Breakdown of Grande parte das maçãs no pomar estão maduras.
de
of / from / by (means of transport) / wearing (attire)
grande
big / large
estar
to be (temporary / location)
em
in / on / at
a
to / at (direction)
a maçã
the apple
o
him/it (m)
a parte
the part
o pomar
the orchard
maduro
ripe
Questions & Answers about Grande parte das maçãs no pomar estão maduras.
Why does this sentence use the plural verb estão when grande parte is singular?
When a singular expression of quantity like grande parte de (a large part of) or a maioria de (the majority of) is followed by a plural noun like as maçãs (the apples), you have a choice. You can make the verb singular to agree with parte, or plural to agree with maçãs. Using the plural verb (estão) is very common in Portuguese because it emphasizes the individual items.
Does the adjective maduras agree with grande parte or maçãs?
I sometimes mix up when to use de versus das. Why is it das maçãs here?
We use das (the contraction of the preposition de + the feminine plural article as) because we are talking about specific apples: the ones in this particular orchard. It literally translates to "of the apples". If we were talking about apples in a generic, non-specific way, we would just use de.
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