Question 1

Why do we use the verb estar with arrumado here instead of ser?

Accepted Answer

The word arrumado is the past participle of the verb arrumar (to tidy up). In this lesson, we use it as an adjective to describe the result of an action: the state of being tidy. We use está (from estar) because it describes a resulting condition or state, rather than a permanent characteristic (which would require ser).

Question 2

Why is the ending of arrumado masculine singular (-o)? What noun is it matching?

Accepted Answer

When used as adjectives, past participles must match the gender and number of the thing they describe. Here, arrumado describes the pronoun tudo (everything). In Portuguese, tudo is an invariable word that always takes masculine singular adjectives, regardless of what that everything actually includes.

Question 3

Does o gerente mean a male or female manager?

Accepted Answer

It means a male manager. The noun gerente is a two-gender word, meaning its spelling stays exactly the same for both men and women. You can tell the gender of the person by looking at the article before it: o gerente for a male manager, and a gerente for a female manager.

Question 4

Why do we use faz for an inspection, rather than a verb like conduct or carry out?

Accepted Answer

The verb fazer (to do or to make) is incredibly flexible in Portuguese and is used to describe many actions. While there are more formal verbs you could use, like realizar (to carry out), fazer a inspeção is simply the most natural and common way to express doing an inspection in everyday speech.

Quando o gerente faz a inspeção, tudo está arrumado.

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