Log inSign up

O senhor é português e ele não é alto.

O senhor é português e ele não é alto.
You are Portuguese and he is not tall.
From Lesson 2:Subject pronouns and negation (eu, não)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about O senhor é português e ele não é alto.

Why does o senhor mean "you" here instead of "the sir" or "the gentleman"?
In Portugal, o senhor (for a man) and a senhora (for a woman) are the standard formal ways to say "you". You use them when speaking to older people, strangers, or in professional situations. Even though it literally translates to "the sir" or "the gentleman", it simply functions as a polite "you".
Why do both o senhor ("you") and ele ("he") use the exact same verb form, é?
In Portuguese, formal "you" forms like o senhor, a senhora, and você always use the exact same verb conjugations as ele (he) and ela (she). Because of this rule, o senhor é ("you are") and ele é ("he is") share the same verb word.
Why is não placed before é instead of after it?
In English, we usually put "not" after the verb (as in "he is not"). In Portuguese, making a sentence negative is very straightforward: you always place não directly before the verb. So, "he is not" becomes ele não é.
What is the difference between é and e in this sentence?
The accent mark changes both the meaning and the pronunciation. é (with the accent) means "is" and has an open "eh" sound, like the 'e' in the English word "pet". e (without the accent) means "and" and is pronounced with a tighter "ee" sound in Portugal.

Learn O senhor é português e ele não é alto and more in Portuguese

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Portuguese →