Question 1

How do we know to use compra instead of another form of the verb?

Accepted Answer

The verb is comprar (to buy). To match o aluno (the student, which acts like the pronoun ele or he), we drop the -ar ending and add the third-person singular ending -a. This gives us compra.

Question 2

Could compra also mean "is buying"?

Accepted Answer

Yes! In Portuguese, the simple present tense often covers both actions happening generally and actions happening right now. So, O aluno compra translates to both "The student buys" and "The student is buying". You do not need to add an extra word for "is".

Question 3

How can I tell if this student is male or female?

Accepted Answer

The word aluno ends in -o, which tells us it refers to a male student. The masculine word for "the" (O) at the beginning of the sentence also matches this. For a female student, you would change both words to the feminine forms: A aluna.

Question 4

Does um caderno mean "a notebook" or "one notebook"?

Accepted Answer

It can mean either one. The Portuguese word um acts as both the masculine indefinite article ("a" or "an") and the number one. The exact meaning usually depends on the context, but here "a notebook" is the most natural translation.

O aluno compra um caderno.

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