Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Nove alunos estão na sala e dez no jardim. - Nine students are in the living room and ten in the garden.

Nove alunos estão na sala e dez no jardim.

Nine students are in the living room and ten in the garden.

Breakdown of Nove alunos estão na sala e dez no jardim.

to be (temporary / location)

in / on / at

Questions & Answers about Nove alunos estão na sala e dez no jardim.

Do numbers like nove and dez change based on whether the word they describe is masculine or feminine?

No, most numbers from zero to ten stay exactly the same for both masculine and feminine words. So it is nove alunos (masculine) and it would also be nove salas (feminine). The only exceptions in this group are one (um or uma) and two (dois or duas).

Why do we use estão for "are" instead of são?

Estão comes from the verb estar, which is used for locations and temporary states. Whenever you are talking about where someone or something is physically located (like being in a room or a garden), you will always use estar rather than ser.

Where do the words na and no come from?

They mean "in the" and are made by combining two words! The word em means "in". When you add the word for "the" (a for feminine, o for masculine), they merge: em plus a becomes na (na sala), and em plus o becomes no (no jardim).

Is it normal to leave out the words for "students are" in the second half of the sentence?