Learn Portuguese (Portugal): O meu irmão tem muita sorte.

O meu irmão tem muita sorte.

My brother has a lot of luck.

Breakdown of O meu irmão tem muita sorte.

my (m/f/pl: meu, minha, meus, minhas)

Questions & Answers about O meu irmão tem muita sorte.

Why is it muita instead of muito?

Muita means a lot of or much. It changes to match the gender and number of the noun it describes. Because sorte (luck) is a feminine singular noun, the quantifier must take the feminine singular form muita. If you were talking about a masculine noun like tempo (time), you would use muito.

Why does the sentence use tem (has) if the English meaning is often is lucky?

In English, we use the verb to be with the adjective lucky. In Portuguese, the expression is literally to have luck (ter sorte). Since meu irmão is he, we use tem, which means he has.

Why is there an O at the very beginning of the sentence?

In European Portuguese, you almost always put a definite article (like o for the) before a possessive word (like meu for my). So instead of just saying meu irmão, you say o meu irmão (literally: the my brother).

Is there a rule that tells me sorte is feminine?

Words ending in the letter e can be either masculine or feminine in Portuguese, so you usually have to memorize their gender as you learn them. However, looking at the words around it is a great trick: seeing muita right before it is your proof that sorte is feminine!