Breakdown of A comunidade luso-americana é bilingue.
ser
to be
a comunidade
the community
luso-americano
Luso-American
bilingue
bilingual
Questions & Answers about A comunidade luso-americana é bilingue.
Why is it luso-americana and not lusa-americana since comunidade is feminine?
In Portuguese compound adjectives, usually only the final word changes to match the gender and number of the noun. The first part (luso-) remains in its fixed, default masculine form, while the second part (americana) becomes feminine to agree with comunidade.
If we were talking about multiple communities, how would the compound adjective change?
Where does the prefix luso- come from, and can I use it as a standalone adjective?
Luso- comes from Lusitania, the ancient Roman province that covered much of modern-day Portugal. It is used almost exclusively as a combining prefix in compound words (like luso-brasileiro or luso-descendente). To just say "Portuguese" on its own, you use português.
Why doesn't bilingue change to show that comunidade is feminine?
Adjectives that end in -e in their singular form are generally gender-neutral. You use bilingue for both masculine and feminine nouns. It will, however, take an -s if the noun becomes plural (bilingues).
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