Breakdown of A paragem de autocarro é ao lado do banco.
ser
to be
do
of the / from the (do, da, dos, das)
o banco
the bank
ao lado de
next to
a paragem de autocarro
the bus stop
Questions & Answers about A paragem de autocarro é ao lado do banco.
Why is "bus stop" written as paragem de autocarro instead of putting the words together?
Why use é to talk about a location? Doesn't the verb "estar" handle locations?
While it is a common beginner rule that "estar" is used for locations, Portuguese uses the permanent verb ser (which gives us é) for the location of fixed, unmoving structures like buildings or bus stops. You will also commonly hear the verb ficar used for fixed places. We only use estar for temporary locations, like where a person or a parked car is right now.
What makes up the phrase ao lado do?
The basic Portuguese phrase for "next to" is ao lado de (literally "at the side of"). Since we are saying "next to the bank", we need to include the word "the". The preposition de combines with the masculine word for "the" (o) because banco is masculine. Together, de and o merge into the contraction do.
Is paragem a masculine or feminine word?
It is feminine, which you can tell by looking at the very first word of the sentence, A (the feminine word for "the"). As a very helpful rule of thumb for beginners, Portuguese nouns that end in "-agem" are almost always feminine!
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