Breakdown of A farmácia está ao lado do hospital.
estar
to be (temporary / location)
o hospital
the hospital
a
to / at (direction)
a farmácia
the pharmacy
ao lado de
next to
Questions & Answers about A farmácia está ao lado do hospital.
Why is it do hospital instead of just de hospital?
The phrase for 'next to' is ao lado de. Because hospital is a masculine word that uses o (meaning 'the'), the preposition de (of) merges with o to make do. You are literally saying 'at the side of the hospital'.
What exactly does the ao part of ao lado mean?
It literally translates to 'at the' or 'to the'. It is a combination of the preposition a (at/to) and the masculine word for 'the', o. Because the word lado (side) is masculine, they combine into ao lado (at the side).
Why does the sentence use está? Aren't buildings permanent?
You are right that buildings are permanent, but Portuguese has a strict rule for locations. We always use the verb estar (here as está) to talk about where something is physically located, no matter how permanently stuck to the ground it is. The other 'to be' verb, ser, is for permanent traits, but not for mapping where things are.
Is the 'h' in hospital pronounced?
No, it is completely silent. In Portuguese, whenever an 'h' is the very first letter of a word, it makes no sound at all. You just start speaking from the 'o'.
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