O seu casaco está no armário.

to be

Breakdown of O seu casaco está no armário.

• em: in
• o casaco: the coat
• seu: your

Questions & Answers about O seu casaco está no armário.

Why is there o before seu casaco?

In European Portuguese, it is very common to use the definite article before a possessive:

• o seu casaco = your coat / his coat / her coat
• a minha casa = my house
• os nossos amigos = our friends

English usually does not do this, so it feels strange at first. For a learner, it helps to think of o seu casaco as the normal Portuguese way of saying your coat, not as the your coat.

Why is it seu and not teu?

That is a very common question, especially in European Portuguese.

In Portugal:

• teu / tua / teus / tuas usually go with tu (informal you)
• seu / sua / seus / suas usually go with você, o senhor, a senhora, or can mean his/her/their

So if you are speaking informally to a friend, O teu casaco está no armário is often more natural in Portugal.

O seu casaco está no armário is possible, but in European Portuguese it often sounds:

• more formal, or
• potentially ambiguous

Can seu also mean his, her, or their?