Log inSign up

Há um professor e três alunos na sala.

Há um professor e três alunos na sala.
There is one teacher and three students in the living room.
From Lesson 11:Numbers 0 to 10 (zero, um, dois)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about Há um professor e três alunos na sala.

Does um mean "one" or "a" in this sentence?
It can be both! In Portuguese, the number one and the masculine word for "a" or "an" are the exact same word: um. Because we are counting teachers and students here, it translates best as "one".
We learned that some numbers change based on gender. Does três change if the noun is feminine?
No, the number três (three) stays exactly the same for both masculine and feminine words. Only the numbers one (um or uma) and two (dois or duas) change to match the gender of the noun.
Why do we use Há for "There is" instead of a word like "Lá"?
The verb haver is used to say that something exists, just like "there is" or "there are" in English. Há is the specific form we use for both singular ("there is one teacher") and plural ("there are three students").
Why does the sentence use na instead of just em for "in"?
In Portuguese, you have to combine the word for "in" (em) with the word for "the". Because sala is a feminine word, we use a for "the". When you squeeze em and a together, they become na ("in the").
The translation says "living room", but could sala also mean "classroom" since there are teachers and students?
Yes! The word sala generally just means "room". A living room is often called sala de estar, and a classroom is sala de aula. But native speakers often shorten both to just sala if the context is clear.

Learn Há um professor e três alunos na sala and more in Portuguese

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Portuguese →