Breakdown of O Pedro é um amigo de confiança.
Questions & Answers about O Pedro é um amigo de confiança.
In European Portuguese, it is very common to use the definite article (o, a, os, as) before people’s first names:
- O Pedro
- A Maria
- O João
It usually signals that we are talking about that person (not to them) and feels normal and neutral in Portugal, especially in speech.
So:
- O Pedro é um amigo de confiança.
= We’re talking about Pedro.
But when you address someone directly (vocative), you normally drop the article:
- Pedro, vem cá! – Pedro, come here!
You can also drop the article in more formal or careful writing, but in everyday European Portuguese, O Pedro is very typical and completely correct.
Yes, you can say:
- Pedro é um amigo de confiança.
This is grammatically correct and understandable in European Portuguese.
Nuance:
- O Pedro é um amigo de confiança. – Very typical in Portugal, sounds natural and colloquial.
- Pedro é um amigo de confiança. – Feels a bit more formal, “written”, or stylistically careful.
Both mean the same thing; the difference is mainly style and regional preference. In Brazil, the version without the article (Pedro é…) is the normal one.
Portuguese uses two verbs for to be:
- ser (here: é) – more permanent, inherent characteristics.
- estar – temporary states or conditions.
Being um amigo de confiança (a trustworthy friend) is seen as a stable quality of Pedro, not a temporary mood, so ser is used:
- O Pedro é um amigo de confiança.
= Pedro is (by nature / generally) a trustworthy friend.
Using estar here would sound wrong or, at best, very unusual and ironic, as if he’s “being trustworthy for now.”
The article changes the meaning, similar to English:
- um amigo de confiança = a trustworthy friend (one such friend; he fits this description).
- o amigo de confiança = the trustworthy friend (the specific trusted friend, maybe the main or only one you rely on).
So:
- O Pedro é um amigo de confiança.
= Pedro is a trustworthy friend (one of your trustworthy friends).
If you said:
- O Pedro é o amigo de confiança.
You would be identifying him as the key trusted friend (for example, the one person at work you rely on).
Yes, that is possible:
- O Pedro é amigo de confiança.
This structure (without um) sounds a bit more formal or literary and treats amigo de confiança almost like a role or category, similar to:
- Ele é médico. – He is a doctor.
- Ela é professora. – She is a teacher.
With um, it sounds more like natural everyday speech:
- O Pedro é um amigo de confiança. – Very common, neutral.
- O Pedro é amigo de confiança. – Correct, but a bit more “stylistic” or formal.
Both exist, but amigo de confiança is the most common and idiomatic expression, especially in European Portuguese.
- amigo de confiança – very natural collocation; literally “friend of trust”, meaning a trusted / trustworthy friend.
- amigo confiável – grammatically correct, understood, but sounds less common and can feel a bit more formal or more Brazilian.
In Portugal, de confiança is widely used not just with amigo, but also with:
- um médico de confiança – a trusted doctor
- um carro de confiança – a reliable car
- uma loja de confiança – a trusted shop
So de confiança is the default “trustworthy / reliable” pattern in many phrases.
You only need to change the words that show gender:
- O Pedro é um amigo de confiança.
- A Maria é uma amiga de confiança.
Changes:
- O Pedro → A Maria (masculine article and name → feminine article and name)
- um amigo → uma amiga (masculine → feminine)
de confiança stays exactly the same; it does not change for gender.
No, that word order would be wrong.
In this expression:
- amigo is the noun.
- de confiança is a fixed prepositional phrase that comes after the noun and together they form the phrase amigo de confiança.
The normal order is:
- um amigo de confiança
(article + noun + de-phrase)
You cannot split it as um de confiança amigo. Portuguese does allow some flexibility with simple adjectives, but even then the usual position is:
- noun + adjective: um amigo leal (a loyal friend)
not um leal amigo (which is possible but marked/stylistic).
Pronunciation in European Portuguese (roughly):
- confiança ≈ kohn-fee-AHN-sɐ
- con – like “kohn”, with a slightly nasal on.
- fi – like fee.
- an (with ã) – nasal sound; you don’t fully pronounce an n, more like “uh(n)” through the nose.
- ça – the ç is always an s sound before a, o, u, so it sounds like sa, not ka.
The accent on â (in confiança, actually ã) marks nasalization and also shows where the stress is: fi-AN-ça (stress on an). The ç (cedilla) simply guarantees the s sound here.
No. de confiança is a general expression meaning reliable / trustworthy, and it’s used for:
- People:
- um amigo de confiança – a trustworthy friend
- um funcionário de confiança – a trusted employee
- Professionals / services:
- um médico de confiança – a doctor you trust
- uma oficina de confiança – a reliable garage / workshop
- Objects / products:
- um carro de confiança – a reliable car
So it’s a very flexible phrase you’ll see in many contexts, not just with amigo.
There is one main difference:
In European Portuguese,
O Pedro é um amigo de confiança. – sounds completely natural and typical.In Brazilian Portuguese,
the article before the name is usually not used in standard speech, so they would more often say:
Pedro é um amigo de confiança.
The rest of the sentence (é um amigo de confiança) is fine and natural in both varieties. The biggest regional difference here is really the presence or absence of o before Pedro.