Breakdown of Nós sentamo-nos no sofá.
nós
we
no
in the / on the / at the (m, f, pl forms: na, nos, nas)
o sofá
the sofa
sentar-se
to sit down
Questions & Answers about Nós sentamo-nos no sofá.
Why does sentamo-nos drop the 's' from sentamos?
When the reflexive pronoun nos is attached to the end of a verb conjugated for nós (which ends in an 's', like sentamos), we drop the final 's' of the verb to make it easier to pronounce. So, sentamos + nos becomes sentamo-nos.
Why do we need the reflexive pronoun nos here? English just says 'we sit down'.
In Portuguese, the base verb sentar actually means 'to seat' (someone else). To say that you sit yourself down, you have to use it as a reflexive verb: sentar-se (literally 'to seat oneself'). Since the subject is nós (we), the reflexive pronoun must match it, becoming nos (ourselves).
Why is the pronoun nos attached to the end of the verb with a hyphen?
Do we have to include the word nós at the start of the sentence?
No, it is completely optional. The verb ending in -amos and the reflexive pronoun nos already make it perfectly clear that 'we' are the ones sitting. You can just say Sentamo-nos no sofá.
Why does the sentence use no to mean 'on the'?
The word no is a contraction of the preposition em (which can mean in, on, or at) and the masculine word for 'the', o. Because Portuguese uses em for both 'in' and 'on', combining it with o gives us no sofá for 'on the sofa'.
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