Breakdown of Estes problemas não são fáceis.
ser
to be
não
not / no
o problema
the problem
este
this (este, esta, estes, estas)
fácil
easy
Questions & Answers about Estes problemas não são fáceis.
Why is it Estes problemas instead of Estas problemas if the word ends in -as?
Even though problemas ends in an -a, it is actually a masculine noun. Many Portuguese words ending in -ma (like o problema, o programa, o sistema) are masculine because they originally come from Greek. Since the noun is masculine and plural, we must use the masculine plural word for 'these', which is estes.
How does the word fácil (easy) become fáceis in this sentence?
This matches our current lesson! For adjectives and nouns that end in the consonant -l, you usually drop the -l and add -is to make them plural. Therefore, fácil becomes fáceis to agree with the plural noun problemas.
Why does fáceis still have an accent mark in the plural?
The singular form fácil has an acute accent on the á to show that you stress that first syllable when speaking. When it changes to the plural fáceis, it keeps the accent so that the spoken stress stays on that exact same sound.
Why do we use são (from the verb ser) instead of estão (from estar) here?
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