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A canção do verão toca na rádio.

A canção do verão toca na rádio.
The summer song plays on the radio.
From Lesson 180:A cultura e o desporto (a canção, empatar)·Portuguese (Portugal)

Questions & Answers about A canção do verão toca na rádio.

Why is it na rádio (feminine) here? Doesn't rádio end in -o?
Yes, it ends in -o, but rádio has two meanings depending on its gender! When it is feminine (a rádio), it means the broadcasting station or the medium itself. When it is masculine (o rádio), it means the physical electronic device. Since the song is playing on the broadcast, we use na, which is em plus a.
Does toca mean 'plays' for everything, like playing a sport?
No. The verb tocar literally means 'to touch', but it is also the specific verb used for playing music or an instrument. If you want to talk about playing a sport or a game, you must use jogar. If you mean playing for fun like children do, you use brincar.
Why do we say do verão instead of just de verão?
In Portuguese, seasons almost always use the definite article (o or a). So 'summer' is o verão. When you say 'the song of the summer', you combine de (of) and o (the) to make the contraction do.
How do I know canção is a feminine word?
As a very reliable rule, Portuguese words that end in -ção (like canção, informação, and estação) are feminine. Just watch out for words that end in a simple -ão without the cedilla (like pão or irmão), because those are usually masculine.

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