Questions & Answers about A mulher magra é alta.
Why is 'thin woman' written as mulher magra with the words reversed?
In Portuguese, adjectives (words that describe things) usually come after the noun they describe. So instead of 'thin woman', the sentence structure is literally 'woman thin' (mulher magra).
Why do the words magra and alta both end in an 'a'?
Adjectives have to match the gender of the noun they describe. Because mulher (woman) is a feminine noun, the adjectives change their endings to match. The default masculine dictionary forms are magro and alto, but here they become the feminine magra and alta.
The word mulher doesn't end in 'a', so how do I know it is feminine to make the adjectives agree?
While many feminine words in Portuguese do end in 'a', mulher simply means 'woman', so its natural gender makes it a feminine noun. That is why it is paired with the feminine word for 'the' (a) and requires feminine adjectives.
Why do we use é for 'is' in this sentence instead of está?
É comes from the verb ser, which is used for permanent or inherent characteristics. Being tall (alta) and having a certain body type (magra) are generally considered fixed physical traits, so we use ser. If she were only temporarily looking thin, you might use está from the verb estar, but é is the standard for physical descriptions.
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