Breakdown of O anel é de prata.
ser
to be
de
of / from / by (means of transport) / wearing (attire)
o anel
the ring
a prata
the silver
Questions & Answers about O anel é de prata.
Why does the Portuguese sentence say de prata instead of just using an adjective for "silver"?
In English, we often use materials as adjectives, like in "a silver ring". In Portuguese, materials usually act as nouns. To describe what something is made of, you use the preposition de (of) followed by the material. So, de prata literally means "of silver".
Why do we use é here instead of está?
If I wanted to say "The rings are silver," how would this sentence change?
It would become Os anéis são de prata. Nouns ending in L, like anel, become plural by dropping the L and adding -is (along with an accent mark to keep the spoken stress in the right place). Notice that de prata stays exactly the same; because it is a prepositional phrase rather than a true adjective, it does not change to match the plural subject.
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