Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Não, ele não é português.

Não, ele não é português.

No, he is not Portuguese.

Breakdown of Não, ele não é português.

Questions & Answers about Não, ele não é português.

Why does the word não appear twice in this sentence?

The first não means "No" (answering a yes/no question), and the second não means "not" (making the verb negative). In Portuguese, the exact same word is used for both! Literally, the sentence translates to "No, he not is Portuguese."

How does the word order work for the negative part of this sentence?

In Portuguese, you make a sentence negative by simply placing não directly before the verb. The basic Subject-Verb-Object order doesn't change. Here, we have the subject (ele), then the negative word (não), and finally the verb (é).

Why is português written with a lowercase letter?

In English, we always capitalize nationalities and languages. However, in Portuguese, adjectives for nationalities are written with lowercase letters unless they happen to be the very first word of a sentence.

Why do we use é here instead of está?

Both verbs mean "to be", but we use the verb ser (which gives us é) for permanent characteristics or defining facts, such as a person's nationality, profession, or identity.