Log inSign up

O meu irmão é muito preguiçoso e trabalha pouco.

O meu irmão é muito preguiçoso e trabalha pouco.
My brother is very lazy and works little.
From Lesson 50:Adverbs of degree (muito, pouco)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about O meu irmão é muito preguiçoso e trabalha pouco.

Why are muito and pouco in their default forms here, without matching a gender or number?
In this sentence, they are acting as adverbs of degree. muito modifies the adjective preguiçoso (meaning very lazy), and pouco modifies the verb trabalha (meaning works little). Adverbs are invariable, meaning they never change to feminine or plural forms. They only change endings when they describe a noun, like saying "muitas coisas" (many things).
Why does the sentence start with O meu irmão instead of just Meu irmão?
In European Portuguese, it is the standard rule to put a definite article (o, a, os, as) before a possessive word like meu (my). So, the sentence literally translates to "The my brother". You will see this pattern almost everywhere in Portugal.
Why use é instead of está for being lazy?
We use the verb ser (to be) for permanent traits and personality characteristics. By using é, the speaker is saying their brother is a naturally lazy person overall. If they used está (from estar), it would mean he is just feeling or acting lazy right now, but isn't usually like that.
How do you pronounce the ç in preguiçoso?
The ç (c-cedilla) always makes a soft "s" sound, exactly like the "s" in "so" or "simple". In Portuguese, you will only ever see this special letter used before the vowels a, o, and u to force that soft sound.

Learn O meu irmão é muito preguiçoso e trabalha pouco 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 →