Learn Portuguese (Portugal): O taxista está na rua. - The taxi driver is in the street.

O taxista está na rua.

The taxi driver is in the street.

Breakdown of O taxista está na rua.

estar

to be (temporary / location)

in the / on the / at the (f.sg)

Questions & Answers about O taxista está na rua.

Why is it O taxista if the word ends in -a? Shouldn't it be feminine?

Words ending in -ista, like professions, are usually the same for both men and women. We use o for a male taxi driver (o taxista) and a for a female taxi driver (a taxista). Here, the masculine article o tells us this specific driver is male.

Why use está instead of é for "is"?

In Portuguese, we use the verb estar (where está comes from) for temporary things and for locations. Since the taxi driver is currently located in the street, we must use está. We use the other "to be" verb, ser (which gives us é), for permanent facts, like saying he is a taxi driver (ele é taxista).

Where does the word na come from?

The word na is a combination of the preposition em (meaning "in", "on", or "at") and the feminine word for "the", which is a. Because rua (street) is a feminine word, they combine to make na. So, na rua means "in the street".