Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): O Pedro é alérgico a gatos, mas adora brincar com o gato da vizinha. - Pedro is allergic to cats, but he loves playing with the neighbor’s cat.

Without the article (Pedro é alérgico…) is also grammatically correct, but in everyday European Portuguese, using the article is more common, especially when referring to someone everyone in the conversation knows.

Why is it é alérgico and not something like tem alergia?

Both exist, but they work slightly differently:

O Pedro é alérgico a gatos.
Literally: Pedro is allergic to cats.
Structure: ser + alérgico/a + a + thing
O Pedro tem alergia a gatos.
Literally: Pedro has an allergy to cats.
Structure: ter + alergia + a + thing

They mean almost the same. É alérgico a gatos is very natural and common for talking about allergies as characteristics. Tem alergia a gatos is also correct; it just focuses a bit more on the condition (having an allergy) rather than the property (being allergic).

Why is it alérgico a gatos and not alérgico de gatos?

After alérgico/alérgica, Portuguese uses the preposition a:

ser alérgico a pólen – to be allergic to pollen
ser alérgica a marisco – to be allergic to shellfish
ser alérgico a gatos – to be allergic to cats

Using de here (alérgico de gatos) is incorrect. This is just a fixed pattern: alérgico a + noun.

Why is gatos plural the first time, but gato singular later?

The two gato(s) refer to different things:

alérgico a gatos
- gatos is plural and generic: cats in general / all cats.
- He is allergic to cats as a category.
com o gato da vizinha
- o gato is singular and specific: the neighbor’s cat (a particular cat).

So:

a gatos = to cats (in general)
o gato = the (one) cat belonging to the neighbor

Why do we say o gato da vizinha and not just gato da vizinha?

In Portuguese, we normally put a definite article before a specific singular noun:

o gato – the cat
a casa – the house
o carro – the car

Here, we’re talking about a specific cat (the neighbor’s cat that we know about), so o gato is required:

com o gato da vizinha = with the neighbor’s cat

Leaving out o (com gato da vizinha) would sound incomplete or wrong in standard Portuguese.

What is da in da vizinha? Why not de a vizinha?

Da is a contraction of de + a:

de + a vizinha → da vizinha

This pattern is very common:

de + o → do
de + a → da
de + os → dos
de + as → das

So:

o gato da vizinha = the cat of the neighbor / the neighbor’s cat

You almost always use the contracted form (da, do, etc.) in normal speech and writing.

Why is it vizinha and not vizinho?

Portuguese marks gender on many nouns:

vizinho = male neighbor
vizinha = female neighbor

Because the sentence is talking about a female neighbor, it uses the feminine form vizinha.

Other examples:

amigo / amiga – male friend / female friend
colega – (often unmarked, can be m/f, but article changes: o colega, a colega)

Could it also be o gato da sua vizinha to show his neighbor?

Yes, you could say:

…com o gato da sua vizinha.
…with his/her neighbor’s cat.

But often context makes it clear whose neighbor we are talking about, so da vizinha is enough. In many everyday contexts, a vizinha is understood as our neighbor / the neighbor we both know.

If you really want to specify his neighbor, you can use:

…o gato da vizinha dele. – the cat of his neighbor
…o gato da vizinha dela. – the cat of her neighbor

Why is it adora brincar com and not something like adora de brincar?

The verb adorar (to love / to adore) is followed directly by another verb in the infinitive, with no preposition in between:

adorar + infinitive
- adora brincar – (he) loves to play
- adoro comer chocolate – I love eating chocolate
- adoramos viajar – we love travelling

So:

O Pedro adora brincar com o gato… = Pedro loves playing with the cat…

Using de (adora de brincar) would be incorrect here.

Why is it é alérgico, with é (from ser), instead of está alérgico (from estar)?

Portuguese usually uses ser for more permanent or characteristic traits, and estar for temporary or changing states.

An allergy is seen as a stable characteristic, so:

O Pedro é alérgico a gatos. – Pedro is allergic to cats. (general, lasting trait)

Está alérgico could be used in some special contexts (e.g., at the moment he is reacting, he’s in an allergic state), but for the normal idea “he is allergic to cats”, é alérgico is the standard choice.

Why is there a comma before mas?

Mas means but, and it links two clauses:

O Pedro é alérgico a gatos,
mas adora brincar com o gato da vizinha.

In Portuguese, you normally put a comma before mas when it introduces a contrasting clause, just like English often uses a comma before but in similar sentences.

Without the comma, it’s still often understandable, but the comma is standard and recommended in writing.

Is mas always used like English but? Could we use porém here?

Mas is the most common everyday word for but:

É caro, mas é bom. – It’s expensive, but it’s good.

You could say:

O Pedro é alérgico a gatos, porém adora brincar com o gato da vizinha.

Porém is a bit more formal or literary. In normal spoken Portuguese, mas is much more natural here.

Can adora brincar com o gato da vizinha be moved earlier in the sentence?

Yes, Portuguese word order is quite flexible. You could say:

O Pedro adora brincar com o gato da vizinha, mas é alérgico a gatos.

This is grammatically correct. The difference is mostly which idea you present first or emphasise:

Original: puts the allergy first, then contrasts with his love of playing.
Reordered: starts with the fact that he loves playing, then adds the surprising allergy.

Both versions are natural.

What are some key pronunciation tips for this sentence in European Portuguese?

Some important points (European accent):

Pedro – Pe is like peh; final -dro has a soft tapped r and the last o is often quite reduced (almost like pêdru).
alérgico – stress on lé: a‑LÉR‑ji‑ku. The g before i sounds like the English j in jam.
gatos / gato – ga- like gah, t is clear (not dʒ), final -os / -o are often quite reduced.
adora – stress on do: a‑DO‑ra.
brincar – brin- has a nasal in (like French vin); final -car has a strong guttural r at the back of the throat.
vizinha – vi-ZI-nha; nh is like the ny in canyon; final -a often quite reduced in European Portuguese.

Listening to European Portuguese audio for words like Pedro, gato, and vizinha will help a lot with these sounds.

How would the sentence change if Pedro were female?

You’d mainly change the adjective alérgico to the feminine form alérgica:

A Pedro is not used (Pedro is a male name), so let’s pick a female name:
A Marta é alérgica a gatos, mas adora brincar com o gato da vizinha.

Changes:

A Marta – article + female name
é alérgica – adjective agrees with a feminine subject

Everything else can stay the same.