Breakdown of A clínica está perto do hospital.
do
of the / from the (do, da, dos, das)
estar
to be (temporary / location)
o hospital
the hospital
perto de
near
Questions & Answers about A clínica está perto do hospital.
Why do we use está instead of é here?
Why is it do hospital and not just de hospital?
The phrase for "near" is perto de. However, in Portuguese, we need the definite article "the" (o) before most nouns, including hospital. When the preposition de meets the masculine article o, they combine into the contraction do.
Does the word perto ever change to perta if the noun is feminine?
How do you pronounce hospital in Portuguese?
The letter H at the beginning of a word is always completely silent in Portuguese. You pronounce hospital as if it starts with the O, sounding roughly like "awsh-pee-tahl".