Breakdown of Há ali um cão grande.
o cão
the dog
um
a / an / some (all forms)
haver
to be (there is / there are)
ali
there
grande
big / large
Questions & Answers about Há ali um cão grande.
Why do we use um here instead of uma?
um is the masculine singular word for "a" or "an". We use it here because cão (dog) is a masculine noun. If we were talking about a feminine noun, like casa (house), we would use uma.
What does Há mean in this sentence?
Why is the word order cão grande instead of grande cão?
Since cão is masculine, shouldn't grande end in an "o"?
Not all adjectives change their ending to match masculine or feminine words. Adjectives that end in "-e", like grande (big), stay the same for both. You would say um cão grande (masculine) and also uma casa grande (feminine).
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