Breakdown of A mala dela é nova.
ser
to be
novo
new / young
dele
his (forms: dela, deles, delas)
a mala
the suitcase
Questions & Answers about A mala dela é nova.
Why does dela come after the noun mala?
In Portuguese, words like dele (his) and dela (her) literally mean "of him" and "of her". Because of this, they are placed after the noun they possess. So, a mala dela is literally structured as "the suitcase of her".
Does dela match the gender of the suitcase or the owner?
It matches the owner! dela refers to a female owner (her). If the suitcase belonged to a man, you would say a mala dele (the suitcase of him). This is different from adjectives, which must match the object.
Why is there an A at the beginning of the sentence?
Because dela works like "of her", the sentence translates literally to "The suitcase of her is new". You need the definite article (a for a feminine noun like mala) before the noun to say "the suitcase".
Why is the word for "new" spelled nova instead of novo here?
Adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. Since mala (suitcase) is a feminine noun, the adjective takes its feminine form, nova.
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