Breakdown of O coelho come as flores do jardim.
de
of / from / by (means of transport) / wearing (attire)
o jardim
the garden
comer
to eat
a flor
the flower
as
them (f)
o coelho
the rabbit
Questions & Answers about O coelho come as flores do jardim.
The English translation says "the garden's flowers". Why doesn't the Portuguese sentence use an apostrophe 's'?
Portuguese doesn't have an equivalent to the English apostrophe 's' to show possession. Instead, you must use the preposition de (of) and flip the word order. You are literally saying "the flowers of the garden" (as flores do jardim).
Where does the word do come from in do jardim?
The word do is a mandatory contraction of the preposition de (of) and the masculine singular article o (the). Because jardim is a masculine noun, "of the garden" becomes de + o, which combines into do.
Why is the plural of flower flores and not just "flors"?
Could come also mean "is eating" in this context?
Yes! The simple present tense in Portuguese can translate to both "eats" and "is eating". So O coelho come can mean "The rabbit eats" as a general habit, or "The rabbit is eating" right now. If you want to strongly emphasize that it is happening at this exact moment, you could also use the continuous form and say O coelho está a comer.
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