Breakdown of O professor está no gabinete.
o professor
the teacher (m)
estar
to be (temporary / location)
no
in the / on the / at the (m, f, pl forms: na, nos, nas)
o gabinete
the office (room), the study
Questions & Answers about O professor está no gabinete.
The English translation says 'his office', but there is no word for 'his' in the Portuguese sentence. Why?
In Portuguese, when the context makes it clear who owns or uses something, we often just use the definite article (o or a). Here, no gabinete literally means 'in the office', but it is naturally understood as 'in his office' because we are talking about the teacher. You could say no seu gabinete, but leaving the possessive word out is very common and natural.
Why do we use está here instead of é for the word 'is'?
I learned that 'office' is escritório. Why is gabinete used here?
Escritório usually refers to a general business office, a company workplace, or an administrative room. Gabinete, on the other hand, refers to a private, dedicated office or study room for a specific professional, such as a university professor, doctor, or government official.
Can I just say em o gabinete instead of no gabinete?
No, you cannot. In Portuguese, the preposition em (in/on/at) must always contract with definite articles. Whenever em is followed by the masculine article o (the), they permanently combine to form the single word no.
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