Question 1

Why use onde here? Can I just use que like we do for other nouns?

Accepted Answer

Onde means "where" and is used specifically to refer back to a physical place (the hotel). You cannot use que by itself to mean "where". You could, however, use em que (in which) and say O hotel em que ficámos.

Question 2

Why does ficámos have an accent mark on the "a"?

Accepted Answer

In European Portuguese, the accent shows that this is the past tense (we stayed). It tells you to pronounce the "a" with an open sound. The present tense, nós ficamos (we stay), has no accent mark and is pronounced with a closed "a" sound.

Question 3

Why is era (imperfect past) used for being cheap, but ficámos (simple past) is used for staying?

Accepted Answer

Ficámos describes a completed action: your stay started and ended. Era, on the other hand, is a description of the hotel in the past. We use the imperfect tense for ongoing background descriptions and the simple past for completed events.

Question 4

Why use era (from ser) instead of estava (from estar) for the hotel being cheap?

Accepted Answer

We use ser for characteristics and qualities. While prices can change over time, the hotel being in a cheap price category is treated as a core characteristic of the business, not just a temporary condition like a bad mood or a messy room, so we use ser.

O hotel onde ficámos era muito barato.

Breakdown of O hotel onde ficámos era muito barato.

Questions & Answers about O hotel onde ficámos era muito barato.

Learn O hotel onde ficámos era muito barato and more in Portuguese