Gender and Adjectives

Dialog — The American Consulate

Bill asks Sandra where the American Consulate is. This unit covers the contractions na/no, descriptive adjectives and gender agreement, and the important distinction between the verbs ser and estar.

Portuguese	English
Bill
Onde é o Consulado Americano?	Where is the American Consulate?
Sandra
É no centro, na Avenida Presidente Wilson.	It’s downtown, on President Wilson Avenue.
Bill
Mas não é a Embaixada que fica na Avenida Presidente Wilson?	But, isn’t it the Embassy that is on President Wilson Avenue?
Sandra
Não, a Embaixada é em Brasília.	No, the Embassy is in Brasília.

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Notes on Grammar

Contractions: na and no

The preposition em (“in/on”) contracts obligatorily with the definite articles a and o:

Contraction	Components	English
na	em + a	in the / on the (feminine)
no	em + o	in the / on the (masculine)

Portuguese	English
na sala	in the room
na cidade	in the city
na festa	at the party
na avenida	on the avenue
no parque	in the park
no centro	downtown
no Brasil	in Brazil
no Rio	in Rio
no carro	in the car

When there is no article present, em stands alone: em casa (“at home”), em Brasília (“in Brasília”).

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Descriptive Adjectives and Gender Agreement

In Portuguese, descriptive adjectives generally come after the noun (the reverse of English word order). Adjectives must agree in gender with the noun they describe.

Portuguese	English
casa linda	pretty house
carro lindo	pretty car
cidade americana	American city
carro americano	American car
amiga americana	American friend (female)
amigo americano	American friend (male)
Consulado Americano	American Consulate
Embaixada Americana	American Embassy

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Ser vs. Estar — Two Ways to Say “To Be”

Portuguese has two verbs for “to be”: ser and estar. The choice between them is determined by context.

Use ser for:

• Origin: Sou de Nova Iorque. (I am from New York.)
• Permanent/fixed location of buildings, cities, etc.: Onde é o Consulado? (Where is the Consulate?) — É no centro. (It’s downtown.)
• Identity and characteristics: Ele é americano. (He is American.)

Use estar for:

• Location of movable things and people: Onde está o Paulo? — Está em casa. (Where is Paulo? — He’s at home.)
• Temporary states: Estou com fome. (I’m hungry.)

Subject	Ser	Estar
eu	sou	estou
ele/ela/você	é	está

The key distinction for location: if the item is permanently fixed (a building, a city), use ser. If it can be moved (a person, a car, furniture), use estar.

Portuguese	Verb	Why
Onde é o Consulado?	ser	building is permanently fixed
O Rio é no Brasil.	ser	city is permanently fixed
Onde está o Santos?	estar	person is movable
A mesa está na sala.	estar	furniture is movable
O carro está no centro.	estar	car is movable

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Optional Contractions: num / numa

The preposition em can optionally contract with the indefinite articles um and uma:

Contraction	Components	English
num	em + um	in a (masculine)
numa	em + uma	in a (feminine)

Portuguese	English
num carro	in a car
numa casa	in a house
numa cidade	in a city
num estado	in a state

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Practice Drills (Selected)

Na / No Practice

Cue	Response
sala	na sala
parque	no parque
cidade	na cidade
centro	no centro
festa	na festa
Brasil	no Brasil

Ser vs. Estar

Choose the correct form for “Where is…?”:

Item	Answer	Reason
o Consulado Americano	Onde é…?	permanently fixed
Nova Iorque	Onde é…?	permanently fixed
o meu amigo	Onde está…?	person is movable
o Paulo	Onde está…?	person is movable
o carro	Onde está…?	car is movable
o parque	Onde é…?	permanently fixed

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Comprehension

1. Where is the American Consulate? — It’s downtown, on President Wilson Avenue.
2. Is the Embassy on President Wilson Avenue too? — No, the Embassy is in Brasília.
3. Why does Onde é o Consulado? use ser? — Because a building is permanently fixed in its location.

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Key Vocabulary Summary

Portuguese	English
na (em + a)	in the / on the (feminine)
no (em + o)	in the / on the (masculine)
num (em + um)	in a (masculine)
numa (em + uma)	in a (feminine)
o centro	the center, downtown
a avenida	the avenue
o consulado	the consulate
a embaixada	the embassy
americano/a	American (m/f)
lindo/a	pretty, beautiful (m/f)
ser	to be (identity, origin, fixed location)
estar	to be (temporary state, movable location)
sou / é	I am / is (forms of ser)
estou / está	I am / is (forms of estar)
fica	is located (he-form of ficar)