Breakdown of O comboio passa pela ponte.
o comboio
the train
passar
to pass
pelo
through the (m.sg, pela, pelos, pelas)
a ponte
the bridge
Questions & Answers about O comboio passa pela ponte.
How is the word pela formed?
Pela is a contraction that combines the preposition por with the feminine word for "the", which is a. In Portuguese, you must combine them when they appear together: por + a = pela.
I thought the preposition por meant "for" or "by". Why is it translated as "over" here?
Por (and its contractions like pela) is a very flexible preposition! When talking about movement and travel, it usually describes the route or path taken. Depending on the context, it can translate to "through", "by", or "over". Since a train travels along the surface of a bridge, "over" is the most natural English translation here.
How do we know whether to use pela or pelo before ponte?
You choose based on the gender of the noun that comes immediately after it. The word ponte (bridge) is a feminine noun. Therefore, we must use the feminine contraction pela (por + a). If the next word were a masculine noun, we would use pelo (por + o).
Since ponte ends in "-e", is there a rule to know it is feminine?