Question 1

Why isn't dezembro capitalized?

Accepted Answer

In Portuguese, months of the year like dezembro are written with lowercase letters, unlike in English!

Question 2

How do we say "in" a month, like "in December"?

Accepted Answer

You use the preposition em. Whenever you want to say something happens in a specific month, just use em followed by the lowercase month name, like em dezembro.

Question 3

Why does the sentence start with O before nosso?

Accepted Answer

In European Portuguese, you usually put a definite article (meaning "the") before a possessive word. So instead of just saying "our friend", we literally say "the our friend" (o nosso amigo). Since amigo is a masculine singular word, we use o.

Question 4

Why use está instead of é for "is"?

Accepted Answer

Está comes from the verb estar, which is used for temporary states or moods. Because the friend is feeling happy specifically in December, it describes a temporary condition, so we use está. If he were a generally joyful person by nature all year round, we would use é (from the verb ser).

Question 5

Why is it amigo americano instead of americano amigo?

Accepted Answer

In Portuguese, adjectives generally come after the noun they describe. This rule is especially strict for adjectives describing nationality, like americano.

O nosso amigo americano está feliz em dezembro.

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