Breakdown of Essa série é um drama muito interessante.
Questions & Answers about Essa série é um drama muito interessante.
In European Portuguese, the traditional rule is:
- esta = this (near the speaker)
- essa = that (near the listener)
- aquela = that over there (far from both)
So if you are physically holding the DVD in your hand, esta série is the more “correct” choice.
However, in modern European Portuguese, speakers very often use essa more loosely, closer to English this/that (and similar to Brazilian usage). So:
- Essa série é um drama muito interessante.
is something you might still hear in Portugal, especially in informal speech, even when English would use this.
If you want to be safest and most textbook‑correct for European Portuguese, use:
- Esta série é um drama muito interessante.
Because drama is masculine in Portuguese, even though it ends in ‑a.
- Masculine nouns normally take um / o.
- Feminine nouns normally take uma / a.
So we say:
- um drama interessante (masculine)
- uma série interessante (feminine)
There are a number of masculine nouns ending in ‑a in Portuguese, often of Greek origin, for example:
- o problema (the problem)
- o tema (the theme)
- o sistema (the system)
- o drama (the drama)
So uma drama is ungrammatical.
You mostly have to learn the gender with each noun, but there are tendencies:
- Nouns ending in ‑e can be masculine or feminine.
- o telefone (masc.)
- a noite (fem.)
- a série (fem.)
For série, you must memorize it as a série (feminine). That’s why we say:
- Essa série é interessante.
- A série é muito boa.
A good habit is to always learn new nouns with their article:
- a série
- o drama
so the gender becomes automatic.
Portuguese, like Spanish, contrasts ser and estar:
- ser (here: é) is used for more permanent or defining characteristics.
- estar (here: está) is used for temporary states or conditions.
When you say:
- Essa série é um drama muito interessante.
you’re describing what kind of thing it is by nature (its type / genre and a general quality). This fits ser.
You might use estar if you were talking about a temporary state, e.g.:
- Essa série está muito interessante agora.
The series is very interesting right now (at this point in the story).
In your sentence, é is the normal, expected choice.
In Portuguese, adverbs like muito (very) generally come before adjectives:
- muito bom – very good
- muito caro – very expensive
- muito interessante – very interesting
Putting muito after the adjective (e.g. interessante muito) is wrong in standard Portuguese.
A few points:
- muito before an adjective is invariable (it does not change form):
- muito interessante (sing. or pl., masc. or fem.)
- Compare with muitos / muitas, which are adjectives meaning many:
- muitos dramas – many dramas
- muitas séries – many series
No, that sounds wrong in standard Portuguese.
In this kind of sentence, Portuguese normally requires the article before a singular count noun:
- Essa série é um drama muito interessante. ✅
- Essa série é drama muito interessante. ❌
Leaving out um might occur in headlines or telegraphic style, but not in normal speech or writing.
You can sometimes omit the article with certain professions or roles:
- Ele é médico. – He is a doctor.
- Ela é professora. – She is a teacher.
But for um drama (a drama, a type of show), you keep the article.
You need to make all the relevant words agree in number:
Singular:
- Essa série é um drama muito interessante.
Plural:
- Essas séries são dramas muito interessantes.
Changes:
- essa → essas (plural feminine)
- série → séries (plural feminine noun)
- é → são (third person singular → plural of ser)
- um drama → dramas or uns dramas
- Both are possible:
- são dramas muito interessantes
- são uns dramas muito interessantes (with a nuance: some very interesting dramas)
- Both are possible:
- muito interessante → muito interessantes
- muito stays the same (adverb)
- interessante → interessantes
Approximate European Portuguese pronunciations (in rough English-like notation):
Essa → "EH-suh"
- initial E like bet
- final a is often a very short, almost uh-sound in unstressed position
série → "SEH-ree" (with a light, short final ee)
- é like bet
- final ‑ie is one syllable, not seh-ree-eh
é → "EH" (short, open e, as in bet)
um → in isolation "oon" (with nasalisation), often reduced in fast speech
drama → "DRAH-muh"
- dra- with open a like in British drama
- final ‑ma unstressed, short uh
muito → typical European pronunciation is close to "MOO-eet" or "MOO-e-t"
- mui‑ has two vowel elements (u + i) but merges quickly
- final ‑to often reduced, not a full toh
interessante → roughly "een-teh-ruh-SUN-t(uh)"
- in‑ often sounds like een (but quite short)
- ‑te‑re‑ with neutral vowels; r is a single tap
- stressed ‑san‑ with nasal quality
- final ‑te often a weak, almost t plus a very short vowel
This is only an approximation; real European Portuguese is more reduced and less clearly vowelled than these English-like spellings suggest.
Yes, and it’s very natural:
- Essa série é muito interessante.
This/That series is very interesting.
Difference:
Essa série é um drama muito interessante.
– You specify the genre (a drama) and then qualify it (very interesting).Essa série é muito interessante.
– You just give your opinion about it (very interesting), without saying what type of series it is.
Both are correct; you choose depending on whether you want to mention the genre drama.
Yes, there is a regional difference:
In Portugal (European Portuguese), people normally say:
- uma série – a (TV) series
- uma série de televisão – a TV series
In Brazil (Brazilian Portuguese), both série and seriado exist, but:
- seriado is common, especially for TV shows with episodes
- série is also widely used, especially for modern TV/streaming content
In Portugal, seriado sounds foreign/“Brazilian”; you generally just use série. So your sentence is standard for European Portuguese.