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Os adeptos aplaudem a equipa.

Os adeptos aplaudem a equipa.
The fans applaud the team.

Breakdown of Os adeptos aplaudem a equipa.

a equipa
the team
o adepto
the fan
aplaudir
to applaud
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Questions & Answers about Os adeptos aplaudem a equipa.

What is the basic grammatical structure of Os adeptos aplaudem a equipa?

It’s a straightforward Subject – Verb – Object sentence:

  • Os adeptos – the subject (who is doing the action)

    • os = the (masculine plural definite article)
    • adeptos = supporters/fans (masculine plural noun)

  • aplaudem – the verb in the present tense, 3rd person plural

    • “(they) applaud / are applauding”

  • a equipa – the direct object (who receives the action)

    • a = the (feminine singular definite article)
    • equipa = team (feminine singular noun)
Why is it os adeptos and a equipa? How do these articles work?

Portuguese definite articles agree with the gender and number of the noun:

  • Masculine:

    • singular: o (o adepto – the supporter)
    • plural: os (os adeptos – the supporters)

  • Feminine:

    • singular: a (a equipa – the team)
    • plural: as (as equipas – the teams)

So:

  • os adeptos = “the supporters” (masc. plural)
  • a equipa = “the team” (fem. singular)

Portuguese uses definite articles more often than English. Where English might say “Fans applaud the team”, Portuguese normally says Os adeptos aplaudem a equipa with both articles.

Is the a before equipa a preposition (like Spanish a) or just the article “the”?

Here it is only the definite article a = “the”.

  • The verb aplaudir takes a direct object without a preposition:
    • aplaudir alguém / alguma coisa – to applaud someone / something

So we have:

  • aplaudem a equipa = “(they) applaud the team”

How do we know it is not the preposition a?

  • If it were preposition a + article a, in Portuguese they would usually contract to à:
    • a (prep.) + a (art.) → à
  • Since we see just plain a equipa, this is simply the article, not “to the team”.
Why is it equipa and not equipe? Is this different in Brazilian Portuguese?

Yes, this is a Portugal vs Brazil difference:

  • European Portuguese (Portugal):

    • equipa = team (sports team, work team, medical team, etc.)

  • Brazilian Portuguese:

    • equipe = team (the common form)
    • time is also common for sports teams

So in Portugal you say:

  • a equipa (Portugal)

In Brazil you would most naturally see:

  • a equipe or o time (Brazil)
What is aplaudem exactly? Which verb form is this?

Aplaudem is the present indicative, 3rd person plural of the verb aplaudir (“to applaud”).

  • Infinitive: aplaudir

  • Present tense (European Portuguese):

    • eu aplaudo – I applaud
    • tu aplaudes – you applaud (informal singular)
    • ele / ela / você aplaude – he / she / you (formal) applaud
    • nós aplaudimos – we applaud
    • vocês / eles / elas aplaudem – you (pl.) / they applaud

So os adeptos aplaudem literally means “the supporters (they) applaud”.

In English I’d usually say “The supporters are applauding the team”. Why is there no “are …ing” form in Portuguese?

Portuguese often uses the simple present where English uses “be + -ing”:

  • Os adeptos aplaudem a equipa.
    = “The supporters applaud the team”
    but in context it can also mean
    = “The supporters are applauding the team (right now)”.

The simple present in Portuguese can express:

  • habitual actions – Os adeptos aplaudem a equipa em todos os jogos.
  • actions happening now, if the context makes that clear – e.g. while watching a match.
How do I say explicitly “The supporters are applauding the team” in European Portuguese?

The most explicit progressive form in European Portuguese is:

  • Os adeptos estão a aplaudir a equipa.

Structure:

  • estão – “are” (3rd person plural of estar)
  • a aplaudir – “applauding” (progressive construction: estar a + infinitive)

So you have two correct options:

  • Os adeptos aplaudem a equipa. – can mean “applaud / are applauding”
  • Os adeptos estão a aplaudir a equipa. – clearly “are applauding (right now)”
Is there any difference in meaning between aplaudem a equipa and estão a aplaudir a equipa?

Both can describe something happening now, but there is a nuance:

  • Os adeptos aplaudem a equipa.

    • Neutral, simple statement.
    • Can be habitual (they do this every match) or current (they’re doing it now), depending on context.

  • Os adeptos estão a aplaudir a equipa.

    • Focuses more clearly on an action in progress at this moment, like English “are applauding”.

In normal spoken Portuguese, either is fine; the context usually makes it clear.

Do I ever need a preposition after aplaudir, like “applaud to” or “applaud for” in some languages?

With this meaning, no. In Portuguese:

  • aplaudir alguém / alguma coisa – to applaud someone / something
    • Os adeptos aplaudem a equipa.
    • Aplaudimos o cantor. – We applaud the singer.
    • O público aplaudiu o discurso. – The audience applauded the speech.

There is no preposition between aplaudir and its direct object in this sense.

Does adeptos mean the same as English “adepts”? Can I use it for any kind of fan?

It’s a bit different:

  • Portuguese adepto mainly means:

    • supporter / follower / adherent, especially of a sports team, a political party, or an idea.
    • os adeptos do Benfica – Benfica supporters
    • os adeptos do partido X – supporters of party X

  • English “adept” means “skilled, very good at something”, which is not the meaning of Portuguese adepto in this sentence.

For general fans (of music, series, celebrities, etc.) Portuguese also uses:

  • fã / fãs – fan / fans
    • Os fãs aplaudem o cantor. – The fans applaud the singer.

In this specific sentence, with a sports team, os adeptos is the most natural choice in European Portuguese.

If the supporters are all female, do I still say os adeptos, or should I change it?

Grammatically, you’d use the feminine plural:

  • as adeptas aplaudem a equipa – the (female) supporters applaud the team.

In practice:

  • os adeptos (masculine plural) is the default for mixed or unspecified groups.
  • as adeptas is used when you explicitly want to highlight that the group is all female.

So:

  • mixed/unspecified group: os adeptos
  • clearly all women: as adeptas
How would you pronounce Os adeptos aplaudem a equipa in European Portuguese?

A careful IPA transcription (European Portuguese) would be roughly:

  • [uz ɐˈdɛptuʃ ɐˈplawdẽj̃ ɐ iˈkipɐ]

A few tips:

  • Os before a vowel (as in os adeptos) often sounds like [uz], similar to English “ooz” but shorter.
  • adeptos → [ɐˈdɛptuʃ]
    • stress on -dep-
    • final -os sounds like -ush.
  • aplaudem → [ɐˈplawdẽj̃]
    • stress on -plau- (like “plow” in English)
    • final -em is a nasal sound, somewhat like “-eng” but shorter.
  • a → [ɐ], a very short, central vowel.
  • equipa → [iˈkipɐ]
    • sounds like “ee-KEE-puh”
    • stress on -qui- (kee).
Can I replace a equipa with a pronoun? How would that look?

Yes. In European Portuguese, the direct object pronoun for a feminine singular noun like a equipa is a (“her/it”), and in affirmative sentences it usually goes after the verb, joined with a hyphen:

  • Os adeptos aplaudem a equipa.
  • Os adeptos aplaudem-na. – “The supporters applaud it / her.”

Notes:

  • a equipa → a (feminine singular direct object pronoun)
  • Because the verb ends in -m, a becomes -na after it:
    • aplaudem + a → aplaudem-na
Can I omit the articles and say Adeptos aplaudem equipa?

In normal, neutral Portuguese, no:

  • Os adeptos aplaudem a equipa. – is the natural full sentence.

You might see articles omitted:

  • in headlines: “Adeptos aplaudem equipa”
  • in telegraphic or very stylistic language.

But in ordinary speech and writing, you should keep the articles here.