Breakdown of Sinto a chuva na cara.
na
in the / on the / at the (f.sg)
a cara
the face
a chuva
the rain
sentir
to feel (something)
Questions & Answers about Sinto a chuva na cara.
Why doesn't the Portuguese sentence use a word for "my" before "cara"?
In Portuguese, when you talk about your own body parts or clothing, you usually use a definite article (o, a, os, as) instead of a possessive word like minha (my). Because the verb sinto already tells us it is "I" doing the feeling, na cara (literally "on the face") is naturally understood as "on my face".
Is "sinto" an irregular verb?
Yes. It is the "I" form of the verb sentir (to feel). Even though it is an "-ir" verb, the "eu" (I) form changes the stem vowel to "i", becoming sinto. The other present tense forms keep the "e" from the infinitive, such as tu sentes (you feel) and ele sente (he feels).
How did we get the word "na" in this sentence?
Na is a mandatory contraction that means "in the" or "on the". It is made by combining the preposition em (in/on/at) with the feminine article a (the). We use it here because cara is a feminine noun.
I have also seen the word "rosto" for face. Could I use it instead?