Questions & Answers about O pássaro não come a abelha.
If I wanted to add an exception, like "The bird eats everything except me", how would I say that?
You would say O pássaro come tudo, exceto eu. This is a key rule in your current lesson: prepositions of exception like exceto, salvo, and tirando are followed by subject pronouns. Even though English uses the object pronoun "me", Portuguese strictly uses eu rather than mim here.
How would I rewrite this sentence in the passive voice?
You would say A abelha não é comida pelo pássaro. At this level, it is important to remember that in the passive voice, the past participle (comida) acts like an adjective and must agree in gender and number with the new subject (A abelha).
How do the vowels in come a abelha sound in natural, fast European Portuguese speech?
The unstressed E at the end of come is normally heavily reduced. When it meets the open A of a abelha, the E is typically dropped entirely by native speakers, making the phrase blend together to sound like com' a abelha.
At a B2 level, is there a distinction I should know between pássaro and ave?
Yes. Ave is the broader term for any bird, including penguins, ostriches, and farm poultry. Pássaro specifically refers to smaller, flying birds or songbirds. While they are often used interchangeably in casual speech for small birds, you wouldn't call a large eagle or an ostrich a pássaro.
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