Breakdown of Os nossos alunos têm muitas perguntas.
o aluno
the student (m)
muito
much / very
ter
to have
nosso
our (m/f/pl: nosso, nossa, nossos, nossas)
a pergunta
the question
Questions & Answers about Os nossos alunos têm muitas perguntas.
Why is it muitas and not just muito?
In this sentence, "many" is describing the noun perguntas (questions). Because perguntas is a feminine, plural noun, the word for "many" has to match it, becoming the feminine plural muitas. When muito is used to mean "many" or "a lot of" before a noun, it always changes its ending to match that noun.
Why does têm have a circumflex accent over the "e"?
The verb ter (to have) changes its spelling slightly to show if the subject is singular or plural. For a singular subject (he, she, or it), the spelling is tem. For a plural subject like Os nossos alunos (they), it gets a circumflex accent and becomes têm. Both are pronounced similarly, but the accent is required in writing.
Why does the sentence start with Os? We wouldn't say "The our students" in English.
In European Portuguese, it is standard practice to put a definite article (like o, a, os, or as) directly before a possessive word. Since nossos alunos is masculine and plural, we use Os. It feels strange to English speakers, but it is the normal way to say it in Portugal!
If "our" already belongs to a plural group (us), why do we need the plural "s" on nossos?
In Portuguese, possessive words like nossos (our) change to match the thing being owned, not the people who own it. Nosso gets an "s" here strictly because the word following it, alunos, is plural.
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