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A entrada do museu é grande.

A entrada do museu é grande.
The entrance of the museum is big.
From Lesson 35:Contractions with demonstratives (neste, desse, daquele)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about A entrada do museu é grande.

Why do we use do here instead of just de?
Just like the preposition de combines with demonstratives (like de + esse = desse), it also combines with definite articles. Because museu (museum) is a masculine noun, it uses the article o (the). We must combine de + o into do to mean of the.
Why does the sentence start with A instead of O?
In Portuguese, articles (words for the) must match the gender of the noun they belong to. The noun entrada (entrance) is feminine, so it takes the feminine article A.
Since entrada is feminine, why doesn't the adjective grande change to match it?
Most adjectives in Portuguese change their ending to match the gender of the noun, but adjectives ending in the letter e, like grande (big), are an exception. They look exactly the same for both masculine and feminine nouns.
Why do we use the verb é instead of está?
We use é, from the verb ser, to describe permanent characteristics. The size of the entrance is a permanent feature. If we were describing a temporary state, like the entrance being closed right now, we would use está (from the verb estar).

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