Breakdown of A mulher é a médica do rapaz.
ser
to be
o rapaz
the boy
a médica
the doctor (f)
do
of the / from the (do, da, dos, das)
Questions & Answers about A mulher é a médica do rapaz.
Why do we use do instead of an apostrophe 's' for "the boy's"?
In Portuguese, there is no apostrophe 's' to show possession. Instead, you say "of the" using the preposition de. Because rapaz (boy) is a masculine word, it uses the masculine "the", which is o. When de and o combine, they merge into the contraction do. So, a médica do rapaz literally translates to "the doctor of the boy".
How do I know whether to use médica or mico?
I learned that we usually don't use "the" or "a" before professions. Why is there an a before médica here?
You are right that Portuguese usually drops the article when simply stating someone's job (like saying Ela é médica for "She is a doctor"). However, this sentence talks about a specific doctor. Because we are pointing out exactly whose doctor she is (a médica do rapaz), we need to use the definite article a (the).
Why does the word é have an accent mark?