Word
Ela deu um anel e um colar à irmã.
Meaning
She gave a ring and a necklace to her sister.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Ela deu um anel e um colar à irmã.
e
and
ela
she
a irmã
the sister
um
a / an / some (all forms)
Questions & Answers about Ela deu um anel e um colar à irmã.
Why is the verb deu used here?
Deu is the third-person singular form of the irregular verb dar (to give) in the Pretérito Perfeito Simples. This tense is used for completed actions in the past, like the single event of giving these gifts.
The translation says 'to her sister', but I don't see a word for 'her'. Why?
In Portuguese, when it is obvious whose family member is being talked about, you often just use the definite article instead of a possessive pronoun. Here, à irmã literally means 'to the sister', but it is naturally understood as 'to her sister'.
What exactly does the word à consist of in this sentence?
It is a contraction of two words. The verb dar requires the preposition a (to) before the recipient. We combine this preposition with the feminine definite article a (the) that goes in front of irmã, creating à.
If she had given two rings instead of one, how would the word anel change?
Nouns ending in an L usually drop the L and add -is in the plural. So um anel becomes dois anéis. Notice that it also gains an accent mark on the E to keep the pronunciation stress in the right place.