Breakdown of Este meu casaco já viu melhores dias.
meu
my (m/f/pl: meu, minha, meus, minhas)
o casaco
the coat
este
this (este, esta, estes, estas)
ver
to see
já
already
o dia
the day
melhor
better / best
Questions & Answers about Este meu casaco já viu melhores dias.
Why do we use Este meu casaco instead of a structure like "este casaco de mim"?
In Portuguese, you can place a demonstrative like este directly before a possessive like meu and a noun. While "this my coat" sounds incorrect in English, este meu casaco is the completely natural and everyday way to say "this coat of mine" in Portuguese.
Why is there no definite article before meu, like we normally see in phrases like o meu casaco?
When a demonstrative word like este, esse, or aquele comes before the possessive, it replaces the definite article. The word este acts as the primary determiner, so saying este o meu casaco would be grammatically incorrect.
The English translation says "has seen," so why do we use the simple past viu instead of the Portuguese present perfect tem visto?
In Portuguese, the present perfect (tem visto) is used strictly for actions that have been happening repeatedly up to the present moment (translating closer to "has been seeing"). To express an experience or a completed state that matches the English present perfect, Portuguese pairs the simple past (viu) with já.
Why does the adjective melhores come before the noun dias here?
Most descriptive adjectives follow the noun in Portuguese. However, adjectives expressing subjective evaluation or inherent qualities, such as bom, mau, melhor, and pior, usually precede the noun. Furthermore, já viu melhores dias is a fixed idiom that perfectly mirrors the English expression "has seen better days."
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