Breakdown of O marido da professora é médico.
ser
to be
a professora
the teacher (f)
de
of / from / by (means of transport) / wearing (attire)
o médico
the doctor (m)
o marido
the husband
Questions & Answers about O marido da professora é médico.
Why does the Portuguese sentence say "husband of the teacher" instead of using an apostrophe 's?
Portuguese doesn't have an equivalent to the English apostrophe 's for possession. Instead, you always use the preposition de (of) and phrase it as the item belonging to the owner. Here, it is structured as o marido da professora (the husband of the teacher).
Why is the word da used here instead of just de?
In Portuguese, the preposition de (of) almost always combines with the definite article (the) that goes with the following noun. Since professora is a feminine noun, it takes the article a. When you combine de + a, they contract to form da (of the).
Why do we use é (from the verb ser) here instead of está (from the verb estar)?
The English translation says "is a doctor", but there is no word for "a" (um) in the Portuguese sentence. Why?
When stating someone's profession, religion, or nationality directly after the verb ser, Portuguese drops the indefinite article (um or uma). You simply say é médico (is doctor). You only add the article if you are adding an adjective, such as é um bom médico (is a good doctor).
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