Question 1

Why do we use two words, do que, to mean "than"?

Accepted Answer

In Portuguese comparatives, "than" is usually translated as do que. You might sometimes hear people drop the do and just say mais interessante que, which is also grammatically correct, but using the full do que is very common and natural in Portugal.

Question 2

Why is there no "the" before the cities, like a Lisboa?

Accepted Answer

Most cities in Portuguese do not use a definite article (o or a) before them. There are a few famous exceptions, like o Porto, but for both Lisbon and London, you just use the name by itself.

Question 3

Why does this sentence use é instead of está for "is"?

Accepted Answer

We use é, which comes from the verb ser, to talk about permanent qualities or inherent characteristics. Describing a city as interesting is considered a permanent fact about it, rather than a temporary state or condition where we would use estar.

Question 4

Does the word interessante need to change based on the gender of the city?

Accepted Answer

No, because interessante is a neutral adjective. Adjectives ending in "-e" generally have the same form for both masculine and feminine words. It would only change if you needed to make it plural (interessantes).

Lisboa é mais interessante do que Londres.

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