Breakdown of A prima da Rita é simpática.
ser
to be
de
of / from / by (means of transport) / wearing (attire)
simpático
nice
a prima
the cousin (f)
Questions & Answers about A prima da Rita é simpática.
Why does the sentence say "A prima da Rita" instead of "Rita's prima"?
Portuguese does not have an equivalent to the English apostrophe "s" for possession. Instead, you have to flip the order and use the preposition de (of) to say "the cousin of Rita".
Why is it da Rita instead of just de Rita?
In European Portuguese, it is standard to place a definite article (the word for "the") before a person's name. Since Rita is a woman, we use the feminine article a. When the preposition de (of) meets the article a (the), they merge to form the contraction da.
Why do we use é here for "is" instead of está?
Does the word simpática mean "sympathetic"?
No, this is a very common false friend! The word simpática actually means "nice", "friendly", or "pleasant". If you wanted to describe someone as sympathetic, you would use a word like compreensiva.