Breakdown of O meu irmão gosta de desporto.
o irmão
the brother
meu
my (m/f/pl: meu, minha, meus, minhas)
gostar de
to like
o desporto
the sport
Questions & Answers about O meu irmão gosta de desporto.
Why is there an O before meu? Doesn't that mean 'The my brother'?
Yes, literally it translates to 'The my brother'. In European Portuguese, it is standard to put a definite article (o or a) before a possessive word like meu (my). Because irmão (brother) is a masculine noun, we use the masculine article o.
Why do we need the word de right after gosta?
The verb gostar (to like) almost always connects to what you like using the preposition de. While in English you just say 'likes sport', in Portuguese you have to say the equivalent of 'likes of sport' (gosta de desporto).
Why is it just de desporto and not do desporto?
Do is a combination of de + o (of the). When we talk about a general category or activity, like sports in general, we usually just use the base preposition de without adding the word 'the'.