Log inSign up

É meio-dia e nós estamos cansados.

É meio-dia e nós estamos cansados.
It is noon and we are tired.
From Lesson 25:Telling time (é uma, são...)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about É meio-dia e nós estamos cansados.

Why does the sentence start with É instead of São for telling time?
When telling time, we use the verb ser (to be) and match it to the number of hours. Since meio-dia (noon) is a singular concept (just like one o'clock), we use the singular form É. For plural hours, like two o'clock, you would switch to the plural form São (São duas horas).
Why is it meio-dia with an 'o', but I sometimes see meia when telling time?
The word meio means "half" and must match the gender of the word it goes with. Because dia (day) is a masculine word, we use meio. You will see the feminine meia when talking about midnight (meia-noite) or the half-hour mark (like uma e meia), because both noite (night) and hora (hour) are feminine.
We used É for the time, but estamos for being tired. Why use two different verbs for 'to be' in the same sentence?
Portuguese has two verbs for "to be". We use ser (here as É) for permanent facts like the time, dates, and who you are. We use estar (here as estamos) for temporary states or conditions, like how you are feeling physically or emotionally right now (cansados).
If a group of women is speaking, does the word cansados change?
Yes! Adjectives have to match the gender of the people they describe. If the "we" (nós) refers to a group of only women, they would say estamos cansadas. The masculine plural cansados is used for a group of men, or a mixed group of both men and women.

Learn É meio-dia e nós estamos cansados and more in Portuguese

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Portuguese →