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A médica está doente hoje?

A médica está doente hoje?
Is the doctor (f) sick today?
From Lesson 9:Contrasting the two verbs to be (ser vs. estar)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about A médica está doente hoje?

Why do we use está instead of é in this sentence?
In Portuguese, we use the verb estar (which gives us está) for temporary states or conditions. Being sick is a temporary condition, especially since we know it is just happening hoje (today). If you used é from the verb ser, it would sound like being sick is her permanent, lifelong trait!
The English translation says "the doctor (f)". How do we know the doctor is a woman?
Many professions in Portuguese change their endings based on gender. Because the sentence uses the feminine word a médica, we know she is female. If the doctor were a man, the sentence would start with o médico.
Since the doctor is female (a médica), why doesn't the adjective doente end in an "a"?
Most adjectives that end in -e in Portuguese, like doente (sick), are gender-neutral. They stay exactly the same for both masculine and feminine nouns. So, you will see both o médico doente and a médica doente.
The English translation starts with "Is", but the Portuguese sentence starts with "The doctor". Why is the word order different?
In Portuguese, you do not need to swap words around to ask a simple yes/no question. You just use the exact same word order as a normal statement and raise your voice at the end when speaking, or use a question mark when writing. The statement "The doctor is sick today" translates to A médica está doente hoje, and the question looks exactly the same.

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