Breakdown of O museu está à esquerda da biblioteca.
estar
to be (temporary / location)
o museu
the museum
a biblioteca
the library
à esquerda de
to the left of
Questions & Answers about O museu está à esquerda da biblioteca.
Why do we use está here instead of é?
What does the backward accent on à mean?
That accent (called a grave accent) shows that two words have been combined. Here, the preposition a (which can mean "to" or "at") has merged with the feminine word for "the", which is also a. Instead of writing a a, they are combined into à. In this sentence, it helps form the phrase "to the".
Why is it da biblioteca instead of just de biblioteca?
The word da is a contraction (two words squished together). It combines de (of) and a (the). Because biblioteca (library) is a feminine word, we need that feminine "the" before it. So, da biblioteca literally means "of the library".
Is esquerda always feminine?