Word
O transporte público na cidade está cheio hoje.
Meaning
Public transport in the city is crowded today.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Lesson
Questions & Answers about O transporte público na cidade está cheio hoje.
Why does the sentence start with O transporte público instead of just Transporte público?
In Portuguese, you normally use the definite article (o, a, os, as) when talking about things in general:
- O transporte público = public transportation in general
- Transporte público (without o) is possible but sounds more like a title, label, or very telegraphic style (e.g. in a sign or heading).
So O transporte público na cidade está cheio hoje sounds natural and complete in European Portuguese. Leaving out o in normal speech would sound a bit odd or “headline‑like.”
Why is it O transporte público and not A transporte pública? How do I know the gender?
Transporte is a masculine noun in Portuguese, so it takes:
You see the masculine gender:
- in the article o
- in the adjective ending -o in público
There isn’t a reliable rule to guess gender from the English word; you generally have to learn the gender with each noun:
- o transporte (masc.)
- a cidade (fem.)
- o carro (masc.)
- a estação (fem.)
Always learn nouns together with their article, e.g. o transporte, a cidade.