A mala está bastante cheia e o casaco não cabe.
The suitcase is quite full and the coat does not fit.
Breakdown of A mala está bastante cheia e o casaco não cabe.
e
and
não
not / no
estar
to be (temporary / location)
a mala
the suitcase
o casaco
the coat
cheio
full
bastante
quite, plenty (of)
caber
to fit
Questions & Answers about A mala está bastante cheia e o casaco não cabe.
Why is it bastante and not bastanta or bastantes to match the feminine noun a mala?
In this sentence, bastante is acting as an adverb modifying the adjective cheia (full), meaning 'quite' or 'rather'. Adverbs do not change their endings to match gender or number. If it were acting as a quantifier modifying a noun, it would change for number (like bastantes malas for 'enough suitcases'), but it never changes for gender.
If the coat doesn't fit, could I say the suitcase is demasiado cheia instead of bastante cheia?
What verb does cabe come from?
It comes from caber (to fit). While cabe (it fits) looks regular for the third-person singular, this verb is highly irregular in the first-person singular, which is caibo (I fit). It is a very useful verb to remember for packing and parking!
Why do we use está instead of é with cheia here?
We use está (from estar) because the suitcase being full is a temporary state. You can unpack it later. If you used é (from ser), it would imply the suitcase is permanently full by its very nature, which sounds strange in Portuguese.
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