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A minha pele está limpa.

A minha pele está limpa.
My skin is clean.
From Lesson 112:O corpo (dói-me a garganta)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about A minha pele está limpa.

Why use "está" instead of "é" to describe the skin?
We use está (from the verb estar) for temporary states. Your skin is clean right now, but it can get dirty later. If you used é (from the verb ser), it would mean your skin has a permanent, unchanging quality of being clean, which sounds unnatural here.
Why is there an "A" before "minha pele"?
In European Portuguese, it is the standard rule to put a definite article (o or a) before a possessive word. Because pele is a feminine noun, we use the feminine article, making it A minha pele (literally "the my skin").
Since "pele" ends in "e", how do I know it is a feminine noun?
Nouns ending in "-e" can be either masculine or feminine, so you have to memorize their gender over time. However, this sentence gives you three clear clues that pele is feminine: the article a, the possessive minha, and the feminine adjective limpa.
Is "limpa" an adjective or a verb here?
In this sentence, limpa is an adjective meaning "clean", and it ends in "-a" to match the feminine noun pele. However, it is also the exact same word as the "he/she/it" form of the verb limpar (to clean), as in ela limpa (she cleans).

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