Learn Portuguese (Portugal): Nós estamos fora do escritório.

Nós estamos fora do escritório.

We are outside the office.

Breakdown of Nós estamos fora do escritório.

nós

of the / from the (do, da, dos, das)

estar

to be (temporary / location)

o escritório

the office

Questions & Answers about Nós estamos fora do escritório.

Why is it do escritório instead of de escritório?

Location phrases like fora de (outside of) end with the preposition de. Because escritório is a masculine noun, we need the word for the, which is o. In Portuguese, de and o always combine to make do. So, fora do escritório means outside of the office.

Why do we use estamos here instead of somos?

Both verbs mean to be, but we use estar (which becomes estamos for we) for temporary things and physical locations. Since being outside the office is a physical location, estar is the right choice.

Is it okay to drop the word Nós and just say Estamos fora do escritório?

Yes! In Portuguese, the ending of the verb usually tells you who is doing the action. Estamos only ever means we are, so leaving out Nós is perfectly natural and very common in everyday speech.

Does fora always need de after it?