O meu pai tem a bicicleta dela.

Questions & Answers about O meu pai tem a bicicleta dela.

Why does dela come after the noun, while meu comes before?
Words like dele and dela are formed by combining the preposition de (of) with a pronoun like ela (her). Because a bicicleta dela literally translates to 'the bicycle of her', the possessive part naturally has to come after the noun.
Does dela agree with the bicycle or the person who owns it?
It agrees with the person who owns it! This is a big difference from words like meu or minha. Because dela literally means 'of her', it stays feminine regardless of whether the object owned is masculine or feminine. If she owned a masculine car, it would still be o carro dela.
Why do we say O meu pai instead of just Meu pai?
In European Portuguese, you almost always need a definite article (o, a, os, or as) right before possessive words like meu or minha. You can think of it as saying 'The my father', which is just how the grammar naturally works in Portugal.
Which verb is tem from?
It comes from the irregular verb ter (to have). tem is the form used for 'ele' (he), 'ela' (she), or 'você' (formal you). Since o meu pai is a 'he', we use tem.

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