O vírus afetou os pulmões da avó do Pedro.

The virus affected Pedro's grandmother's lungs.

Breakdown of O vírus afetou os pulmões da avó do Pedro.

• Pedro: Pedro
• de: of
• a avó: the grandmother
• afetar: to affect
• o vírus: the virus
• o pulmão: the lung

Questions & Answers about O vírus afetou os pulmões da avó do Pedro.

Why does the sentence start with O vírus and not just Vírus, since in English we usually say Virus without the?

Portuguese uses definite articles (o, a, os, as) much more often than English, especially with:

• general nouns (like o vírus, o tabaco, a água)
• specific things already known from context

In this sentence, O vírus is like saying The virus in English. It could mean:

• a specific virus already known in the conversation, or
• the virus in a generic / general sense (as a kind of disease agent)

Leaving the article out (Vírus afetou os pulmões...) would sound wrong in standard Portuguese. So even when English omits the, Portuguese very often keeps o / a / os / as.

What tense is afetou, and how is the verb afetar conjugated here?

Afetou is:

• verb: afetar (to affect)
• tense: pretérito perfeito simples (simple past, a completed past action)
• person/number: 3rd person singular (he/she/it affected)

Basic conjugation of afetar in the simple past:

• eu afetei – I affected
• tu afetaste – you affected (singular, informal)
• ele / ela / você afetou – he/she/you affected
• nós afetámos (PT) – we affected
• eles / elas / vocês afetaram – they / you (plural) affected

So in O vírus afetou..., vírus is the subject (it), and afetou matches that: it affected.

What is the difference between afetar and something like infetar or infectar?

These verbs are related but not the same:

• afetar = to affect, to have an impact on

  • broader meaning: can be physical, emotional, economic, etc.
  • O vírus afetou os pulmões = The virus affected the lungs (it harmed or damaged them)

• infetar / infectar = to infect

  • more specific: the virus enters the body and begins to multiply
  • O vírus infetou os pulmões = The virus infected the lungs

In European Portuguese today, infetar (without c) is the official spelling, but you may still see infectar informally.

In your sentence, afetar focuses on the damage or effect, not on the technical process of infection.

Why is it os pulmões (plural) and not o pulmão, and what does os do here?

Humans have two lungs, so Portuguese normally refers to them in the plural:

• o pulmão = the lung (one lung)
• os pulmões = the lungs (two)

Os is the masculine plural definite article (the). It agrees with:

• gender: masculine (pulmão/pulmões is masculine)
• number: plural (pulmões)

So os pulmões literally means the lungs.

How do we get from pulmão to pulmões, and how do you pronounce pulmões?

The singular is:

• pulmão – lung

The plural is:

• pulmões – lungs

Pattern:

• many words ending in -ão form the plural in -ões:
  • coração → corações
  • nação → nações
  • pulmão → pulmões

Pronunciation in European Portuguese (approximate):

• pulmão: pool-MOWN (nasal ão at the end)
• pulmões: pool-MOYNSH (nasal ões, final -s like English sh in most accents)

The nasal sound (ão / ões) is important; you don’t fully pronounce a separate m or n.

What do da and do mean in da avó do Pedro?

Da and do are contractions of the preposition de (of, from) with the definite article:

• de + a = da (of the / from the, feminine singular)
• de + o = do (of the / from the, masculine singular)

So:

• da avó = of the grandmother
• do Pedro = of Pedro

The whole phrase os pulmões da avó do Pedro literally is:

• the lungs of the grandmother of Pedro
  = Pedro’s grandmother’s lungs

Why is it da avó do Pedro instead of da avó de Pedro? What’s that o doing before Pedro?

In European Portuguese, it is very common (and natural) to use a definite article with personal names:

• o Pedro, a Maria, o João

After de, this article contracts:

• de + o Pedro → do Pedro
• de + a Maria → da Maria

So:

• da avó do Pedro = of the grandmother of (the) Pedro

Using de Pedro without the article (da avó de Pedro) is grammatically possible, but in everyday European Portuguese it often sounds a bit more formal, literary, or just less natural depending on context. Do Pedro is what you’ll hear most of the time in Portugal.

What is the difference between avó and avô, and how are they pronounced?

The accent changes both meaning and sound:

• avó (with ó, acute accent)

  • meaning: grandmother
  • pronunciation (PT): roughly ah-VOH (open ó sound)

• avô (with ô, circumflex)

  • meaning: grandfather
  • pronunciation (PT): roughly ah-VO (more closed ô sound)

In your sentence, da avó clearly means of the grandmother. If it were do avô, it would mean of the grandfather.

Could I say os pulmões da sua avó instead of os pulmões da avó do Pedro?

You could, but it doesn’t mean exactly the same thing:

• os pulmões da avó do Pedro

  • very explicit: Pedro’s grandmother’s lungs
  • Pedro is named, no ambiguity

• os pulmões da sua avó

  • the lungs of your/his/her/their grandmother
  • sua is ambiguous: it can mean his, her, their, or your (formal)

In European Portuguese, using de + name (do Pedro) is a very common way to avoid ambiguity, especially in written language. So the original version is clearer if several people are involved in the context.

Why does Portuguese use this chain os pulmões da avó do Pedro instead of something like English Pedro’s grandmother’s lungs?

Portuguese doesn’t have the ’s possessive construction like English. Instead, it uses:

• de (of) + noun, often with an article:
  • os pulmões da avó do Pedro
  • literally: the lungs of the grandmother of Pedro

So possession is usually shown with de:

• o carro do Pedro = Pedro’s car
• o livro da Maria = Maria’s book
• a casa dos pais do João = João’s parents’ house

The order is still pretty similar to English logically; you just keep adding de-phrases instead of stacking ’s.

Could I change the word order, like O vírus afetou a avó do Pedro nos pulmões? Would that still be correct?

Yes, that sentence is grammatically correct, but the focus shifts slightly:

• O vírus afetou os pulmões da avó do Pedro.

  • direct object = os pulmões
  • focus is on the lungs as the thing affected

• O vírus afetou a avó do Pedro nos pulmões.

  • direct object = a avó do Pedro
  • nos pulmões (in the lungs) explains where on her body she was affected

Both can describe the same situation, but:

• first version: emphasizes an organ (the lungs)
• second version: emphasizes the person (the grandmother) and specifies the affected area

Is there any difference between European and Brazilian Portuguese in this sentence?

Structurally, the sentence is fine in both varieties:

• O vírus afetou os pulmões da avó do Pedro.

Differences:

• Article with names:

  • European Portuguese: do Pedro is very normal.
  • Brazilian Portuguese: de Pedro (without article) is also very common; do Pedro is used but region-dependent.

• Pronunciation:

  • PT: final -s often sounds like English sh (vírus, pulmões, Pedro with a European r).
  • BR: final -s often like s or z, and r sounds different.

• Spelling and vocabulary:

  • The spelling afetou is standard in both nowadays.
  • The rest of the words are shared.

So for Portuguese from Portugal, your sentence is perfectly natural and idiomatic as it is.