Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Eles não moram na casa nova.

Eles não moram na casa nova.

They do not live in the new house.

Breakdown of Eles não moram na casa nova.

Questions & Answers about Eles não moram na casa nova.

The lesson is about '-ar' verbs. How does the ending of moram show who is living there?

Moram comes from the regular verb morar (to live). For the 'they' forms (eles or elas) as well as vocês (you, plural), you drop the '-ar' and add '-am'. So, morar becomes moram.

Where is the word for 'in' in this sentence? Why is it na?

In Portuguese, the word for 'in' or 'on' is em. However, when em is followed by the word for 'the' (a for feminine words like casa), they combine into one word. So, em + a becomes na ('in the').

Why is the word order casa nova instead of nova casa?

In Portuguese, descriptive words (adjectives) usually come after the thing they describe. Also, because casa is a feminine word, the adjective takes its feminine form, ending in '-a' (nova instead of the masculine novo).

English uses 'do not' to make this negative. Why is there no word for 'do' in the Portuguese sentence?

Portuguese doesn't use helper verbs like 'do' or 'does' for negative sentences. To say someone doesn't do something, you simply put não directly before the main verb. So 'they do not live' is just eles não moram.