Learn Portuguese (Portugal): A porta é verde.

A porta é verde.

The door is green.

Breakdown of A porta é verde.

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Questions & Answers about A porta é verde.

Why do we use é here instead of está for "is"?

Portuguese has two verbs for "to be". We use é (from the verb ser) for things that are permanent or long-lasting. Since the color of a door is a built-in, lasting characteristic, we use é. We would use está (from estar) for temporary things like "the door is open".

Porta is a feminine word, so why doesn't the adjective verde change to verda to match it?

While many Portuguese adjectives change their ending to match the gender of the noun (like branco and branca), adjectives that end in the letter 'e' are an exception. Words like verde or grande are used for both masculine and feminine nouns without changing.

How do we know to use A for "the" instead of O?

In Portuguese, every noun has a gender. The word for door, porta, is a feminine noun. You can usually guess this because it ends in the letter 'a'. Because it is feminine, we must use the feminine word for "the", which is A.