Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Os capitães estão cansados hoje.

Words ending in -ão in Portuguese can form their plural in three ways: -ões, -ãos, or -ães. While -ões is the most common, capitão (captain) is an important exception that takes the -ães ending to become capitães. These exceptions just need to be memorized!

How do you pronounce the -ães ending in capitães?

The -ães sound is a nasal vowel combination. It sounds somewhat like the English word 'ice', but spoken mostly through your nose. If you know the Portuguese word mãe (mother), you just add an 's' sound at the end to get the ending for capitães.

Why do we use estão instead of são for 'are' in this sentence?

Portuguese has two verbs for 'to be': ser (permanent) and estar (temporary). Because being tired is a temporary feeling, and the word hoje (today) emphasizes it is happening right now, we use estão, which is the 'they' form of the temporary verb estar.

Why does cansados end in an s?