Learn Portuguese (Portugal): A mãe está na sala. - The mother is in the living room.

The word na is a contraction. It combines the preposition em (in, on, at) with the feminine word for "the", which is a. Because sala (living room) is a feminine noun, we must combine them: em + a = na (in the).

Why do we use the verb está instead of é for "is"?

In Portuguese, there are two main verbs for "to be": ser and estar. We always use estar (and its "he/she/it" form, está) to talk about where someone or something is located. Even though a house is a permanent place, the mother's location inside it requires estar.

Does sala only mean "living room"?

On its own, sala usually refers to the living room. However, it is also a general word for a larger room or hall. You will often see it combined with other words to specify the type of room, such as sala de jantar (dining room) or sala de aula (classroom).

What does the squiggly line (tilde) over the "a" in mãe do?

The tilde tells you that ã is a nasal vowel. When you say mãe, the air should flow through both your mouth and your nose. It sounds a bit like the English word "mine", but you stop the sound before actually pronouncing the "n" consonant at the end.