Breakdown of A minha avó está viva e bem.
e
and
estar
to be (temporary / location)
bem
well / fine
meu
my (m/f/pl: meu, minha, meus, minhas)
a avó
the grandmother
vivo
alive
Questions & Answers about A minha avó está viva e bem.
Why does the sentence use está instead of é? Isn't being alive a permanent trait?
It is common to confuse ser and estar here! While we often use ser for permanent traits, Portuguese uses estar for the states of being alive (estar vivo) or dead (estar morto). It treats life as a current condition or state rather than an inherent characteristic.
Why is there an A right before minha avó?
In European Portuguese, you almost always put a definite article (o or a) before possessive words like minha. Literally, this translates to 'the my grandmother'. It feels strange to English speakers, but it is a standard rule.
I always mix up the words for grandmother and grandfather. How do I know avó is grandmother?
The trick is in the accent mark! Avó has an acute accent pointing up, which creates an open sound and means grandmother. Avô has a circumflex accent that looks like a little hat, creating a closed sound, and means grandfather.
If I wanted to say my grandfather is alive, would the word viva change?
Yes! Because adjectives must match the gender of the person they describe, you would change the feminine viva to the masculine vivo to match avô (grandfather).
Learn A minha avó está viva e bem and more in Portuguese
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free