Learn Portuguese (Portugal): A vaca come erva o dia todo.

A vaca come erva o dia todo.

The cow eats grass all day.

Breakdown of A vaca come erva o dia todo.

Questions & Answers about A vaca come erva o dia todo.

Why is there no 'a' before erva?

In Portuguese, when talking about a general category or an unspecified quantity of something uncountable (like grass, water, or rice), you often leave out the definite article. Since the cow is eating grass in general, not a specific patch of grass, it is just come erva.

Why is it o dia when dia ends in '-a'? Shouldn't it be a feminine word?

Even though it ends in '-a', dia is a masculine word. It is one of the most common exceptions to the gender rules in Portuguese, which is why it uses the masculine article o and the masculine adjective todo.

Why does todo come at the end of o dia todo?

Placing todo (all/whole) after the noun phrase literally means 'the day all'. This is a very common Portuguese structure used to emphasize 'the entire day' or 'all day long'.

Could I say todo o dia instead of o dia todo?

Yes, you can! Both todo o dia and o dia todo mean 'the whole day' and are completely interchangeable here. Just be careful not to confuse them with the plural todos os dias, which means 'every day'.