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Questions & Answers about Ele sofre de uma doença rara.
Why do we use the preposition de after sofre here? Could I use com?
When talking about having a specific illness or medical condition, Portuguese uses sofrer de (like sofrer de asma). You would use sofrer com when talking about suffering caused by external factors, situations, or even the symptoms themselves (for example, sofrer com as dores means to suffer from the pain, or sofrer com o frio means to suffer from the cold).
Can I put the adjective before the noun and say uma rara doença?
You can, but it sounds very literary or poetic. In normal, everyday Portuguese, descriptive and categorizing adjectives go after the noun, making doença rara the natural choice for stating a medical fact. Moving it before the noun would heavily emphasize the rarity for dramatic effect.
How do I pronounce the word rara in European Portuguese? Are both R's the same?
They are completely different! Because the first r starts the word, it is a strong, guttural sound made in the back of the throat (similar to a French R). The second r is sandwiched between two vowels, making it a soft, tapped R (like the quick tapped sound in the middle of the American English word water).