Breakdown of A estatística mostra que o comboio tem mais de cem passageiros.
de
of / from / by (means of transport) / wearing (attire)
ter
to have
o comboio
the train
cem
one hundred
Questions & Answers about A estatística mostra que o comboio tem mais de cem passageiros.
Why do we use 'mais de' here instead of 'mais do que'?
When expressing more than or less than before a specific number, Portuguese uses mais de or menos de. You would use the comparative mais do que if you were comparing two different things, such as saying the train has more passengers than seats.
Why is it 'cem' instead of 'cento'?
Use cem when referring to exactly one hundred. Cento is used when the number is part of a larger compound number, like cento e cinco (one hundred and five). Since the baseline number being referenced here is a flat one hundred, cem is correct.
In English, we often say 'the statistics show' in the plural. Why is 'A estatística' singular here?
In Portuguese, a estatística can refer to the field of study or a single statistical data point (a statistic), which fits this sentence perfectly. If you were referring to a broader collection of data, you could absolutely use the plural as estatísticas mostram, which is also very common.
I've sometimes seen the word 'trem' used for train. Is 'comboio' specific to Portugal?
Yes, comboio is the standard word for train in European Portuguese. The word trem is used in Brazilian Portuguese but is not used to mean train in Portugal.