Breakdown of O meu primo estuda em Lisboa.
Lisboa
Lisbon
em
in / on / at
estudar
to study
meu
my (m/f/pl: meu, minha, meus, minhas)
o primo
the cousin (m)
Questions & Answers about O meu primo estuda em Lisboa.
Why do we say O meu instead of just meu?
In European Portuguese, we almost always put a definite article (o, a, os, as) before a possessive word like meu (my). Literally, it translates to "the my cousin", but in English, we just say "my cousin".
Is primo always used for "cousin", or does it change for a female cousin?
It changes! Primo is specifically a male cousin. If your cousin is female, you would change both the noun and the words before it to feminine: A minha prima.
Why is it just em Lisboa instead of na Lisboa?
The preposition em means "in". While some places in Portuguese require you to combine em with a definite article (like no Porto, which is em + o), most cities, including Lisboa, do not take a definite article. Therefore, you just use the plain preposition em.
Can estuda also mean "is studying"?
Yes! In Portuguese, the simple present tense (estuda) can translate to both "studies" (a routine) and "is studying" (happening around this time). To emphasize that he is studying right at this exact moment, you could also use está a estudar.
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