A pá está perto do ancinho.

A is the feminine singular definite article, meaning the.

So:

• a pá = the shovel

In Portuguese, it is very common to use definite articles where English might also use the, and nouns must agree with the article in gender and number.

Here, pá is a feminine singular noun, so it takes a.

Because perto normally uses the preposition de.

So the structure is:

• perto de = near / close to

Since ancinho is masculine singular and has the definite article o, Portuguese combines:

• de + o = do

So:

• perto do ancinho = near the rake

This contraction is extremely common in Portuguese.

Portuguese has two verbs for to be: ser and estar.

Here, está is used because the sentence describes location:

• A pá está perto do ancinho. = The shovel is near the rake.

A good basic rule is:

• estar for location, condition, temporary state
• ser for identity, permanent characteristics, classification

So you would not normally say A pá é perto do ancinho.

Está is the 3rd person singular of estar in the present tense.

That means it is used with:

• ele / ela / você
• and also with singular nouns like a pá

So:

• a pá está = the shovel is

Other present-tense forms of estar are:

• eu estou
• tu estás
• ele/ela/você está
• nós estamos
• vós estais (rare in everyday speech)
• eles/elas/vocês estão

The accent in pá shows the stressed vowel and helps distinguish pronunciation.

In European Portuguese, it tells you that the word is pronounced with stress on that vowel: pá.

It can also help distinguish words in writing. For a learner, the key point is:

• pá is written with an acute accent
• you should pronounce it as a stressed a

In European Portuguese, ancinho is pronounced roughly like:

• an-SEEN-yoo

More carefully, the nh in Portuguese is like the ny sound in canyon.

So:

• nh = a soft ny sound

That means:

• ancinho ≈ an-SIN-yoo or an-SEEN-yoo, depending on how closely you want to imitate the vowel quality

The most important thing is not to pronounce nh like English n-h separately.

Perto means near, close, or nearby, depending on the structure.

In this sentence:

• perto de = near / close to

Examples:

• A pá está perto do ancinho. = The shovel is near the rake.
• A casa está perto da escola. = The house is near the school.

Notice again that perto is normally followed by de.

Because Portuguese often uses definite articles with concrete nouns in ordinary statements.

So:

• a pá = the shovel
• o ancinho = the rake

In English, article use is sometimes a bit different, but in Portuguese this is completely natural and expected.

Also, the articles help show the gender of the nouns:

• a pá → feminine
• o ancinho → masculine

• pá is feminine
• ancinho is masculine

This matters because articles and some other words must agree with the noun.

So you get:

• a pá
• o ancinho
• do ancinho = de + o ancinho

If the second noun were feminine, you would get da instead of do:

• perto da casa = near the house

Yes, in this sentence the word order is very similar to English:

• A pá = the shovel
• está = is
• perto do ancinho = near the rake

So the structure is:

• subject + verb + location phrase

This makes the sentence quite straightforward for an English speaker.

Yes, that is possible, but it is less basic and may sound a bit different in tone or style.

• perto de is the most common and straightforward way to say near
• próximo de or próxima de can also mean near / close to

Because pá is feminine, you would say:

• A pá está próxima do ancinho.

But for a beginner, perto de is usually the safest and most useful pattern to learn first.

The plural would be:

• As pás estão perto dos ancinhos.

Changes:

• a → as
• pá → pás
• está → estão
• do → dos
• ancinho → ancinhos

So:

• As pás estão perto dos ancinhos. = The shovels are near the rakes.