Breakdown of Os estudantes estrangeiros dizem que a maior dificuldade é o ritmo rápido das conversas.
Questions & Answers about Os estudantes estrangeiros dizem que a maior dificuldade é o ritmo rápido das conversas.
In European Portuguese, you normally use the definite article with plural nouns when you are talking about a group in general:
- Os estudantes estrangeiros = foreign students (as a general group)
- Estudantes estrangeiros (without os) sounds more like a bare label or a heading (e.g. in a form, sign, or title), not a natural full sentence.
So Os estudantes estrangeiros dizem… is the usual, natural way to say “Foreign students say…” when you mean foreign students in general.
In Portuguese, the default position of adjectives is after the noun:
- estudantes estrangeiros = foreign students
Putting estrangeiros before the noun (estrangeiros estudantes) is grammatically possible but strange here and would sound very marked or poetic, almost like you’re emphasizing “strangers who are students” rather than “students who are foreign”.
So for everyday speech, you should say:
- os estudantes estrangeiros (normal)
not os estrangeiros estudantes (odd/marked).
Dizem is:
- the 3rd person plural of the verb dizer (to say)
- in the present indicative: eles dizem = they say
Subject–verb agreement:
- Subject: os estudantes estrangeiros → they (third person plural)
- Verb must match: dizem (not diz)
So:
- Os estudantes estrangeiros dizem… = The foreign students say…
- Os estudantes estrangeiros diz… ❌ (wrong agreement)
Why dizer and not falar?
- dizer (que) focuses on the content of what is said.
- Eles dizem que… = They say that…
- falar is more about speaking/talking in general.
- Eles falam de… = They talk about…
You could say Os estudantes estrangeiros falam que…, but in European Portuguese that sounds more informal/colloquial and less standard than dizem que… for reporting what people state.
Here que is a conjunction meaning “that” in English, introducing a subordinate clause which is the content of what they say:
- Main clause: Os estudantes estrangeiros dizem
- Subordinate clause: que a maior dificuldade é o ritmo rápido das conversas.
So it works like English:
- The foreign students say *that the biggest difficulty is…*
A maior dificuldade literally is “the greater difficulty”, but in context it means “the greatest/biggest/main difficulty”.
Points:
maior is both:
- comparative: greater / bigger
- relative superlative: the greatest / the biggest
The article a (the) plus context makes it superlative here: a maior = the biggest / main.
Portuguese does not say mais grande for bigger or biggest; it uses the single word maior:
- grande → maior (bigger / biggest)
- bom → melhor (better / best)
- mau → pior (worse / worst)
So:
- a maior dificuldade = the biggest/main difficulty
- a mais grande dificuldade ❌ (incorrect)
In Portuguese, when you have “X is Y” and Y is a noun, you normally include the definite article:
- A maior dificuldade é o ritmo rápido das conversas.
→ The biggest difficulty is *the fast pace of conversations.*
Dropping the article (é ritmo rápido…) is not wrong in all contexts, but:
- It can sound more generic, descriptive, or stylistic.
- The neutral, standard way here is with o: é o ritmo rápido…
So for normal speech and writing, you should keep the article: é o ritmo…
ritmo by itself is neutral and just means “rhythm / pace”. It doesn’t automatically mean fast or slow.
- o ritmo das conversas = the pace of conversations (could be fast or slow)
- o ritmo rápido das conversas = the fast pace of conversations
So rápido adds speed and gives the idea of “they speak quickly”, not just “they have a certain rhythm”.
You could also say:
- a velocidade das conversas = the speed of the conversations
- o facto de falarem tão depressa = the fact that they speak so fast
But o ritmo rápido das conversas is natural and not considered redundant.
There are two main noun phrases here with their own agreement patterns:
a maior dificuldade
- dificuldade: feminine singular
- Article: a (feminine singular)
- Adjective: maior is invariable for gender/number in form, but it agrees in meaning with dificuldade (i.e. “bigger” matching a feminine singular noun).
o ritmo rápido das conversas
- ritmo: masculine singular
- Article: o (masculine singular)
- Adjective: rápido (masculine singular, agreeing with ritmo)
- conversas: feminine plural
- Article in contraction: das = de + as (feminine plural, agreeing with conversas)
So each noun has its own article/adjectives that must match its gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural).
In Portuguese, certain prepositions and articles contract into one word. Here:
- de + as → das
So:
- das conversas = de as conversas → of the conversations
But de as by itself is never used; it must contract to das in normal Portuguese.
Other common contractions:
- de + o → do (do livro – of the book)
- de + a → da (da casa – of the house)
- de + os → dos (dos carros – of the cars)
Portuguese often uses the plural to talk about things in a general or repeated sense:
- as conversas = conversations in general / the various conversations people have
- a conversa = a conversation (one specific conversation) or sometimes “conversation” as an activity, but here it would be less natural.
In this sentence, they mean:
- the fast pace of conversations in general, not just one conversation.
So das conversas (plural) is more idiomatic than da conversa here.
The verb ser must agree with the subject, not with the complement.
- Subject: a maior dificuldade → singular
- Complement: o ritmo rápido das conversas → also singular
So:
- A maior dificuldade é o ritmo rápido das conversas. ✅
The biggest difficulty is the fast pace of conversations.
If the subject were plural, you would use são:
- As maiores dificuldades são o vocabulário e o ritmo rápido das conversas.
The biggest difficulties are the vocabulary and the fast pace of conversations.
Ser is used for:
- more permanent or characteristic features
- definitions and classifications
Here, we are describing what the main difficulty is (a kind of definition), so ser is correct:
- A maior dificuldade é o ritmo rápido das conversas.
Using estar (A maior dificuldade está o ritmo rápido…) would be ungrammatical in this structure.
A simple, learner-friendly approximation (European Portuguese):
- Os estudantes estrangeiros dizem que a maior dificuldade é o ritmo rápido das conversas.
Approximate pronunciation (chunked):
- Os estudantes → “oosh shtoo-DAN-tsh”
- estrangeiros → “ish-tran-ZHAY-roosh”
- dizem → “DEE-zeng”
- que a → “k’ ah” (very short e in que)
- maior → “mah-YOR” (the r lightly rolled or guttural)
- dificuldade → “dee-fee-cool-DAH-deh” (final -de quite reduced)
- é o → “EH-oo” (almost like one syllable)
- ritmo → “HREET-moo” (initial r as a throaty h in many accents)
- rápido → “HRAH-pee-doo” (stress on HRAH)
- das conversas → “dash con-VEHR-sash”
This isn’t strict IPA, but it gives you a workable idea of the European Portuguese sounds and stress.