Learn Portuguese (Portugal): O menino come o bolo.

O menino come o bolo.

The little boy eats the cake.

Breakdown of O menino come o bolo.

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Questions & Answers about O menino come o bolo.

Since this lesson is about 3rd-person possession, how would I say 'The boy eats his cake'?

You would say O menino come o bolo dele. Instead of putting a word for 'his' before the noun like we do in English, Portuguese places dele (which literally means 'of him') right after the noun. Notice that you still keep the article o before bolo, making it literally 'the cake of him'.

Why is the verb spelled come here?

Come is the 'he/she/it' form of the regular verb comer (to eat). Because o menino (the boy) acts as a 'he' (ele), we drop the -er from comer and add -e. If you were talking about yourself, you would say como (I eat).

Could I use rapaz instead of menino to mean 'boy'?

You could, but it changes the age of the person you are talking about. Menino is typically used for a young child or little boy. Rapaz is used for an older boy, a teenager, or a young man.

Is the word o doing the exact same thing both times it appears?

Yes! Both times, o is the masculine singular definite article, meaning 'the'. The first one pairs with menino (the boy), and the second one pairs with bolo (the cake).