Determinantes combinados (este meu casaco)

Stacking determiners

Portuguese lets determiners pile up in a fixed order — something English mostly refuses ("this my coat"):

patternexample
demonstrative + possessiveeste meu casaco
todo + article + possessivetodas as vossas ideias
article + possessive + numeralos meus três primos
This coat of mine has seen better days.
Este meu casaco já viu melhores dias.

The order is rigid: demonstrative (or todo) first, possessive next, numeral last, noun at the end. The article appears whenever the possessive would take it on its own.

My three cousins live abroad.
Os meus três primos vivem no estrangeiro.

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