Breakdown of É proibido fumar no restaurante.
no
in the / on the / at the (m, f, pl forms: na, nos, nas)
o restaurante
the restaurant
é proibido
it is forbidden
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Questions & Answers about É proibido fumar no restaurante.
Why does this sentence use fumar (to smoke) instead of a word ending in -ing like "smoking"?
When English uses an "-ing" word as the subject of a sentence (like "smoking"), Portuguese uses the basic infinitive form of the verb. So, "Smoking is forbidden" translates as É proibido fumar (literally, "To smoke is forbidden").
Why is it proibido (masculine) when there isn't a masculine noun here?
Why do we use É (from the verb ser) rather than Está (from the verb estar)?
Why does it say no restaurante instead of just em restaurante?
In Portuguese, you almost always include the definite article ("the") before specific places like a restaurant. The preposition em (in/at) merges with the masculine article o (the) to form the required contraction no.