Breakdown of A maioria dos agricultores costumam armazenar o trigo no celeiro.
de
of / from / by (means of transport) / wearing (attire)
em
in / on / at
a
to / at (direction)
o
him/it (m)
costumar
to usually do
o agricultor
the farmer
a maioria
the majority
armazenar
to store
o trigo
the wheat
o celeiro
the barn
Questions & Answers about A maioria dos agricultores costumam armazenar o trigo no celeiro.
Why is the verb plural (costumam) if the subject starts with the singular phrase A maioria?
When a singular group phrase like a maioria de (the majority of) is followed by a plural noun like agricultores (farmers), Portuguese gives you a choice. You can make the verb plural (costumam) to agree with the plural noun, which focuses on the individual farmers. Alternatively, you can make the verb singular (costuma) to agree with a maioria, treating them as a single group. Both are completely correct!
How does costumam armazenar translate to 'usually store' without an adverb for 'usually'?
The verb costumar means 'to be in the habit of' or 'to usually do' something. It acts as an auxiliary verb and is paired with a main verb in the infinitive (here, armazenar). Instead of using an adverb like normalmente with a regular verb, Portuguese speakers frequently use costumar to express habitual routines.
Why is it dos agricultores rather than just de agricultores?
Because we are talking about specific farmers, or farmers as a general class, which requires the plural definite article os. The preposition de (of) naturally merges with os (the) to create the contraction dos.
Why do we say o trigo when the English translation could simply be 'store wheat'?
In Portuguese, definite articles like o and a are generally required when talking about substances, broad categories, or abstract concepts. While English often drops the article for uncountable nouns like 'wheat', Portuguese keeps the masculine singular article o before trigo.
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