Breakdown of A mesa nova custa seiscentos euros.
a mesa
the table
novo
new / young
o euro
the euro
custar
to cost
seiscentos
six hundred
Questions & Answers about A mesa nova custa seiscentos euros.
Why does it say mesa nova instead of nova mesa?
In Portuguese, descriptive adjectives usually come after the noun they describe. So, instead of saying "new table", you say "table new" (mesa nova).
Would nova change if the noun wasn't mesa?
Yes! Adjectives must match the gender of the noun they describe. Because mesa is a feminine word, we use nova. If we were talking about a new car (a masculine word, carro), it would be carro novo.
Wait, does the number seiscentos have a gender?
Yes, it does! In Portuguese, the hundreds (from 200 up to 900) have masculine and feminine forms to match the noun they are counting. Since euros is masculine, we use the masculine form seiscentos. If the table cost six hundred pounds (libras, a feminine word), it would be seiscentas libras.
Why is the verb custa instead of custo?
Custa comes from the regular verb custar (to cost). Because the subject of the sentence is "the new table", which counts as an "it" (third-person singular), we drop the -ar ending and add -a to get custa. If you were saying "I cost", you would say custo.
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