Breakdown of As castanhas quentes estão prontas, especialmente as do forno.
de
of / from / by (means of transport) / wearing (attire)
estar
to be (temporary / location)
pronto
ready
o forno
the oven
quente
warm
especialmente
especially
a castanha
the chestnut
Questions & Answers about As castanhas quentes estão prontas, especialmente as do forno.
In as do forno, what exactly is as doing since there is no noun right after it?
Here, as acts as a demonstrative pronoun meaning "the ones". It replaces the feminine plural noun castanhas (chestnuts) so we don't have to repeat it. Whenever you want to say "the one(s) of..." or "the one(s) that...", you can use the definite articles (o, a, os, as) as stand-alone pronouns.
How do we get "the ones from the oven" out of just as do forno?
We just saw that as means "the ones". The word do is a mandatory contraction of the preposition de (from/of) and the masculine definite article o (the), which matches the masculine noun forno (oven). Put together, as + de + o + forno literally translates to "the ones of the oven" or "the ones from the oven".
Why use estão (from estar) with prontas, rather than são (from ser)?
Is do forno the only way to say the chestnuts are "roasted"?
No, it literally just means "from the oven". While saying as do forno is a very natural way to specify oven-baked chestnuts, the direct translation for roasted chestnuts is castanhas assadas. Portuguese speakers often use do forno to distinguish them from chestnuts cooked in other ways, such as boiled (cozidas) or roasted on open coals (na brasa).
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