Learn Portuguese (Portugal): A nossa equipa ganhou o primeiro prémio.

A nossa equipa ganhou o primeiro prémio.

Our team won the first prize.

Breakdown of A nossa equipa ganhou o primeiro prémio.

nosso

our (m/f/pl: nosso, nossa, nossos, nossas)

Questions & Answers about A nossa equipa ganhou o primeiro prémio.

Why is it primeiro and not primeira here?

Ordinal numbers like primeiro (first) act like adjectives, so they must agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. Because prémio (prize) is a masculine singular noun, we use the masculine singular form primeiro. If it were a feminine noun like a medal (a medalha), it would be a primeira medalha.

Does the ordinal number primeiro always go before the noun?

Yes, ordinal numbers up to 10th generally go before the noun in Portuguese, just like in English. So we say o primeiro prémio (the first prize), not o prémio primeiro.

Since a team is a group of people, shouldn't the verb be plural (ganharam)?

Even though a team has many members, the word equipa is grammatically singular. Because of this, the verb must also be in the third-person singular: ganhou (it won). You would only use the plural if you were talking about multiple teams (as equipas).

Why is there an A at the very beginning of the sentence?