Breakdown of Eles vendem o marisco à unidade.
eles
they (m)
à
at the (fem. sg.) / to the (fem. sg.)
o
him/it (m)
vender
to sell
Questions & Answers about Eles vendem o marisco à unidade.
Why do we use à here instead of a translation for 'by', like por?
In Portuguese, rates, measurements, and pricing are typically expressed using the preposition a combined with a definite article (o, a, os, as). Because unidade is feminine singular, the preposition a merges with the article a to create à.
What does the backward accent on à mean?
That is a grave accent, and it indicates a contraction. It tells you that the word isn't just the article a (the) or just the preposition a (to/at/by), but rather both of them merged together.
In English, 'seafood' is an uncountable noun. Is marisco uncountable in Portuguese?
Unlike in English, marisco can be countable in Portuguese! You will often see the plural os mariscos to refer to various types of shellfish. However, in this sentence, o marisco acts as a singular collective noun representing the seafood as a whole category.
I sometimes see vende-se for 'is sold'. Why use vendem here?