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O motorista espera na estação.

O motorista espera na estação.
The driver waits at the station.

Breakdown of O motorista espera na estação.

em
at
esperar
to wait
a estação
the station
o motorista
the driver
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Questions & Answers about O motorista espera na estação.

Why does the sentence use O motorista and not um motorista?

Portuguese articles work much like English the vs a, but Portuguese uses the definite article more often.

  • O motorista = the driver (a specific driver, or the driver in a general sense: “drivers in general”).
  • Um motorista = a driver (some driver, not specified which one).

In this sentence, O motorista espera na estação, we are probably talking about:

  • a particular driver already known in the context, or
  • “the driver” as a role (e.g., in a story: The driver waits at the station.)

Using um motorista espera na estação would sound more like introducing a random/unknown driver into the story: A driver is waiting at the station.

Why is it o motorista even though motorista ends in -a? Isn’t that usually feminine?

Motorista is one of those nouns with common gender: the word itself doesn’t change, and the article tells you if it’s masculine or feminine.

  • o motorista = the (male or unspecified) driver
  • a motorista = the (female) driver

So:

  • The -a ending doesn’t guarantee that the noun is feminine.
  • With professions and roles like motorista, jornalista, dentista, etc., the gender is given by the article (o / a) and by adjectives that follow.

Examples:

  • O motorista está cansado. – The (male) driver is tired.
  • A motorista está cansada. – The (female) driver is tired.
Why is there no ele in the sentence? Can Portuguese really drop the subject pronoun?

Yes. Portuguese (like Spanish or Italian) is a “null-subject” language: the subject pronoun is often omitted because the verb ending already shows the person.

  • (Ele) espera
    • espera is clearly 3rd person singular (he/she/it)
    • So ele (he) or ela (she) is not needed unless you want emphasis or contrast.

O motorista espera na estação is perfectly natural; Ele, o motorista, espera na estação would sound more emphatic/contrasty.

We only add the pronoun when we:

  • want to stress who is doing the action:
    Ele espera, não ela. – HE waits, not her.
  • need to avoid ambiguity in context.
How is esperar conjugated in the present tense, and is it regular?

Esperar is a regular -ar verb. In the present tense (Indicative):

  • eu espero – I wait
  • tu esperas – you wait (singular, informal; common in Portugal)
  • ele / ela espera – he / she waits
  • nós esperamos – we wait
  • (vós esperais) – very rare in modern Portugal, mostly liturgical/archaic
  • vocês esperam – you (plural) wait
  • eles / elas esperam – they wait

In O motorista espera na estação, espera is the 3rd person singular form, matching o motorista.

Does esperar always mean “to wait”, or can it also mean “to hope” or “to expect”?

Esperar has three main meanings, and only context tells you which one is intended:

  1. to wait

    • O motorista espera na estação. – The driver waits at the station.
    • Espera por mim. – Wait for me.

  2. to hope

    • Espero que estejas bem. – I hope you’re well.
      (Notice espero que + subjunctive often expresses hope.)

  3. to expect

    • Espero uma chamada. – I’m expecting a call.
    • Eles esperam melhores resultados. – They expect better results.

In your sentence, espera clearly has the “waits” meaning because it’s followed by a location (na estação).

Why is it na estação and not em a estação?

Portuguese contracts prepositions with definite articles. This is mandatory in normal speech and writing.

  • em + a → na
  • em + o → no
  • em + as → nas
  • em + os → nos

So:

  • em + a estação ⇒ na estação (at the station / in the station)

Saying em a estação is ungrammatical in standard Portuguese; you must use the contracted form na estação.

What is the gender of estação, and how can I tell?

Estação is feminine: a estação.

How to see it:

  • The article hidden inside na is a (feminine):
    na = em + a, so a estação is feminine.

About the ending:

  • Many nouns ending in -ção (often corresponding to English -tion words) are feminine, e.g.
    • a estação – the station
    • a nação – the nation
    • a situação – the situation
    • a informação – the information

So a handy rule of thumb: -ção words (especially those similar to English -tion) are usually feminine.

Why do we use the preposition em (in na estação) here? Could we say a, para or à estação instead?

The choice of preposition changes the meaning:

  • em (→ na estação) = at / in the station (location)

    • O motorista espera na estação. – The driver waits at the station.

  • a / para / à

    • estação = to the station (direction / movement)

    • O motorista vai à estação. – The driver goes to the station.
      (a + a estação → à estação, with a grave accent in European Portuguese.)

So:

  • esperar na estação = to wait at the station (already there)
  • ir à estação / para a estação = to go to the station (movement toward it)

You cannot use à estação after esperar in this sense; esperar à estação would be wrong here.

Could we say O motorista está à espera na estação instead of O motorista espera na estação? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can. Both are correct, but they differ slightly in aspect and style.

  • O motorista espera na estação.

    • Simple present.
    • Can describe a current action or a habitual one, depending on context.
    • Neutral, simple style.

  • O motorista está à espera na estação. (European Portuguese)

    • Literally “is at waiting at the station”.
    • This is a very common progressive form in Portugal: estar a + infinitive or the fixed phrase estar à espera.
    • Emphasises that the waiting is ongoing right now.

So:

  • Telling a story / giving a simple fact: O motorista espera na estação.
  • Emphasising the ongoing nature of the wait at this moment: O motorista está à espera na estação.
Is the word order fixed? Could I say Na estação, o motorista espera or O motorista na estação espera?

Portuguese has a fairly flexible word order, but some versions sound more natural than others.

  1. O motorista espera na estação.

    • Default neutral order (Subject–Verb–Place).
    • Most natural and common.

  2. Na estação, o motorista espera.

    • Also correct.
    • You’re emphasizing “at the station” (setting the scene).
      Similar to English: At the station, the driver waits.

  3. O motorista na estação espera.

    • Grammatically possible, but sounds marked/poetic or like you’re contrasting:
      • The driver at the station waits (as opposed to some other driver somewhere else).
    • Not the usual everyday phrasing.

So:

  • Everyday Portuguese: O motorista espera na estação.
  • For emphasis on the place: Na estação, o motorista espera.
How do you pronounce motorista and estação in European Portuguese, especially ç and ã?

Approximate pronunciations (European Portuguese):

  • motorista → roughly: mo-tu-REESH-tuh

    • r in -ri- is a light tap, like a quick d in “ladder” in some English accents.
    • -s- before t is pronounced like sh: REESH-tuh.
    • Final -a in unstressed position is reduced, sounding like a brief uh.

  • estação → roughly: esh-tah-SÃW

    • es- at the start often sounds like esh-: esh-.
    • ç is always pronounced like English s (never like k): sta- → s-ta.
    • ã is a nasal vowel; -ão is nasal and a bit like English “own” but through the nose: SÃW.
    • So estação ≈ esh-tah-SOWN with a nasal quality on the last syllable.

Key points:

  • ç = /s/, like s in see.
  • ã / ão = nasal sounds; you don’t fully pronounce an n after them; the vowel itself is nasalized.