Learn Portuguese (Portugal): A floresta é tão grande como o país.

A floresta é tão grande como o país.

The forest is as big as the country.

Breakdown of A floresta é tão grande como o país.

Questions & Answers about A floresta é tão grande como o país.

How do you form the "as... as" comparison in this sentence?

You use the structure tão plus your adjective plus como. In this sentence, tão acts as the first "as" and como acts as the second "as". Putting grande in the middle gives you tão grande como (as big as).

Since a floresta is feminine, why isn't the adjective feminine too?

It actually is! While most Portuguese adjectives change to end in -a for feminine nouns, adjectives that end in -e (like grande) are gender-neutral. They keep the exact same spelling for both masculine and feminine nouns.

Why do we use é for the verb "is" instead of está?

é belongs to the verb ser, which is used to describe permanent or inherent qualities. The physical size of a forest is considered a permanent trait, so we use ser rather than the temporary verb estar.

Why is the accent mark on país important?

The accent tells you to stress the i and split the vowels into two distinct sounds. This is important to remember because without the accent, the word becomes pais, which means "parents" and is pronounced as a single syllable.