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A alegria das crianças é grande.

A alegria das crianças é grande.
The children's joy is great.
From Lesson 155:Os sentimentos (zangado, a vergonha)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about A alegria das crianças é grande.

Why does the sentence use das crianças instead of an apostrophe 's like in English?
In Portuguese, there is no apostrophe 's to show possession. Instead, you structure it as 'the joy of the children'. The word das is the mandatory contraction of de (of) and as (the, feminine plural matching crianças).
Since joy is a feeling, why do we use é (from ser) instead of está (from estar)?
We are describing the noun alegria (joy) itself as a concept, not how the children are temporarily feeling. When stating a fact about the size or degree of something, you use ser. If the sentence were 'The children are joyful', you would use estar to show their temporary state.
A alegria is feminine, so why doesn't the adjective grande change to end in an a?
Adjectives that end in -e in Portuguese, like grande (great or big) and inteligente (smart), are gender-neutral. They keep the exact same form for both masculine and feminine nouns. They only change if the noun is plural, becoming grandes.
Since crianças is plural, why is the verb é in the singular form?
The verb always matches the main subject of the sentence. Here, the subject is the singular noun A alegria (The joy). The phrase das crianças just tells us whose joy it is, but it does not change the main subject.

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