Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Não estamos cansados agora.

Não estamos cansados agora.

We are not tired now.

Breakdown of Não estamos cansados agora.

não

not / no

estar

to be (temporary / location)

Questions & Answers about Não estamos cansados agora.

Why do we use "estamos" instead of "somos" for "we are"?

In Portuguese, there are two verbs for "to be": ser and estar. We use estar (and its forms like estamos) for temporary states, locations, or conditions. Since being tired is a temporary feeling that goes away, we use estar. Using somos would imply that you are permanently tired people!

Where is the Portuguese word for "we" in this sentence?

The word for "we" is nós, but it is usually dropped in Portuguese. Because the verb form estamos is only ever used for "we", adding nós isn't necessary to understand who is speaking. You could say Nós não estamos cansados agora, but leaving the pronoun out is much more natural.

Why is it "cansados" with an "s" at the end?

Adjectives in Portuguese have to match the number and gender of the people they describe. Because estamos means "we" (a plural subject), the adjective cansado (tired) must also be plural, so we add an "s" to make it cansados. If a group of only women were speaking, they would change the ending to the feminine plural and say cansadas.

Why does "não" come before the verb instead of after it?