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O serviço no restaurante foi horrível.

O serviço no restaurante foi horrível.
The service at the restaurant was horrible.
From Lesson 66:Past tense of ser and ir (fui, foi)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about O serviço no restaurante foi horrível.

How do we know if foi means 'went' from the verb ir, or 'was' from the verb ser?
The verbs ser (to be) and ir (to go) share the exact same forms in this past tense. You have to tell them apart by context. Since 'the service went horrible' does not make sense in English or Portuguese, foi must be the 'was' form of ser.
Why do we use no for 'at the' instead of translating 'at' and 'the' separately?
In Portuguese, the preposition em (which means in, on, or at) always combines with the word for 'the' (o or a). Because restaurante is masculine, em and o merge to make no.
Would the word horrível change if we were describing a feminine word instead of the masculine serviço?
No, it stays exactly the same. Adjectives that end in the letter -l (like horrível or fácil) do not have separate masculine and feminine forms. They only change if the noun they describe is plural.
Why does the word horrível have an accent mark?
The accent mark shows you where to put the stress when saying the word out loud. Normally, Portuguese words ending in -l are stressed on the final syllable. The accent on horrível forces the stress onto the middle syllable instead.

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