Breakdown of O meu pai está em Lisboa em outubro e novembro.
e
and
Lisboa
Lisbon
o pai
the father / the parents
estar
to be (temporary / location)
em
in / on / at
meu
my (m/f/pl: meu, minha, meus, minhas)
outubro
October
novembro
November
Questions & Answers about O meu pai está em Lisboa em outubro e novembro.
Why are outubro and novembro written with lowercase letters?
In Portuguese, the months of the year are not capitalized unless they appear at the very beginning of a sentence. So, you write outubro, not Outubro.
Do we need an article like "the" before the months, or is em enough?
You just need the preposition em (in). We do not use "the" with months of the year. To say "in October", you simply say em outubro instead of combining em with an article.
Why is there an O at the very beginning of the sentence before "my"?
In European Portuguese, you almost always put a definite article (o or a, meaning "the") before a possessive word like meu (my). So "my father" translates literally to "the my father" (o meu pai).
Why does this sentence use está instead of é for "is"?
Why is it em Lisboa instead of na Lisboa?
While many countries and regions combine the preposition em with "the" to make no or na, most cities (including Lisbon) do not take a definite article. Therefore, we just use the plain preposition em.
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