Question 1

The word foi is used twice here. Doesn't foi also mean "he/she/it went"?

Accepted Answer

Yes! The verbs ser (to be) and ir (to go) share the exact same forms in the simple past tense. Foi can mean "was" or "went" (for he, she, it, or você). You have to rely on context to tell them apart. Here, "the show went fantastic" doesn't make as much sense as "the show was fantastic", so we know it is the verb ser in this sentence.

Question 2

Why do we use foi (from ser) instead of esteve (from estar)? Weren't the show and the service temporary?

Accepted Answer

That is a great question, as the ser vs. estar rules can be tricky! When we evaluate, rate, or sum up an event that has completely finished, Portuguese uses ser. You are judging the event as a single completed whole, so using ser is the natural way to rate how the overall experience was.

Question 3

Is péssimo just a normal adjective, or does it mean something stronger than "bad"?

Accepted Answer

Péssimo is a very strong adjective that means "awful" or "terrible". It is actually the extreme version of the word mau (bad). You can use it instead of saying muito mau (very bad). Because it describes the masculine noun o serviço, it ends in an "o".

Question 4

I notice accents on espetáculo, fantástico, and péssimo. Do these follow a specific rule?

Accepted Answer

Yes! The acute accent (´) shows you exactly which syllable to stress when speaking. Notice that in all three words, the stress is on the third-to-last syllable: es-pe-tá-cu-lo, fan-tás-ti-co, and pés-si-mo. In Portuguese, any word stressed on the third-to-last syllable must always have a written accent mark.

O espetáculo foi fantástico, mas o serviço foi péssimo.

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