Breakdown of O exercício físico é bom para a saúde.
Questions & Answers about O exercício físico é bom para a saúde.
O is the definite article “the” in Portuguese, masculine singular.
- O exercício físico = the physical exercise
- Without o, it sounds incomplete or more like a title or note, not a normal sentence.
In European Portuguese, with a general statement like this, it’s very common (and usually more natural) to use the article:
- O exercício físico é bom para a saúde. ✅ (normal, idiomatic)
- Exercício físico é bom para a saúde. ⚠️ feels odd in everyday speech; might appear as a heading or in very telegraphic style.
So in most normal contexts, you should keep o.
In Portuguese, the default position of an adjective is after the noun:
- exercício físico = physical exercise
- carro vermelho = red car
- café quente = hot coffee
Some adjectives can go before the noun, but that often changes the nuance or is more literary. For a neutral, descriptive phrase like this, noun + adjective is the norm, so exercício físico is the natural order.
Putting físico before (físico exercício) would sound wrong.
Adjectives in Portuguese agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.
- exercício is masculine singular.
- bom is the masculine singular form of “good”.
- The basic forms are:
- bom (masc. sing.)
- boa (fem. sing.)
- bons (masc. pl.)
- boas (fem. pl.)
So we say:
- O exercício físico é bom. (masc. sing.)
but - A atividade física é boa. (fem. sing., atividade is feminine)
Portuguese has two verbs for “to be”: ser and estar.
- ser (é) is used for permanent or characteristic qualities, general truths.
- estar (está) is used for temporary states or situations.
Here, we’re stating a general fact about physical exercise. It’s inherently good for health, not just temporarily, so we use ser:
- O exercício físico é bom para a saúde. ✅ (general truth)
Estar bom para a saúde would sound like: “Right now it happens to be good,” which doesn’t fit this meaning.
Para here expresses benefit/purpose:
bom para a saúde ≈ “good for health”.
Forms:
- bom para a saúde ✅ standard, most common
- bom à saúde ✅ also correct but more formal / written, or in set phrases
- à = contraction of a + a (to + the)
- bom para saúde ❌ incorrect in standard Portuguese; you normally need the article a here
So:
- Everyday, neutral: bom para a saúde
- Slightly more formal / idiomatic set phrase: faz bem à saúde (“is good for the health” / “is healthy”)
In standard grammar:
- a + a → à (e.g. faz bem à saúde)
- de + a → da
- em + a → na, etc.
But para does not contract with a in normal writing:
- para a saúde (standard)
- there’s no standard contraction like pà in careful written Portuguese.
In speech, especially informally, many people say something like “prá saúde” or “pra saúde” (even in Portugal), but this is colloquial; in writing, you should use para a saúde.
In Portuguese, abstract nouns like saúde often take the definite article when you refer to them in a general way:
- a saúde = (the) health, in general
In English you often drop the, but in Portuguese it’s very natural to keep it:
- para a saúde ✅ sounds complete and idiomatic
- para saúde ❌ sounds wrong or foreign to native ears in this context
So you should say para a saúde.
You need to pluralize the nouns and make the articles and adjective agree:
- O exercício físico é bom para a saúde.
→ Os exercícios físicos são bons para a saúde.
Changes:
- O → Os (definite article, masc. sing. → masc. pl.)
- exercício → exercícios (noun)
- físico → físicos (adjective)
- é → são (3rd person sing. → 3rd person plural of ser)
- bom → bons (adjective, masc. sing. → masc. pl.)
A saúde stays the same; it’s still a general, singular concept.
Grammatically it’s singular, but semantically it’s generic / general: it means physical exercise in general.
Portuguese often uses:
- singular + definite article to talk about a general category:
- O exercício físico é bom para a saúde. = Physical exercise is good for health.
- O café faz mal à saúde. = Coffee is bad for your health. (depending on context, of course)
So o exercício físico here is not “that one exercise”; it’s the concept of physical exercise as a whole.
Yes, that’s correct and very natural:
- Fazer exercício físico é bom para a saúde.
= Doing physical exercise is good for (your) health.
Difference:
- O exercício físico é bom para a saúde.
Stresses the thing (physical exercise) as a general concept. - Fazer exercício físico é bom para a saúde.
Stresses the activity of doing it.
Both are fine; the second sounds slightly more like English “Doing physical exercise is good…”.
Yes, very common alternatives include:
- Fazer exercício faz bem à saúde.
(“Doing exercise is good for your health.”) - A atividade física é boa para a saúde.
(“Physical activity is good for your health.”) - Praticar exercício físico é benéfico para a saúde.
(more formal: “Practicing physical exercise is beneficial to health.”)
All of these are natural in Portugal; the original sentence is one of the simplest and most neutral ways to say it.
Approximate European Portuguese pronunciation (using English-like hints):
- O – like a short “oo” (often very reduced, almost like English “uh” but more rounded)
- exercício – roughly uh-zer-SEE-see-oo
- físico – FEE-zee-coo (final -co with a very short oo sound)
- é – like “eh”
- bom – like “bohn”, with a nasal -m (you don’t fully say the “m”; the vowel is nasal)
- para – in careful speech PA-ra; often in Portugal it sounds closer to PRA in fast speech
- a – a short “uh/ah”
- saúde – sa-OO-d(uh), with stress on -ú-: sa-Ú-de
Syllable stress:
- o e-xer-CÍ-cio FÍ-si-co é BOM PA-ra a sa-Ú-de
You can say it, and it’s grammatically correct:
- A saúde é boa com o exercício físico.
= Health is good with physical exercise.
But:
- It shifts the focus: instead of “Exercise is good for health,” it becomes “Health is good when (you have) exercise.”
- It sounds a bit less idiomatic and more “translated” than the original simple pattern X é bom para Y.
In normal usage, O exercício físico é bom para a saúde is simpler, clearer, and more typical.