Question 1

Why does this sentence use na instead of just em for "in"?

Accepted Answer

In Portuguese, the preposition em (in/on/at) shrinks and combines with words that come right after it, like articles and demonstratives. Here, it combines with the feminine word for "the" (a) because it is followed by the feminine noun garagem. em + a = na.

Question 2

Since the current lesson is about demonstratives, how would I change this to say the car is in this garage?

Accepted Answer

You would combine the preposition em with the demonstrative esta (this, feminine). em + esta = nesta. The sentence would then be: O carro está nesta garagem.

Question 3

Why do we use está instead of é for "is" in this sentence?

Accepted Answer

We use está (from the verb estar) whenever we are talking about the physical location of an object or person. Even though a garage is the car's usual home, the location of physical things always requires estar, rather than ser (which gives us é).

Question 4

How can I tell that garagem is a feminine noun so I know to use na?

Accepted Answer

As a very reliable rule, almost all Portuguese nouns that end in -agem (like garagem, mensagem, or viagem) are feminine. This is a great shortcut to remember so you know to use feminine words like a, na, or nesta before them!

O carro está na garagem.

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