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Ela está a desenhar na parede.

Ela está a desenhar na parede.
She is drawing on the wall.
From Lesson 61:Present continuous (estar a)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about Ela está a desenhar na parede.

Why does this sentence use a desenhar instead of a Portuguese word ending in '-ing'?
In European Portuguese, to say what someone is doing right now, we use the verb estar (to be) plus a plus the infinitive (unconjugated) form of the verb. So está a desenhar literally translates to 'is at to draw', which is how we say 'is drawing'. This is the standard way to form the present continuous in Portugal.
Why do we use está here instead of é for the word 'is'?
We use está (from the verb estar) because the action is happening right now, which is a temporary state. The other 'to be' verb, ser (where é comes from), is used for permanent traits. Whenever you use this pattern for an ongoing action, you will always use estar.
Where does the word na come from in na parede?
Na is a mandatory combination of the preposition em (which means in, on, or at) and the feminine word for 'the', which is a. Because she is drawing on 'the' wall, em and a combine to make na.
If parede ends in an 'e', how do we know to use the feminine na instead of the masculine no?
Unlike words that end in 'o' or 'a', words ending in '-e' can be either masculine or feminine in Portuguese. You just have to memorize their gender when you learn the vocabulary! Parede (wall) happens to be feminine, so we must use the feminine na parede.

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