Breakdown of Portugal vende cortiça para o mundo inteiro.
vender
to sell
o mundo
the world
inteiro
whole, entire
a cortiça
the cork
Questions & Answers about Portugal vende cortiça para o mundo inteiro.
Why is there no article before Portugal? I thought countries usually needed them.
You are right that most countries in Portuguese require a definite article before them, like o Brasil or a França. However, Portugal is a notable exception and never takes an article. Other common exceptions include Angola, Moçambique, and Cabo Verde.
Why does the sentence use cortiça instead of a cortiça?
Here, cortiça is being used as an uncountable noun in a broad, general sense to mean cork as a material. Whenever you talk about an uncountable substance in general terms like this, you omit the definite article. If you were talking about a specific, previously mentioned batch, it would be vende a cortiça.
Could I say vende ao mundo inteiro instead of vende para o mundo inteiro?
Yes, vende ao mundo inteiro is perfectly correct and means the same thing. However, using the preposition para places a slightly stronger emphasis on the destination and the physical act of exporting the goods outward to other countries.
Is there another way to express the idea of the whole world?
Yes, you can also say todo o mundo. In this sentence, para todo o mundo would be completely interchangeable with para o mundo inteiro. Both are very common in European Portuguese.
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