Question 1

Why is it meio enjoada and not meia enjoada since both the child and the adjective are feminine?

Accepted Answer

In this sentence, meio acts as an adverb meaning "kind of" or "a bit", describing how sick the child feels. Adverbs are invariable, meaning they never change to match gender or number. If meio meant "half" of a physical object (like meia sopa for "half a soup"), it would act as an adjective and change to match the feminine noun.

Question 2

Can the word enjoada mean anything besides "nauseous" in other contexts?

Accepted Answer

Yes! While it means "nauseous" or "queasy" here, enjoado or enjoada is also commonly used in Portugal to describe someone who is very picky, fussy, or annoying. For instance, a fussy eater is often called enjoada with food.

Question 3

Why do we use por causa da here instead of just porque?

Accepted Answer

We use por causa de (which combines with a to make da) because it translates to "because of" and is followed directly by a noun (sopa). Porque means "because" and is used as a conjunction followed by a subject and a verb, as in "porque ela comeu a sopa" (because she ate the soup).

Question 4

If the child we are talking about is a boy, would we change it to "o criança está meio enjoado"?

Accepted Answer

No, criança is an invariably feminine noun. It is always a criança, regardless of whether the child is a boy or a girl. Because the noun is grammatically feminine, the adjective must agree with it, which is why it remains enjoada even if the child in question is male.

A criança está meio enjoada por causa da sopa.

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