descritos…
Grammatical gender in Portuguese is not always predictable from the ending. Planeta is masculine:
- o planeta, um planeta, este planeta
There are several masculine nouns ending in -a, often of Greek origin:
- o dia, o mapa, o problema, o sistema, o tema
In the passive, the past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number. Since planeta is masculine singular, we say:
- Cada planeta foi descrito…
If the noun were feminine, you’d see:
- Cada estrela foi descrita…
- Todas as galáxias foram descritas…
Foi descrito is the passive voice in the past tense.
Structure:
- ser in the pretérito perfeito (simple past): foi
- past participle of descrever: descrito
So:
- Cada planeta foi descrito…
≈ “Each planet was described…”
The equivalent active sentence would be something like:
- (Alguém) descreveu cada planeta num painel…
“(Someone) described each planet on a panel…”
Portuguese pretérito perfeito often overlaps with both English simple past and present perfect, depending on context.
- Cada planeta foi descrito num painel…
- can be “Each planet was described on a panel…” (simple past), or
- “Each planet has been described on a panel…” (present perfect),
depending on how you choose to render it in English.
What matters in Portuguese is that it’s a completed action in the past.
The verb descrever (to describe) has the irregular past participle descrito, just like:
- escrever → escrito (to write → written)
- inscrever → inscrito (to enroll → enrolled)
So in passive forms you say:
- foi descrito, era descrito, está descrito, etc.
You may sometimes see or hear descrevido in some varieties and in some grammars tied to ter/haver (e.g. tinha descrevido), but in modern usage descrito is overwhelmingly more common and is what you should learn and use.
Num is a contraction:
- num = em + um → “in/on/at a”
Similarly:
- no = em + o → “in/on/at the”
In European Portuguese, these contractions are standard and very common:
- num painel = “on a panel”
- no painel = “on the panel”
You can technically say em um painel, but it sounds more formal or emphatic; everyday speech strongly favors num painel.
Portuguese em is very flexible and can correspond to in, on, at in English. The best English preposition depends on the kind of object:
- em / num painel, num cartaz, numa folha, num quadro
→ usually on a panel, on a poster, on a sheet, on a board
Because a painel is a flat surface or a display, in natural English we say “on a panel”, even though the Portuguese preposition is em.
By itself, num painel is ambiguous, just like English “on a panel”:
- It could mean each planet has its own panel (different panels).
- It could also mean all of them are included on one panel.
To make it clear, Portuguese would add extra words:
Cada planeta foi descrito num painel diferente…
“Each planet was described on a different panel…”Todos foram descritos no mesmo painel…
“They were all described on the same panel…”
Both structures are grammatically possible, but they suggest slightly different things:
imagens e textos simples
→ multiple images and multiple texts, all simple.
(For example, each planet might have its own short piece of text.)imagens e texto simples
→ multiple images and text treated more as a mass or one unit (“simple text”).
(For example, one block of simple text accompanying all images.)
The original sentence suggests that there are various short texts (probably one per planet), so textos simples fits that idea.
The adjective simples has the same form in the singular and plural:
- singular: um texto simples, uma imagem simples
- plural: textos simples, imagens simples
This happens because it already ends in -s. You don’t add another -s in the plural. The number is shown by the noun, not by changing simples.
Other patterns to compare:
- grande → grandes (grande image / grandeS images)
- feliz → felizes (feliz pessoa / felizes pessoas)
- simples → simples (unchanged form)
In Portuguese, the default position for most adjectives is after the noun:
- textos simples, casas grandes, pessoas inteligentes
Some adjectives can go before or after with a nuance change. Simples is one of those:
- um painel simples = a simple panel (not complicated)
- um simples painel = a mere/only panel (diminishing its importance)
So:
- imagens e textos simples = simple images and texts
If you said simples imagens e textos, it would sound more like “mere images and texts,” which is a different meaning.
Yes, but the nuance changes:
foi descrito (with ser)
→ passive event in the past: the action of describing was done/completed.
“Each planet was described…”estava descrito (with estar)
→ describes the state or result: at that time, the description was there.
“Each planet was (found) described on a panel…”
In your original sentence, foi descrito focuses more on the action of describing; estava descrito would focus more on the existing state of the panels.
Structurally, the sentence works in both varieties. Two minor tendencies:
- In European Portuguese, num painel is very typical.
- In Brazilian Portuguese, people might also say em um painel, though num painel is also understood and used.
Vocabulary and grammar are the same; the main difference would be pronunciation, not wording.
One natural active-voice version would be:
- Os alunos descreveram cada planeta num painel com imagens e textos simples.
“The students described each planet on a panel with simple images and texts.”
You’d choose the appropriate subject depending on the context:
- O professor descreveu cada planeta…
- O autor do livro descreveu cada planeta…
The rest of the sentence (num painel com imagens e textos simples) stays the same.