Os amigos dela estão no café.

Questions & Answers about Os amigos dela estão no café.

Why do we use dela after the noun instead of a word before it?
In European Portuguese, saying Os amigos dela literally means "The friends of her". While words like seu and sua exist, they are usually used to mean "your" in formal speech. Using dela (a mix of de + ela) after the noun is the most common and clear way to say "her".
Amigos is plural, so why don't we use the plural delas?
Words like dela, dele, delas, and deles must match the person who owns the item, not the items being owned. Because there is only one female owner ("her"), we use the singular feminine dela. We would only use delas if we were talking about "their friends" (belonging to a group of women).
Why is the verb estão used here instead of são?
We use the verb estar (conjugated here as estão) to talk about locations and temporary states. Because the friends are physically located at the café right now, estão is the correct choice.
What makes up the word no in no café?
The word no is a mandatory contraction of the preposition em (in/at) and the masculine word for "the", which is o. Whenever em and o meet, they always merge into no.

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