Breakdown of A irmã da Ana não se interessa por política, prefere falar de viagens.
Questions & Answers about A irmã da Ana não se interessa por política, prefere falar de viagens.
Portuguese normally uses the definite article before family members and other nouns when they’re specific.
- A irmã = the sister (a specific sister, not just “some sister”)
- Dropping the article (Irmã da Ana) would sound incomplete or like a title (e.g., “Sister Ana” in a religious context), not a normal noun phrase.
So “A irmã da Ana” means “Ana’s sister” in the usual, specific sense: the sister of Ana.
“Da” is a contraction of “de + a” (of + the):
- de + a Ana → da Ana
In European Portuguese, people’s names often take a definite article, especially when they’re talked about in the third person:
- a Ana, o João, a Maria
So:
- da Ana = of the Ana → idiomatically of Ana / Ana’s
“de Ana” (without the article) is possible but sounds more formal, written, or slightly marked. In everyday European Portuguese, “da Ana” is by far more common.
Portuguese uses two related verb patterns:
interessar-se por algo = to be interested in something (focus on the person’s interest)
- A irmã da Ana não se interessa por política.
Ana’s sister is not interested in politics.
- A irmã da Ana não se interessa por política.
algo interessa a alguém = something interests someone (focus on the thing)
- Política não interessa à irmã da Ana.
Politics does not interest Ana’s sister.
- Política não interessa à irmã da Ana.
So:
- “não se interessa por política” = she is not interested in politics (correct and natural).
- “não interessa por política” is ungrammatical. With the non‑reflexive form, the structure would need to be “Política não interessa à irmã da Ana”.
The standard pattern in Portuguese is:
- interessar-se por + noun
- interessar-se por política
- interessar-se por música
- interessar-se por desporto
“interessar-se em” is much less common and often sounds strange or regional. For learners, it’s safest to treat “interessar-se por” as a fixed expression meaning “to be interested in”.
Yes, that’s correct, and both are natural:
Não se interessa por política.
Literally: She doesn’t interest herself in politics.
→ Focuses on the active attitude of not showing interest.Não está interessada em política.
Literally: She is not interested in politics.
→ Uses the adjective interessada, describing her state or condition.
In everyday use, they are very close in meaning. Both are fine; “não se interessa por política” is a bit more verb-like and dynamic, “não está interessada em política” a bit more descriptive.
Portuguese has specific rules for clitic pronoun placement:
In a simple affirmative sentence, the pronoun usually comes after the verb:
- Interessa-se por política. – She is interested in politics.
With negation (não), the pronoun moves before the verb:
- Não se interessa por política.
So:
- “não se interessa” = correct
- “não interessa-se” = incorrect
- “interessa se” (with a space) = incorrect; the pronoun must be attached (interessa‑se) or placed before (se interessa).
The sentence has two coordinated clauses with the same subject:
- A irmã da Ana não se interessa por política,
- [Ela] prefere falar de viagens.
In Portuguese, it’s very common to link two independent clauses with just a comma, especially when the subject is the same and understood:
- Não se interessa por política, prefere falar de viagens.
You could also say:
- …não se interessa por política e prefere falar de viagens.
Both are grammatically correct. Using “e” (and) is more explicit; using just a comma is very common in writing and sounds natural.
Both are possible:
- falar de viagens
- falar sobre viagens
They often overlap, but there’s a slight nuance:
- falar de = talk about, chat about (very common, neutral, often more casual or broad)
- falar sobre = talk about, discuss (can sound a bit more like you’re discussing a topic or theme)
In this sentence, “prefere falar de viagens” fits well because it suggests casual conversation about trips and travel. “falar sobre viagens” would also be correct; it may sound a bit more like “discuss trips as a topic.”
“Viagens” is the plural of “viagem” (trip, journey). In Portuguese, it’s very common to talk about this kind of topic in the plural:
- gosta de falar de viagens – likes to talk about trips / travel in general
- gosta de falar de livros – likes to talk about books
- gosta de falar de filmes – likes to talk about movies
You can say “falar de viagem”, but that usually refers to:
- one specific trip (talk about the trip), or
- the idea of travelling as a concept (talk about travel), depending on context.
For general, multiple trips as a favorite subject, “falar de viagens” is the most natural choice.
In this context, “política” means “politics” (the general field: political issues, parties, elections, public debate, etc.).
The word “política” can mean:
Politics (in general)
- Não se interessa por política.
She isn’t interested in politics.
- Não se interessa por política.
Policy (more specific rules/strategies), often with a qualifier:
- política externa – foreign policy
- política económica – economic policy
Female politician (less common in everyday speech; you’re more likely to hear “mulher política” or other formulations).
Here, with “interessa-se por política”, the default reading is clearly “politics”.
Grammatically, you could build a sentence with “A Ana” as subject:
- A Ana não se interessa por política, prefere falar de viagens.
Ana is not interested in politics; she prefers to talk about trips.
But in the original sentence, the subject is specifically:
- A irmã da Ana – Ana’s sister
So:
- A irmã da Ana = Ana’s sister (some other person)
- A Ana = Ana herself
They are not interchangeable: they refer to different people. The structure “A irmã da Ana” makes it very clear that we’re talking about Ana’s sister, not Ana.