Question 1

Why does vocês (you) use the verb form são?

Accepted Answer

In Portuguese, vocês means "you" (plural, like "you all" or "you guys"), but it grammatically acts like a third-person pronoun. This means it always uses the exact same verb forms as eles and elas (they). Because of this, são is used for both "they are" and "you (plural) are".

Question 2

Does médicos mean we are only asking male doctors?

Accepted Answer

Not necessarily! Médicos is the masculine plural form, but in Portuguese, the masculine plural is used for an all-male group or a mixed group of men and women. You would only use the feminine plural médicas if you were asking a group made entirely of women.

Question 3

How do we know this is a question? The words are in the same order as a normal statement.

Accepted Answer

In Portuguese, you don't need to change the word order or add helper words (like "do" or "are") at the beginning to ask a yes/no question. You just use the statement word order (Vocês são médicos) and raise your pitch at the end of the sentence when speaking, or add a question mark when writing.

Question 4

Why do we use são (from the verb ser) instead of estão (from the verb estar)?

Accepted Answer

Both verbs mean "to be", but we use ser for permanent states, identities, and defining characteristics. A person's profession (like being a doctor) is considered a core part of their identity in Portuguese, so it requires the verb ser.

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