Breakdown of A minha mãe diz que uma saia confortável é melhor do que calças apertadas num dia de calor.
Questions & Answers about A minha mãe diz que uma saia confortável é melhor do que calças apertadas num dia de calor.
In European Portuguese, it is normal to use the definite article with possessives:
- a minha mãe – my mother
- o meu pai – my father
- os meus livros – my books
So A minha mãe is the standard way to say my mother in Portugal.
Notes:
- In Brazilian Portuguese, people more often say minha mãe, meu pai (without the article), especially in speech.
- In European Portuguese, leaving out the article (minha mãe) is possible but usually sounds more informal, emphatic, or stylistic.
Uma saia confortável uses the indefinite article uma because we are talking about one skirt, not a specific one:
- uma saia confortável = a comfortable skirt (any comfortable skirt)
With calças apertadas, the article is simply omitted after melhor do que:
- melhor do que calças apertadas = better than tight trousers
You could say:
- … é melhor do que umas calças apertadas …
This is also correct, but it sounds a bit heavier and more specific, like better than some particular tight trousers.
The version without umas feels more general and is very natural in comparisons.
In Portuguese, as in English, some clothes are grammatically plural even when you mean one physical item:
- as calças – trousers / pants (always plural in form)
- uns óculos – (a pair of) glasses (also plural)
So:
- uma saia – one skirt (singular clothing item, singular word)
- (umas) calças – one pair of trousers (single clothing item, but plural word)
In practice, calças is almost always used in the plural when referring to trousers.
The usual word order in Portuguese is:
- noun + adjective
So:
- saia confortável – comfortable skirt
- calças apertadas – tight trousers
Adjectives can come before the noun, but that often changes the nuance or gives emphasis:
- um grande homem – a great man (moral quality)
- um homem grande – a big/large man (physical size)
In your sentence, saia confortável and calças apertadas follow the neutral, default order: noun first, then adjective.
Portuguese has an irregular comparative for bom (good):
- bom → melhor (better)
- mau → pior (worse)
So you say:
- é melhor do que – is better than
- é pior do que – is worse than
You do not say mais bom do que in standard Portuguese.
Use melhor instead of mais bom.
Yes. Both are used:
- é melhor do que calças apertadas
- é melhor que calças apertadas
They mean the same thing: is better than tight trousers.
Some notes:
- do que is a bit more formal/standard and very common in Portugal.
- que alone is also correct and very common in everyday speech.
In careful written Portuguese from Portugal, é melhor do que is often preferred.
Ser (é) is used for more permanent, general, or characteristic statements, including general comparisons and opinions:
- Uma saia confortável é melhor do que calças apertadas num dia de calor.
→ This is a general opinion about what is better.
Estar is used for temporary states or conditions, often with place, mood, or current situation:
- A saia está confortável. – The skirt is (feels) comfortable (right now).
Here we are not describing the current state of a particular skirt; we are stating a general rule/preference, so é (from ser) is the right choice.
Num is a contraction of:
- em + um → num
So:
- em um dia de calor → num dia de calor
= on a hot day / on a day of heat
Similarly:
- em + uma → numa
- em + o → no
- em + a → na
These contractions are obligatory in normal speech and writing in European Portuguese.
Literally:
- num dia de calor = on a day of heat
- num dia quente = on a hot/warm day
Both are fine and quite close in meaning. Subtle nuance:
- dia de calor often evokes the feeling of heat, like a hot, stuffy day, sometimes suggesting discomfort.
- dia quente is more neutral: simply a hot/warm day, not automatically negative.
In this sentence, num dia de calor fits nicely with the contrast between comfortable skirt and tight trousers in heat.
All of these are possible, but they sound different:
- dia de calor – a day of heat, a hot day (idiomatic, very natural)
- dia com calor – a day with heat, sounds less idiomatic and more literal
Portuguese often uses de to link a general condition or characteristic:
- dia de chuva – a rainy day
- noite de frio – a cold night
So dia de calor fits this pattern: it’s the most natural, set expression for this idea.
In Portuguese, after verbs like dizer (say), achar (think), acreditar (believe), you normally use que to introduce the clause:
- A minha mãe diz que… – My mother says that…
- Eu acho que… – I think that…
- Eles acreditam que… – They believe that…
So:
- A minha mãe diz que uma saia confortável é melhor…
Leaving out que here (diz uma saia confortável é melhor…) is not correct in standard Portuguese. In English, that is often dropped; in Portuguese, que is usually required.
Yes, that is grammatically correct:
- A minha mãe diz que é melhor uma saia confortável do que calças apertadas num dia de calor.
Both versions are fine:
- diz que uma saia confortável é melhor do que calças apertadas…
- diz que é melhor uma saia confortável do que calças apertadas…
Version 1 (the original) is slightly more straightforward and is probably the most natural here, but version 2 is also common and idiomatic.
- diz is present tense: she says / she is saying
- disse is past tense (pretérito perfeito): she said
The sentence:
- A minha mãe diz que…
implies a habitual or current opinion – what your mother generally says or often says.
If you were talking about one specific time in the past, you would use:
- A minha mãe disse que uma saia confortável era melhor do que calças apertadas num dia de calor.
– My mother said that a comfortable skirt was better than tight trousers on a hot day.