Does the portuguese word

Whether you loved playing with building blocks as a kid or not, constructing sentences in Portuguese will be just like child’s play! With this handy guide, you’ll be ready to form your sentences seamlessly, and impress any locals with how natural you sound. 

If you already know the most popular verbs in Portuguese, have learned the best adjectives to use, and are ready to make your own sentences, there’s just one thing you need to do…put all the parts together! This is where you need to make a decision: In which order do you put the words? Luckily, the Portuguese sentence structure is pretty straightforward. 

Even though we’re dealing with a language filled with exceptions and complicated rules, when it comes to Portuguese word order, things are much simpler! French and English have lots of inversions and scary things like that, but Portuguese doesn’t have those problems. In this article, we take a step-by-step approach that will make learning proper word order in Brazilian Portuguese as easy as possible. 

So get your verbs ready, brush up on the adverbs and adjectives, and come along for the ride. You’ll master the Brazilian Portuguese word order in no time!

Table of Contents

1. The Building Blocks
2. Making the Basics Crystal-Clear
3. Make it Juicy: Adding Information
4. No Way: Negative Sentences
5. Ask and You Shall Get: Asking Questions
6. The Final Brick: Prepositional Phrases
7. Exercise It
8. Next Stop: Learn More Portuguese with PortuguesePod101

1. The Building Blocks

1 – The Foundation

Let’s start with more good news, shall we? As in many other languages, including English, word order in Portuguese follows the SVO structure. 

What does that mean? Simply put, the basic Portuguese sentence structure is:

1. Subject

2. Verb

3. Object

Take the following examples:

• Elas comem batatas. (“They eat potatoes.”)

• Eu saí do parque. (“I left the park.”)

Try not to get hungry with all the potato examples!

2 – Getting Ahead of the Competition

Step aside, complicated languages (at least this once)! Portuguese word order has some advantages over English. After all, in Portuguese, you won’t need to make complex inversions or add particles to ask questions.

Another difference is that, in Portuguese, subjects can be implicit. Many sentences might not include the subject, but people know who the subject is. If you need to brush up on this, hop up to the Portuguese Verbs article. 

Lastly, while in English the adjective comes before the noun, the opposite happens in Portuguese. But don’t worry, we’ll talk more about adjectives and other modifiers later on.

2. Making the Basics Crystal-Clear

We already saw that the basic Portuguese word order is SVO. But if that didn’t make things very clear for you, it’s recap time! The three basic elements in a sentence are:

• Subject: indicates who or what performs the action in the sentence
• Verb: describes an action, state, or natural phenomena
• Object: noun or noun phrase acted upon by the subject

Let’s go back to the basic sentences we used before:

• Elas comem batatas. (“They eat potatoes.”)
• Eu saí do parque. (“I left the park.”)

To phrase a question, the same order applies. Isn’t that great? Basically, you’ll say the same thing, only changing the intonation to indicate that it’s a question:

• Elas comem batatas? (“Do they eat potatoes?”)
• Eu saí do parque? (“Did I leave the park?”)

What about sentences with compound tenses, or in other words, more than one verb? You’ll still use the exact same order!

• Eu estou saindo do parque. (“I am leaving the park.”)

Lastly, remember that the subject can be implicit sometimes. Since the verb indicates the person already, you can drop the subject in most cases.
Saí do parque. (“I left the park.”)

3. Make it Juicy: Adding Information

Time to add a little more detail to those sentences. Modifiers are elements like adjectives, adverbs, and numerals. They’re essential “building blocks” in the Portuguese sentence structure, adding context and important information. Let’s get to it!

The best stories need details.

1 – Adjectives

Adjectives are attributes of nouns. In Portuguese, the adjective usually follows the noun it refers to:

• Vinho tinto (“Red wine”)
• Bola pesada (“Heavy ball”)
• Parque grande (“Big park”)
• Computador velho (“Old computer”)

Going back to our example:

• Elas comem batatas cozidas. (“They eat boiled potatoes.”)

In some cases, the adjective can also come before the noun. There isn’t a very defined rule for this, but the placement of the adjective might subtly impact the connotation of what’s being said. You can think of it this way:

• When the adjective is adding an objective, direct attribute to the noun, place it afterwards:

Escrevi um texto grande. (“I wrote a big [long] text.”) 

• When the adjective is adding a more subjective, connotative, or even poetic attribute to the noun, place it beforehand:

Escrevi um grande texto. (“I wrote a great text.”)

Here’s another set of examples where the position of the adjective impacts the meaning:

• Meus vizinhos velhos. (“My old neighbors.”) — my neighbors who are of old age
• Meus velhos vizinhos. (“My old neighbors.”) — people who have been my neighbors for a long time

Of course, sometimes you can place an adjective before or after the noun and retain the same meaning. With practice and lots of listening, this will become more natural to you!

• Eu ganhei lindas flores. (“I got beautiful flowers.”)
• Eu ganhei flores lindas. (“I got beautiful flowers.”)

2 – Adverbs

Adverbs are words or phrases that modify or add information to other elements in the sentence. They can go at the beginning or end of a sentence.

• Hoje, elas comem batatas. (“Today, they eat potatoes.”)
• Elas comem batatas hoje. (“They eat potatoes today.”)

• Elas comem batatas cuidadosamente. (“They eat potatoes carefully.”)
• Cuidadosamente, elas comem batatas. (“Carefully, they eat potatoes.”)

• Lentamente, eu saí do parque. (“Slowly, I left the park.”)
• Eu saí do parque lentamente. (“I left the park slowly.”)

3 – Numerals, articles, quantifiers, and pronouns

In Brazilian Portuguese word order, all of these elements go before the noun they refer to, but after the verb. 

• Elas comem duas batatas. (“They eat two potatoes.”)
• Elas comem as batatas. (“They eat the potatoes.”)
• Elas comem muitas batatas. (“They eat lots of potatoes.”)
• Elas comem aquelas batatas. (“They eat those potatoes.”)
• Elas comem as minhas batatas. (“They eat my potatoes.”)

Notice that, if you want to specify how many people are performing the action, the numeral will appear after the subject but before the verb. For example:
Elas três comem seis batatas. (“The three of them eat six potatoes.”)

Ele quer as duas sobremesas. (“He wants both desserts.”)

4 – Multiple modifiers

Want to spice things up and add a lot of information to your Portuguese sentences? When using more than one modifier, just follow the same rules we discussed above. 

• Hoje, elas comem aquelas duas batatas grandes. (“Today, they eat those two big potatoes.”)

Why does aquelas go before duas? Well, the other way around wouldn’t make sense in Portuguese, just like it wouldn’t make sense to say “They eat two those big potatoes.” As a rule of thumb, keep the numeral closer to the noun.

Let’s take a look at another example:

• Eu saí daquele parque cedo. (“I left that park early.”)

→ Practice your listening skills with this Portuguese lesson available on PortuguesePod101.com. It has great examples of sentences with multiple modifiers! 

4. No Way: Negative Sentences

When it comes to constructing a negative sentence in Portuguese, the easiest way to do it is by adding the word não (“no”). You can also use words like nunca (“never”) or nem (“nor”). 

The sentence structure won’t change much. Add those negative words before the verb:

• Elas não comem batatas. (“They don’t eat potatoes.”)
• Eu nunca vou ao parque. (“I never go to the park.”)

You can also double down to add emphasis, and add another não at the end of the sentence:

• Elas não comem batatas, não. (“They don’t eat potatoes.”)

Eu nunca vou ao parque, não. (“I never go to the park.”)

Eu nunca vou gostar de ervilha! (“I’ll never like peas!”)

5. Ask and You Shall Get: Asking Questions

We already saw that the Portuguese word order stays the same when asking questions. Using the same word order, all you have to do is change the intonation. 

But what if you want to be more specific when asking questions? No problem! The Portuguese sentence structure continues to be very straightforward even if you need to add words like “when,” “where,” “how,” and “why.” Simply place those words at the beginning of the sentence. 

• Como elas comem batatas? (“How do they eat potatoes?”)
• Quando elas comem batatas? (“When do they eat potatoes?”)
• Por que elas comem batatas? (“Why do they eat potatoes?”)
• Onde elas comem batatas? (“Where do they eat potatoes?”)

Colloquially, it’s also common to use—and even more so, to hear—those words being put at the end of the sentence:

• Elas comem batatas onde? (“Where do they eat potatoes?”)

Elas comem batatas, por quê? (“Why do they eat potatoes?”)

6. The Final Brick: Prepositional Phrases

Let’s say you don’t want to wait for questions using “where,” “when,” and “how.” Rather, you want to create a sentence that already includes the answer to those questions, with all the details you want. Well, in these cases, we need prepositional phrases. 

Prepositional phrases are phrases that modify a verb or a noun, adding context and information. Most importantly, they show how the words in a sentence relate to each other. 

• Elas comem batatas no restaurante. (“They eat potatoes at the restaurant.”)
• Elas comem batatas antes da academia. (“They eat potatoes before the gym.”) 
• Elas comem batatas com casca. (“They eat potatoes with skin.”)

Most of the time, prepositional phrases go after the main SVO part of the sentence, as in the examples above. In some cases, it also makes sense and is considered correct to invert the order.

• Antes da academia, elas comem batatas. (“Before the gym, they eat potatoes.”)

Again, there isn’t a hard rule about when you can place the prepositional phrase before the main sentence, as it has a lot to do with the meaning (or lack of) in each case. For example, it wouldn’t make sense to say:

• Com casca, elas comem batatas. (“With skin, they eat potatoes.”)

Working with more than one prepositional phrase? The same logic applies: you can always place the prepositional phrase at the end. Some prepositional phrases, especially the ones relating to time, can go at the beginning of the sentence. For example:

• Antes de treinar, elas comem batatas no carro. (“Before training, they eat potatoes in the car.”)

• Na sexta, vou ao parque longe de casa com minha irmã. (“On Friday, I go to the park that’s far from my home with my sister.”)

• Você comprou o prato na loja cara com seu pai. (“You bought the plate in the expensive store with your father.”)

7. Exercise It

After learning where all the individual parts go, it’s time for you to put the complete picture together! Put your knowledge of the Portuguese word order to the test. Let’s take it slow and build a complex sentence together, adding each part separately.

Write each of the sentences below in Portuguese. Once you’re done, scroll down to see the answers. No peeking before finishing! If you need to double-check something, feel free to go back to the explanations given before. Ready?

• Maria cooked. ______________________________________________________________________
• Maria cooked dinner. _________________________________________________________________
• Maria cooked a big dinner. ____________________________________________________________
• Maria cooked a big dinner quickly. ______________________________________________________
• Maria cooked a big dinner quickly with her dad. ____________________________________________
• Maria cooked a big dinner quickly with her dad today. _______________________________________
• __________________________________________________________________________________
• Maria cooked a big dinner quickly with her dad today, at his house. ____________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________
• Maria didn’t cook with her dad today. ____________________________________________________
• Who cooked dinner today? ____________________________________________________________

Maria fez uma omelete deliciosa! (“Maria made a delicious omelette!”)

Got it? Take a look at the answers below.

• Maria cozinhou. (“Maria cooked.”)
• Maria cozinhou o jantar. (“Maria cooked dinner.”)
• Maria cozinhou um grande jantar. (“Maria cooked a big dinner.”)
• Maria cozinhou um grande jantar rapidamente. (“Maria cooked a big dinner quickly.”) 
• Maria cozinhou um grande jantar rapidamente com seu pai. (“Maria cooked a big dinner quickly with her dad.”)
• Maria cozinhou um grande jantar com seu pai hoje. OR Hoje, Maria cozinhou um grande jantar com seu pai. (“Maria cooked a big dinner quickly with her dad today.”)
• Hoje, Maria cozinhou rapidamente um grande jantar com seu pai na casa dele. (“Maria cooked a big dinner quickly with her dad today, at his house.”)
• Maria não cozinhou com seu pai hoje. (“Maria didn’t cook with her dad today.”)
• Quem cozinhou o jantar hoje? (“Who cooked dinner today?”)

Next Stop: Learn More Portuguese with PortuguesePod101

Feeling comfortable with the Portuguese sentence structure, and ready to put each word where it belongs? We hope this guide was the resource you needed to continue on your language-learning journey! Come back to this article whenever you need to refresh your memory.

Are you ready to build your own sentences with our explanation of Portuguese word order? Do you think we forgot an important aspect? Tell us in the comments!

The best way to really grasp the concepts we saw today is to practice them in real-life situations. Write a note to yourself or a friend, all in Portuguese. Or try more translation exercises.

To take your skills to the next level, continue exploring PortuguesePod101! We have lots of free Portuguese resources and vocabulary lists for all situations. Go ahead and choose your favorite tools to expand your learning opportunities.
If you want to take your learning experience further, members of PortuguesePod101.com get access to the largest language lesson library in the world, with thousands of real lessons by real teachers. Perfect for anyone who wants to learn from anywhere, feel motivated, and be ready to speak Portuguese with confidence.

Are you at the start of your Portuguese language learning journey? If that’s the case, well, spot on! This article was written for beginners just like you.

In what follows, I will give an overview of Portuguese grammar’s basic features so that you know what to expect, grammar-wise, as you start tackling the language. 

So, let’s get our feet wet in Portuguese grammar.

• Is Portuguese grammar difficult?
• Word order
• Gender
• Forming the plural
• Verbs
• Prepositions
• Asking questions
• Counting

Is it Portuguese grammar difficult?

As you start off on your Portuguese learning journey, some questions might pop into your mind: Is Portuguese grammar hard to learn? How different is it from that of my own tongue?  

As to whether or not Portuguese grammar is challenging to learn, there isn’t an absolute answer – it certainly hinges on what your first language is. For instance, if your mother tongue is another Romance language, or even if you’ve learned one before as a second language, then you are likely to feel relatively at ease with it. 

On the other hand, if your first language is, say, a Scandinavian language, you are likely to struggle a little more to come to grips with Portuguese grammar than you would with English.

One thing is for sure, the fact that you are familiarised with English (and I am assuming that you are since you are reading this post) will help you to make sense of Portuguese grammar, as these two languages share more in common than you might think. 

Learn more about English-Portuguese commonalities in this article: Portuguese Grammar Compared to English.

Word order in Portuguese

To understand word order, there are a few basic concepts you need to become acquainted with, that is subject (S), verb (V), and object (O). 

So, in a basic sentence, the subject performs an action, the verb is the action itself, and the object is what the action falls upon.

Portuguese is an SVO language

Portuguese, like English, is a Subject-Verb-Object language (SVO henceforth): 

S > V > O
O Ricardo comeu uma maçã.
Ricardo ate an apple.

Now, this was a very basic sentence and languages do get more intricate than this, which in turn implies possible shifts in the word order. We can nonetheless assume that Portuguese defaults to SVO. 

Adjectives After Nouns

Adjectives are words that describe or modify nouns. For instance, in the phrase The yellow house, the adjective yellow is describing the house. 

In Portuguese, unlike English, adjectives normally come after the noun they refer to:

O Ricardo comeu uma maçã verde.
Ricardo ate a green apple.

As you see in the sentence above, the adjective verde (green) comes after the noun it refers to, which is maçã (apple).

Negation

Let’s now look at how to negate the previous sentence:

O Ricardo não comeu uma maçã verde. 
Ricardo didn’t eat a green apple.

Notice how the negating adverb não occurs in front of the verb comer (eat). Notice also that in Portuguese, and unlike in English, you don’t need the auxiliary verb to negate an affirmative sentence.

Another common feature of Portuguese and Romance languages is the double negation:

O Ricardo não comeu nehuma uma maçã verde. 
x Ricardo didn’t eat none green apples. (literal translation)

Interrogative and Declarative Sentences

In the absence of a question word (e.g. what, why, etc.), the word order is kept unchanged regardless of whether we are dealing with declarative or interrogative sentences:

Declarative sentence
Tu estás no Porto. 
You are in Porto.

Interrogative sentence
Tu estás no Porto?
Are you in Porto?

The fact that interrogative and declarative sentences look alike, makes intonation all the more important to avoid misunderstandings.

For instance, when asking Tu estás no Porto?  you want to finish your utterance in a rising tone so that it clearly comes across as a question.

More on Portuguese question words below.

Gender in Portuguese

Portuguese, like other Romance languages, has the so-called grammatic gender. Accordingly, most nouns are either masculine or feminine, just as if penises and vaginas grew out of doors and tables.

And following that, gender permeates the whole language – articles, pronouns, and adjectives will change endings to conform to the gender of the noun they refer to: 

A minha casa é espaçosa.
My house is spacious.

O meu apartamento é espaçoso.
My apartment is spacious.

In the first sentence above, the article a, the possessive pronoun minha, and the adjective espaçosa, all decline their endings to conform to casa, which happens to be a feminine noun. 

Conversely, in the second sentence, the same words conform to the masculine noun apartamento.

Does it sound too intricate to you? Fortunately, there are declension patterns that will help you to feel more at home with gender.

“A” for Feminine, “O” for Masculine

The vowels o and a at the end of nouns often give way the gender:

casa; mesa; cortina; faca
(house; table; curtain; knife)

carro; banco; copo; garfo
(car; bank; glass; fork)

In the examples above, all the words ending with an a are feminine, whereas those ending with an o are masculine. Helpful.

However, there are also those nouns ending in letters other than a or o, like the words pente (comb) or telemóvel (mobile).

Although there are other spelling patterns to help you out with these, you’ll often have to learn them by heart. Nothing impossible, really, only you are patient enough and committed for the long haul*. 

Even words ending with the vowels a or o can diverge from the abovementioned pattern. As the old saying goes: there’s no rule without exception. Consider, for instance, the masculine nouns cinema (cinema) or dia (day). 

But let me tell you about a trick to know for sure if a noun is “girly” or “boyish” – trust determiners.

* Speaking of commitment and long haul. Here’s a learning-strategy read for you: Mindsets and Strategies to Learn Portuguese the Best (or any other language).

Trust determiners

Determiners are those little words coming in front of nouns such as articles, demonstrative pronouns, or possessive pronouns. As it happens, most determiners decline to match gender: 

Conforming to feminine
a zebra; uma zebra; a minha zebra; essa zebra 
(the zebra; a zebra; my zebra; that zebra)

Conforming to masculine
o cavalo; um cavalo; o meu cavalo; esse cavalo
(the horse; a horse; my horse; that horse)

You can then be 100% sure that cavalo is masculine, not because it ends with an o, but because the preceding words – determiners – clearly indicate that for you.

Here a few examples of determiners’ masculine and feminine forms:

	masculine	feminine
definite articles the	o	a
indefinite articles a	um	uma
possessives my, your	meu, teu	minha, tua
demonstratives this, that	este, esse	esta, essa
numerals one, two	um, dois	uma, duas

Forming Plurals in Portuguese 

S-Plural

In Portuguese,  like in English, the most common way to form plurals is by adding an s at the end of words – the so-called s-plural. Let’s us compare the same sentence in its singular and plural variants:

singular
O meu carro é escuro.
My car is dark.

plural
Os meus carros são escuros. 
My cars are dark.

As we’ve seen before with gender, here too, the articles, pronouns, and adjectives change endings to agree in number with to the noun they refer to.

ES-Plural

To avoid consonant clusters at the end of words (that’s exceptional in Portuguese), words ending in a consonant other than –m or -l will form plural with an -es rather than the solitary -s:

Um Português, dois Portugueses.
One Portuguese, two Portuguese.

Um aluguer, dois alugueres.
One rental, two rentals.

Further reading! Though the (e)s-plural is the dominant one, there are other plural declensions. Here’s a read for you in case you want to go deeper: Forming the Plural in Portuguese: Singular-to-Plural Conversion Patterns You Need to Care About.

Portuguese verbs

What follows is a quick tour through the key features of Portuguese verbs and their usage. If you feel like delving into Portuguese verb usage, don’t miss this one: Portuguese Verb Usage and Tenses: A Practical Guide Anchored to English. 

Tenses and conjugations

Romance languages are infamously known for having an insurmountable number of verb forms compared to, say, English. With an abundance of verb tenses and conjugations, Portuguese is no exception.

Let’s take a peek at a few tenses of the verb ter (to have):

	Ter (Have)
	presente	pretérito perfeito	pretérito imperfeito
eu	tenho (have)	tive (had)	tinha (had)
tu	tens (have)	tiveste (had)	tinhas (had)
ele, ela	tem (has)	teve (had)	tinha (had)
nós	temos (have)	tivemos (had)	tinhamos (had)
vocês	têm (have)	tivestes (had)	tinham (had)
eles, elas	têm (have)	tiveram (had)	tinham (had)

In the examples above, you can count 14 different verb conjugations on the Portuguese side, against 3 on the English! That can hardly go unnoticed. 

Also, Portuguese has two variations on the past tense, namely pretérito perfeito and pretérito imperfeito, which is not the case for English. So, why does Portuguese have these two?

Complete vs. incomplete past actions

While the pretérito perfeito is used to denote complete actions, the pretérito imperfeito implies continuity:

Perfeito
Ontem tive dores de dentes.
Yesterday I had a toothache.

Imperfeito
Antigamente tinha dores dentes quase todos os dias.
(1) Before, I had a toothache nearly every day
or, (2) Before, I used to have a toothache nearly every day.

Further reading! Learn more about this topic: Portuguese Perfect vs. Imperfect Tense: Know When to Use Which.

Compound Verb Tenses

The verb ter, like have in English, is used as an auxiliary verb to form compound conjugations (perfect tenses):

Eu tinha aprendido Português antes de vir para Portugal.
I had learned Portuguese before I moved to Portugal.

As you see above, the verb structure is similar to that of English: the auxiliary tinha (had) is followed by the Portuguese equivalent to the past participle of the main verb, that is, aprendido (learned).

Two “To Be” Verbs

There are, in Portuguese, two verbs corresponding to the English verb to be, namely verb ser and estar:

	Ser	Estar
eu	sou (am)	estou (am)
tu	és (are)	estás (are)
ele, ela	é (is)	está (is)
nós	somos (are)	estamos (are)
vocês	são (are)	estão (are)
eles, elas	são (are)	estão (are)

So, what’s the difference between ser and estar?

Overall, you can see it this way: ser is used in conjunction with permanent states, whereas estar with temporary:

Ser
O clima do Pólo Norte é muito frio.
The North Pole’s climate is very cold.

Estar
Hoje está um dia bonito.
It is a fine day today.

You’ll probably agree that the first sentence above implies a permanent state, whereas the second relates more to the circumstantial. 

Note, however, that the use of ser and estar is not always straightforward as in the examples above – you might come across contextual nuances that make things less obvious. 

Further reading! Do you want to learn more about ser vs. estar? Here’s a read for you: Portuguese Verbs ‘Ser’ and ‘Estar’- How and When to Use Either.

Present and past continuous

How Portuguese progressive tenses are formed is slightly different in European Portuguese compared to the Brazilian standard.

European standard

The Portuguese equivalents of the English present and past continuous uses the verb estar as an auxiliary:

Ele está a viajar no Sudeste Asiático.
He is traveling in Southeast Asia.

Ele estava a viajar no Sudeste Asiático quando eu fiz anos.
He was traveling in Southeast Asia when I had my birthday.

Note that we conjugate the auxiliary estar either in the present or past tense (pretérito imperfeito) to match the English present or past continuous respectively. 

Also, note that the main verb comes in the infinitive form and is always preceded by the preposition a. 

Brazilian standard

Here’s what the above sentences look like in the Brazilian standard:

Ele está viajando no Sudeste Asiático.
He is traveling in Southeast Asia.

Ele estava viajando no Sudeste Asiático.
He was traveling in Southeast Asia.

So, now the main verb comes in the gerund with no preposition preceding it (the Portuguese gerund is equivalent to the English present participle, that is, the -ing verb form).

There Is

We also can use the verb estar as in there is, namely its 3-person singular of the present tense:

Está alguém no quarto.
There is someone in the room.

Note that in the sentence above there is a spatial dimension – the expression there is is being used for locating something or someone.

In non-spatial contexts, however, you’d use another verb:

Há uma coisa que eu gostava de saber.
There is something that I would like to know.

Há is the 3-person singular of the verb haver (present tense) and, as a matter of fact, it can be used in spatial contexts as well, and thus, replace estar in the previous example:

Está alguém no quarto = Há alguém no quarto

But there’s more to this seemingly innocuous, little word. Read on.

Expressing Time Duration

Há is commonly used to express time duration. Here are some examples:

Eu vivo na China há cinco anos.
I’ve been living in China for five years.

Há quanto tempo estás à espera?
How long have you been waiting?

Há muito tempo não te via.
Long time no see.

Portuguese Regular Verbs

Yes, Portuguese verbs can put you at pains – there are so many conjugations and verb forms! Luckily, there is a painkiller to such a headache.

There are three groups of regular verbs – namely those whose infinitives end in -ar, -er, and -ir – that follow regular conjugation patterns:

	andar  (walk)	beber  (drink)	partir (break; departure)
eu	ando	bebo	parto
tu	andas	bebes	partes
ele, ela	anda	bebe	parte
nós	andamos	bebemos	partimos
vocês	andam	bebem	partem
eles, elas	andam	bebem	partem

Notice that in each example above all verb forms have a stem – and, beb, and part respectively – followed by conjugated endings (marked in bold). 

Any regular verb belonging to one of these three groups follows exactly the same conjugation pattern of that group.

For instance, the verbs casar (marry), falar (talk) and acabar (finish) follow the same conjugation pattern of andar.

As a matter of fact, most verbs are regular, and the first group, -ar, is by far the most numerous. However, it is also true that some of the most commonly used verbs are irregular!

The Portuguese “Be Going to” 

When it comes to expressing future time, you’ll often hear the Portuguese equivalent to be going to – you’ll then need the auxiliary verb ir:

	Ir (go)
eu	vou
tu	vais
ele, ela	vai
nós	vamos
vocês	vão
eles, elas	vão

Here’s an example:

Eu vou fazer compras.
I am going to do some shopping.

As you see above, the auxiliary verb ir is followed by the main verb, fazer (do), in the infinitive form.

Portuguese Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive mood is used to express desire and uncertainty.

In Portuguese (as in other Romance languages), the subjunctive mood has its own set of tenses and verb forms. Yes, you’ll have to mind other verb conjugations in addition to those of the indicative mood.

Let’s look at an example contrasting the use of the indicative and subjunctive moods:

Indicative
Hoje sinto-me bem.
Today I feel good.

Subjunctive
Espero que te sintas bem.
I hope that you feel good.

Further reading! Learn more about the uses of the subjunctive mood → Present, Past, and Future subjunctives.

Omission of the subject/pronoun

In Portuguese, we often leave out personal pronouns and jump straight to the verb form.

This is hardly surprising if your first language is, say, Spanish. Yet, it can be disconcerting for native speakers of other tongues other than Romance languages.  

Redundant pronouns

In general, it is optional to write out personal pronouns. The reason for this is that the verb form already implies the person it refers to, thus making the use of the pronoun redundant. 

Tu (you)
Vais ao supermercado? (Tu vais ao …)
Are you going to the supermarket?

Nós (we)
Vamos começar um novo curso. (Nós vamos começar  …)
We are starting a new course. 

Generic subject

Also, we often leave out the subject when it doesn’t comprise someone in specific:

Dizem que vai estar bom tempo amanhã. (As pessoas dizem que …) 
People are saying that fair weather is coming tomorrow.

The subject in point – as pessoas (people) –  is generic and, thus, can be left out. 

It is …

Finally, there isn’t any third-person neutral pronoun equivalent to the English it. Accordingly, those sentences that in English start with it is will, in Portuguese, start straight away with either the verb estar or ser:

Está a sol!
It is sunny!

É mau comer em demasia.
It is unwise to eat too much.

Portuguese prepositions and their contracted forms

Prepositions are words used to express a relationship between different elements of a sentence. 

For example, in the sentence Miguel is going to the grocery store, the English preposition of movement to is indicating that someone (Miguel) is moving towards somewhere (the grocery store).

Portuguese prepositions in particular tend to merge with other words, namely articles and pronouns. Let’s start by getting acquainted with some plain prepositions first.

Plain prepositions

Here’s a usage-summary of the five most common Portuguese prepositions:

em	Often used as a preposition of place, em corresponds to either on, in, or at: Estou no restaurante > I am at the restaurant Ela vive em Portugal > She lives in Portugal
de	De can be used as a preposition of origin: Venho dos Estados Unidos > I come from the United States  It is also used to indicate possession: O carro da Isabel > Isabel´s car
a	Mainly used as a preposition of movement, the preposition a indicates motion: A Sofia foi ao cinema > Sofia went to the cinema.
para	Para, like the previous, indicates motion, though with a directional emphasis: Este comboio vai para Lisboa > This train goes to Lisboa What’s more, compared to the preposition a, para implies a longer-term. Let’s compare these two sentences: Vou ao Brasil > I am going to Brazil (implies a short stay) Vou para o Brasil > I am going to Brazil (implies a longer stay)
por	Por often denotes itinerary and passage:: Vou passar pelo supermercado (a caminho de casa) > I will pass by the supermarket (on my way home)

Further reading! Preposition usage is always tricky for language learners. The following article may help you to come to better grips with it: Top-5 Basic Portuguese Prepositions: An Inclusive Usage Rundown.

Contractions

Portuguese prepositions often contract with determiners, namely articles and pronouns.

The tables below illustrate some of the contractions between prepositions and those other word classes:

With articles (the, a)

	o	a	os	as
em	no	na	nos	nas
de	do	da	dos	das
a	ao	à	aos	às
por	pelo	pela	pelos	pelas
	um	uma	uns	umas
em	num	numa	nuns	numas
de	dum	duma	duns	dumas

Contractions with demonstratives 

	isto, este, esta (this)	isso, esse, essa (that)
em	nisto, neste, nesta	nisso, nesse, nessa
de	disto, deste, desta	disso, desse, dessa

Reading tips! Learn more about Portuguese demonstratives: Portuguese Demonstrative Pronouns and Determiners.

Asking Questions in Portuguese

When it comes to Portuguese interrogative sentences, there are a few things that you want to be aware of.  

Let’s start by looking at question words:

Portuguese Interrogatives

Question words	Usage examples
O que   what	O que fizeste hoje? What did you do today? When standing alone, this question word is pronounced with a more open e-sound, and thus spelled with a circumflex accent on it: O quê? What?
Como   how	Como estás? How are you?
Quando   when	Quando voltas da Argentina? When are you coming back from Argentina?
Porque  why	Porque não aprender Português? Why not learn Portuguese? When standing alone, this question word is pronounced with a more open e-sound, and thus spelled with a circumflex accent on it: Porquê? Why?
Quanto  how much	Quanto é? How much is it?
Quantos/quantas how many	This question word conforms to the gender of the noun it refers to: Quantos queques comeste? How many cupcakes did you eat? Quantas laranjas compraste ontem? How many oranges did you buy yesterday?
Qual/Quais which	This question word conforms to the number of the noun it refers to: Qual preferes, a saia verde ou a amarela? Which one do you prefer, the green skirt or yellow? Quais preferes, as camisas de lã ou de algodão? Which ones do you prefer, the cotton or the wool shirts?

No need for an auxiliary verb

In Portuguese, contrary to English, you don’t need any auxiliary verb to ask questions:

Onde puseste as chaves?
Where did you put the keys?

In the example above, only one verb is used, that is pôr (put). Yet, the corresponding question in English, calls to the auxiliary to do.

The same applies to questions formulated without any interrogative word: 

O carro tem gasolina suficiente?
Does the car have enough gas? 

The Redundant “é que” 

You will notice, if you haven’t already, that there are often two variants of the same question, namely with or without the “intruding” little phrase é que: 

Como te chamas?
Como é que te chamas?
(What’s your name?)

Onde vais?
Onde é que vais?
(Where are you going?)

Qual é o teu prato favorito?
Qual é que é o teu prato favorito? 
(What’s your favorite dish?)

. . .

While both variants mean exactly the same thing, the longer version feels somehow more colloquial (though the difference is subtle). 

Portuguese question tags

In Portuguese, there is the equivalent of English question tags. Let’s start with affirmative sentences:

Ele gosta de tocar guitarra, não gosta?
He likes playing guitar, doesn’t he?

Tu trabalhas muito, não trabalhas?
You work a lot, don’t you?

As you can see, you form question tags with declarative sentences by piecing together the negative não with the same verb form used in the main sentence.

Alternatively, you can use a universal formula that applies to any declarative sentence, regardless of its verb –  that is não é:

Ele gosta de tocar guitarra, não é?
Tu trabalhas muito, não é?

Let’s now look at how it works with negative sentences:

In negative sentences, the question tag will always look the same (pois não? ), regardless of which verb is being used in the main sentence. 

Further reading! Learn more here: Asking Questions in Portuguese: Question Words and Beyond.

Counting in Portuguese

Portuguese numerals are similar to English. You learn the basic blocks – the units, the tens and the teens, the hundreds, and so on and so forth – and  everything else build on that:

1. um/uma	12. doze	[…]
2. dois/duas	13. treze	30. trinta
3. três	14. catorze	40. quarenta
4. quatro	15. quinze	50. cinquenta
5. cinco	16. dezasseis	60. sessenta
6. seis	17. dezassete	70. setenta
7. sete	18. dezoito	80. oitenta
8. oito	19. dezanove	90. noventa
9. nove	20. vinte	100. cem
10. dez	21. vinte e um/uma	103. mil
11. onze	22. vinte e dois/duas	106. milhão

Keep in mind that the first two numbers – um and dois – agree with gender: um clarinete but uma guitarra; dois clarinetes but duas guitarras.

Further reading! Learn Portuguese numbers in more detail, including their pronunciation,  in this article: Numbers in Portuguese: Counting from One to Infinity. 

Final Thoughts: Do I Need to Study Portuguese Grammar?

While developing a general understanding of Portuguese grammar can be beneficial to your language learning, you don’t necessarily need to bother too much about it to become fluent in Portuguese (or any other language for that matter).

See, each student has their own learning style and preferences. Maybe you are keen on coming to grips with the sets of rules and patterns governing Portuguese. Others, however, might prefer to learn it more organically, namely through listening, reading, and drilling their talking.

So, don’t feel obliged to study grammar if you don’t resonate with it. As a matter of fact, grammar can be quite intimidating and discouraging, and in that way, it can easily put you off. 

If that applies to you, it is probably more productive to start approaching the language by means of a more natural, organic approach. Only then, when you can already make some sense of it, should you consider peeking at grammar more systematically in order to solidify your language skills

You may get the impression that I am not keen on grammar. Not necessarily. I do think that grammar has its place in language learning (second language). However, I also know that, too often, too much of it can make you more ill than good.

Here’s the thing, those learning a second language with too much emphasis on grammar are more likely to become self-conscious and insecure when speaking the language. In this way, grammar actually gets in the way. 

Above all, you don’t need to look at it as an either-or choice. Just find your own balance and the right grammar dosage that works for you.

For instance, if you get a kick out of grammar drills, and if that keeps you motivated and on track, then keep at it. 

Ultimately, there is no right or wrong way, there’s only your way.

Reading tips! Looking for inspiration and ideas to improve your language learning results? Here’s something that may be helpful: Mindsets and Strategies to Learn Portuguese the Best.

Basics I #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Welcome to the Portuguese course

In these basic lessons, you are going to see some words for people, such as man, woman, boy and girl, and also some basic verbs for eating, drinking, etc.

The two first things you will notice is that:

1 — Personal pronouns may be omitted, especially when the verb conjugation is unique for that pronoun.

• I am a man = (Eu) sou um homem

In the sentence above, «eu» is totally optional. The verb «sou» is unique for the «eu» pronoun, and it already reveals who the subject is. (Later you will learn how to conjugate verbs for each person)

2 — Portuguese nouns have genders, even when they are not human!

Not only people and animals are gendered in Portuguese, but virtually all things are.

For instance, «maçã (apple)» is a feminine word, and «carro (car)» is masculine.

THE INDEFINITE ARTICLES «UM» AND «UMA»

Along with nouns, articles also have genders. They follow the gender of the noun they refer to. The masculine article is «um» and the feminine one is «uma»:

Masculine:

• Um menino = a boy
• Um carro = a car

Feminine:

• Uma menina = a girl
• Uma maçã = an apple

But how can one tell the gender of a word?

Some words tell their gender by their ending. See «menino» and «menina«, for instance. They are a type of word that can change its ending based on gender. These will often end in «o» for masculine and «a» for feminine.

There are other typical endings that can show a word’s gender, but they are part of further skills

And, unfortunately, many words simply don’t follow any pattern, and their gender just have to be memorised.

Basics II #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

DEFINITE ARTICLES — «O» AND «A»

Just like the indefinite articles, definite ones also follow the gender of the nouns:

• O livro = The book (masculine)
• A chave = The key (feminine)

Be careful not to confuse the English «a» for the Portuguese «a»:

• A bola = The ball
• Uma bola = A ball

VERB CONJUGATIONS

Verbs in Portuguese change depending on who is doing the action. This happens in English when, for instance, «to write» gets conjugated as «he writes.»

In Portuguese, however, verbs have a different conjugation for each grammatical person.

Here we will focus on the first and third person singular conjugations: «eu» and «ele/ela».

(1) — «Você» is the singular «you». This pronoun, although referring to the second person, follows third person conjugations. Later we will see the pronoun «tu», which actually follows second person conjugations.

(2) — Don’t confuse «é» for «e». The accend makes a difference here — «É» is a verb, «e» means «and».

(3) — In this table, «comer» (to eat) is a regular verb. All regular verbs ending in «er» follow the same pattern for their endings. «Ler» is an example of an irregular verb. It tries to follow the same endings, but with some changes.

WHERE IS «IT»?»

Sometimes, the word «it» is just not translated, depending on how concrete it is. In sentences like «it is …», the best translations usually have nothing translating «it»:

• He is a boy = Ele é um menino
• It is a boy = _ É um menino

But when «it» is an animal or something relevant, something that actually exists, we still use «ele» or «ela» depending on the noun’s gender:

• I have a car, it is red = Eu tenho um carro, ele é vermelho («carro» is masculine)
• He has a house, it is big = Ele tem uma casa, ela é grande («casa» is feminine)

Can we omit other pronouns?

Yes, we can omit any pronoun in Portuguese. But keep in mind that if the conjugation is not clear, it’s better not to omit anything.

For instance, «come» can refer to «ele», «ela», «você» or even be an imperative verb. For that reason, we avoid omitting the pronoun in these cases.

Common Phrases #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Common Phrases!!

One of the most important things about different languages is that they also have different expressions.

You will notice sometimes that «word by word» translations can result in sentences that simply don’t make any sense.

Remember: different languages think different!

In this skill, you will find some of those differences.

Questions

Just a grammar tip before you start:

Portuguese does not invert word order or add auxiliary verbs for asking questions, just add the question mark and you are ready to go!

• Você fala português! = You speak Portuguese!
• Você fala português? = Do you speak Portuguese?

Thanking people:

• Thank you = obrigado (if you are a man)
• Thank you = obrigada (if you are a woman)

We don’t really translate the «you» in that expression, we see it as a whole thing.

• You are welcome! = De nada! — This is what you answer when someone thanks you.

Welcoming people:

To welcome people, we use «bem-vindo». As an adjective, it inflects according to gender and number.

Translations of «Welcome!»:

(1) Don’t worry too much about the imperative conjugations now, there will be lessons for it later

• You are welcome! = Você é bem-vindo(a) — this is the literal translation when you say someone is welcome somewhere. It’s not an answer to «thank you».

Food 1 #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Plural or singular?

In many cases, English does not allow countable nouns to be in singular form without articles.

That is not the case in Portuguese. Singular countable nouns with no articles in Portuguese will have a general meaning, similar to an English plural or an English singular with an indefinite article, depending on the context.

So, both Portuguese sentences below are just ok:

• Ele é cozinheiro = He is a cook
• Ele não come ovo = He does not eat eggs

Their versions with articles or in plural forms are valid as well:

• Ele é cozinheiro = Ele é um cozinheiro
• Ele não come ovo = Ele não come ovos

.
Verb for eating

Aside from idiomatic expressions, the only verb for eating in Portuguese is «comer».

The verb «ter» is translated as «to have», but only in the sense of «possess/own/contain»:

• Nós comemos peixe = We eat fish
• Nós temos peixe = We have got fish

.
Verbs for drinking

For drinking, there is the verb «beber».
It’s possible in less formal contexts to also use «tomar». But tomar only means «to drink» if used with actual drinks. Sentences without the objects will sound strange with «tomar».

Plurals #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Nouns — Basic rules

Portuguese plurals are similar to English plurals. Add an «s» to the word and follow a few patterns.

But there is an important difference: all adjectives, articles, possessives and determiners pointing to the noun must be also changed to plural, according to the noun.

Some patterns:

• Ending in vowels: add an «s»
  • O menino > Os meninos
  • A menina > As meninas
• Ending in «r», «s», «z»: add «es»
  • A mulher > As mulheres
• Ending in «M»: change to «ns»
  • O homem > Os homens
• Ending in «L»: change to «is» (don’t repeat the «i»)
  • O animal > Os animais
  • O papel > Os papéis (the papers)
  • O funil > Os funis (the funnels)
  • («e» and «o» will need an accent if the word doesn’t have one already)
• There are other patterns, but they’re not necessary at this point

Two advanced examples, one masculine and one feminine, just to illustrate the rules:

• Os teus livros são vermelhos = Your books are red
• As tuas maçãs são vermelhas = Your apples are red

Personal pronouns

The plural of the pronouns seen so far are:

Notice that it’s important to distinguish between singular and plural «you» in Portuguese!

Verbs — Conjugations

Different from English, Portuguese not only has different conjugations for «ele/ela», but for each person, singular and plural.

There are three types of regular verbs. They end in either «ar», «er» or «ir», and each type follow a pattern.

* — Conjugations for «você» are the same as «ele/ela»
* — Conjugations for «vocês» are the same as «eles/elas»

Some irregular verbs for this skill:

Tu or Você #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Tu and você, what is the difference?

In Portuguese, there are two very common ways to refer to «you (singular)»: tu and você

Both words mean you, but only «tu» is truly a second person pronoun according to grammar. (Você is a treatment pronoun that uses third person conjugations)

Is one more formal than the other?

That will depend a lot on what region we are talking about. Some people see «tu» as an informal thing, others don’t.

With time, several regions of Brazil chose «você» as the standard way of saying you. Other regions, however, kept «tu» as the most common form.

Examples of places that use «tu» very often are Portugal, Portuguese speaking countries in Asia and Africa and the south of Brazil.

Conjugations

The verb conjugations for each one are different. While «tu» uses true second person conjugations (the ones you see in tables), «você» uses third person conjugations (the ones for «ele/ela»):

In speech, it is very common to see people using «tu» with «você conjugations», but that is not grammatically correct.

Plural second person (obsolete)

Alternatively to «vocês», there is «vós», which is the plural you. But this form is quite obsolete and very rare. You can find it in old books.

If you’re curious, its conjugations are:

• Vós andais, correis, abris (regular conjugations)
• Vós sois = you are
• Vós ledes = you read

Informal «we» — A gente #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Although meaning «people» in many cases, the word «gente», when used with the article «a», means «we/us».

• A gente = we / us

This is a very common way of speaking, so common that it makes the expression «a gente» be avoided when one means «the people».

For «the people», normally «as pessoas» or «o povo» are used.

All conjugations for «a gente» are singular, matching the «ele/ela» conjugations:

• A gente tem uma casa = We have a house
• O gato vê a gente = The cat sees us

Adjectives I #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Adjective inflections

As you may have noticed up to now, adjectives in Portuguese must be inflected according to the noun they refer to, even when connected with a linking verb such as «to be».

Adjectives change in gender and number:

• Carro novo = New car (singular masculine)
• Carros novos = New cars (plural masculine)
• A casa é nova = The house is new (singular feminine)
• As casas são novas = The houses are new (plural feminine)

Some of them, especially those ending in «e» or a consonant in singular form, have their masculine and feminine forms the same:

• Carro grande, casa grande
• Carros grandes, casas grandes
• Homem responsável, mulher responsável
• Homens responsáveis, mulheres responsáveis

That doesn’t mean they ignore the rule that «all should be inflected» though, they just don’t have different forms.

Adjective positioning

Should they come before or after the noun?

This question is not so easy to answer. Mostly, adjectives should come after the nouns, but some can only come before nouns, some can only go after nouns, and some can go anywhere, with a slight change in meaning.

Adjectives that can go anywhere

The adjectives that can be placed either before or after the noun can have a slight change in meaning depending on the position.

Adjectives after nouns get a very literal meaning, while adjectives before nouns can get a more sentimental meaning:

• Um homem grande = A big man (size)
• Um grande homem = A great man
• Uma casa velha = An old house (an aged house, probably showing some problems)
• Uma velha casa = An old house (probably full of stories and feelings, or well known)

This is not a strict rule though, intonation might have an influence too and many adjectives wouldn’t be able to show any difference in meaning.

Adjectives that can’t change position

There is nothing special about them, but they just don’t fit both positions, such as:

• Cultural — only after
• Impossível — only after
• Familiar — only after — Family (adjective)
• Nacional — only after
• Industrial — only after
• Primeiro — only before (except in titles such as «Pedro Primeiro — Pedro the first»)

Possessives #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Possessives

Portuguese regular possessive adjectives and pronouns are somewhat similar to English, but there are some differences. In Portuguese, they follow a few rules.

English-like rules:

• Their stem/base form gives information about the possessor (the person/thing who owns it).

• Adjective possessives usually show up before the noun (while placing them afterwards is not strictly wrong, it’s very rare – usually a style choice in books and poems).

Differences:

• The base form needs to be declined according to the gender and number of the noun it’s qualifying. (Just like adjectives and articles)

• Possessive adjectives and pronouns in Portuguese are exactly the same. There is no extra «s» like in «your x yours»; the –s endings you may encounter are plural markers.

• The regular possessive adjectives can be preceded by the corresponding definite article («o meu», «a minha»…), but in Brazilian Portuguese using the article is mostly optional.

These are the regular pronouns and their inflections:

.
Examples:

• O meu carro é vermelho = My car is red
• Minha casa é azul = My house is blue
• Meus gatos são brancos = My cats are white
• As minhas meias são pretas = My socks are black

Articles with possessive pronouns

While the possessive adjectives (coming before nouns) can have optional articles, the possessive pronouns (that don’t precede nouns) must use the articles consistently.

One way of checking whether the article should be used is inverting the English sentence to the unusual «of him» form.
Then the article should behave in a similar way in both languages. (Please consider that this unusual English form is not commonly accepted as English translations in the system)

• O cachorro dele quer água = His dog wants water (checking: the dog of him wants water — necessary article)

Sometimes, the article is optional, but meaning is changed:

• Esses carros são meus = These cars are mine (checking: these cars are cars of mine)

  Result: These cars belong to me

• Esses carros são os meus = These cars are mine (checking: these cars are the cars of mine)

  Result: These cars are the ones that belong to me

Using the article in these cases talks about «extra specific» things, suggesting there are probably other possibilities.

Prepositions 1 #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

The first and more important lesson about prepositions is:

Do not try to understand them alone! They will not make any sense!

Always consider the preceding and the following words!

In this skill you will see two kinds of preposition usage:

• By themselves, paired with certain words
• Demanded by the verbs

Preposition «de»:

This preposition is very versatile and can be used in a lot of ways. Depending on the following word, it can have some of these most common meanings:

• Made of:
  • uma mesa de madeira = A wooden table
  • suco de uva = grape juice
• Of (containing):
  • um copo de água = a glass of water
  • um prato de arroz = a plate of rice
• From:
  • Eu sou de Portugal = I am from Portugal
  • Leite de vaca = Cow’s milk
• Possession (only for «de vocês»):
  • A casa de vocês é grande = Your house is big

Preposition «com»:

This preposition is fairly easy. Most of the times means «with» (meaning: together with, containing, considering, etc.)

But always keep in mind that expressions, verbs, etc. may use it in different ways.

Prepositions demanded by verbs

Here, it’s important that you don’t try to understand the prepositions themselves! Meanings only make sense considering «verb + preposition».

As a hint to understand this easily, compare the English verbs «to hear» and «to listen». For some reason, «to listen» demands a preposition while «to hear» doesn’t:

• listen to something
• hear __ something

In Portuguese, there are lots of verbs that for some reason demand a specific preposition. You don’t need to get stuck in trying to understand «why».

Some examples of verbs demanding «de»:

• «Gostar» (to like):
  • Eu gosto de você = I like you
  • Você gosta de gatos? = Do you like cats?
• «Precisar» (to need):
  • Nós *precisamos de comida = We need food
  • Você precisa de ajuda? = Do you need help?

Some verbs will have entirely different meanings depending on the preposition:

• Falar algo = To say something
• Falar de algo = To speak/talk of/about something
• Falar com alguém = To speak/talk with/to someone

Preposition Contractions 1 #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

So far, you have seen pure prepositions (without articles and not combined with pronouns).

Now, you’re going to see the same prepositions combined with other words.

Mandatory contractions

The preposition «de» must be contracted with articles and personal pronouns «ele(s)/ela(s)», generating the following words:

De+:

Although mandatory, this does not change the preposition’s meaning or usage in any way (please check out the tips for the skill «Preposition 1»). The articles’ meanings are also unaffected.

(In advanced usages, if the second word is the subject of a second clause, the words don’t contract)

Example:

• Eu gosto de pássaros = I like birds
• Eu gosto do pássaro = I like the bird
  • Explanation: «gosto de (like)» + «o (the)»

Optional contractions

The articles «um, uma, uns, umas» may be contracted or not. In Brazil, it’s considered less formal to use the contraction:

Example:

• Preciso de um cachorro = Preciso dum cachorro = I need a dog

Alternatives for possessive pronouns

The preposition «de», as mentioned before, can be use as an indicator of possession. Thus, the words «dele, dela, deles, delas» are very often used instead of the standard possessive pronouns. They work such as «of him, of her, of them», but unlike in English, they’re very natural in Portuguese.

Since the pronoun/adjective «seu» (and inflections) is very ambiguous, meaning «your(s), his, her(s), their(s)», using these alternatives is preferred by a lot of people to avoid confusion.

Here, declinations refer only to the owner instead and not according to the noun:

* — The form «de você» (singular) is not seen as a possessive form!
** — A popular informal one referring to «nós» is «da gente». It’s not used in disambiguation, because «nosso(as)» is not ambiguous, but it’s common in popular language due to «a gente» meaning «nós».

Examples:

• O coelho dela come cenoura = Her rabbit eats carrots
• As moedas dele estão brilhando = His coins are shining
• A casa deles é grande = Their house is big
• Gosto do cachorro de vocês = I like your dog (you plural)
• Isto vai mudar a vida da gente = This will change our life

Clothing #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Plural or singular??

The noun «roupa» (clothes) in Portuguese can be either countable or uncountable.

You can say «roupa» as «clothes in general» as well as «roupas».
One «roupa» can be the entire set of clothes:

• Gosto da tua roupa = I like your clothes
• Gosto das tuas roupas = I like your clothes

But «roupa» is not «cloth», it may be a «piece of clothing».
For «cloth», there is «pano» or «tecido».

Clothes coming in pairs

For clothes that come in pairs, such as shoes, gloves, boots, it’s also possible to use the singular form in Portuguese when referring to the pair:

• Ela gosta do meu sapato novo = She likes my new shoes

Why possessive??

One interesting feature in Portuguese is the possibility of using definite articles (o/a/os/as) instead of possessives when it’s obvious who something’s owner is:

• Ele tira os sapatos = He takes his shoes off

This is common with clothes and body parts, and it’s also more natural than using actual possessives.

Verbs for clothes

In Portuguese, there are a few different verbs we use for clothes.

• Usar — This is the main verb for «wearing» clothes.
• Pôr/Colocar/Botar — These three have the same meaning: «to put» in general cases and «to put on» for clothes
• Vestir — «Vestir» is flexible and can mean either «to wear» or «to put on». But it’s more common as «to put on». — Notice that «vestir» is an irregular verb for «eu», where it’s conjugated as «eu visto».
• Calçar — This one is exclusive for footwear (socks, shoes, slippers, etc.). It also means either «to put on» or «to wear».
• Tirar — «Tirar» is the opposite of «botar», it means «to take off». (In other contexts, it can mean «take away, remove», etc.)

So, be careful when you see a sentence with «usar + clothes». Although it might mean «to use», it’s much more likely to mean «wear» in English:

• She is wearing a blue shirt = Ela está usando/vestindo uma camisa azul
• Put these pants on = Coloque/Vista estas calças

Funny thing about clothes in Portuguese.

• «Calça», besides being a conjugation of the verb «calçar», also means «trousers/pants».
• «Bota», besides being a conjugation of «botar», also means «boot».

This leads to a common joke:

• Por que você calça a bota e bota a calça? = Why do you put on the boot and put on the pants?

….well…. it’s only funny in Portuguese, I guess XD.

Food 2 #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Vocabulary

Pasta:

There are two Portuguese words for that:

• Macarrão = Noodles and other kinds of pasta made of long strips
• Massa = Dough, mass. This applies to more kinds of food, such as gnocchi, pizza and other foods based on wheat flour dough.

Verbs versus nouns

Take care not to confuse some verbs that have their conjugations exactly the same as the nouns:

• Ele cozinha = He cooks
• A cozinha = The kitchen
• Ele cozinha na cozinha = He cooks in the kitchen
• Eu almoço = I lunch
• O almoço = (The) lunch

Inconsistent articles?

In English, the words «lunch» and «dinner» are used in a different way compared to other nouns. They are often used without any article or determiner.

In Portuguese, though, they behave as any other countable noun, using the article to be definite:

• Lunch is ready = O almoço está pronto
• They eat dinner = Eles comem o jantar

If you don’t use the article, the sentences will sound just like these bad English sentences: «I have car», «Boy is here», etc.

Questions #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Questions in Portuguese

In Portuguese, asking questions is quite easy. Simply add a question mark and… that’s it! =D

Wait! No change in the word order?

Right! No change in word order!

And no auxiliary verb? (do/does/did…)

Nope! No auxiliary verbs!

Try it:

• They are here = Eles estão aqui
• Are they here? = Eles estão aqui? (instead of «estão eles»)
  .
• He likes apples = Ele gosta de maçã
• Does he like apples? = Ele gosta de maçã? (instead of «gosta ele»)
  .
• She has a cat = Ela tem um gato
• Does she have a cat? = Ela tem um gato? (instead of «tem ela»)
  .

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Questions words

There are two question words that might be confusing at first, but they are distinct: «que» and «qual».

Que — as pronoun

For «que», when a standalone pronoun, use «o que».
This one asks for definitions and explanations. It’s used when you want to understand what something is, more than simply knowing.

• O que é isto? = What is this?
• Não sei o que é. = I don’t know what it is.
• O que você quer? = What do you want?

Qual — as a pronoun

This one is used to ask things that you do understand, but you don’t know what/which they are. Sometimes it’s «what», sometimes it’s «which»:

• Qual é o seu nome? = What is your name?
• Qual você quer? = Which one do you want?
• Não sei qual eu quero. = I don’t know which one I want.

You don’t ask «o que é o seu nome?», that would mean you don’t understand what a name is. That would state something near «please explain what your name is».

Both as determiners — (coming before nouns)

In this case, «que» and «qual» are exactly the same, meaning «what» or «which»:

• Que/Qual comida você quer? = What/Which food do you want?

Word order for question words

Question words are usually placed at the beginning of the sentence. But except for the verb «to be», the «subject — verb» order is kept the same as in affirmative sentences:

• What is that? = O que é aquilo?
• How many cats does she have? = Quantos gatos ela tem? (instead of «tem ela»)
• How much sugar do you want? = Quanto açúcar você quer? (instead of «quer você»)

The three sentences above are also right the other way around, although the first of the following may sound informal:

• Aquilo é o quê? («Quê» at the end has «ê»)
• Ela tem quantos gatos?
• Você quer quanto açúcar?

Prepositions x Word order

In Portuguese, prepositions «cannot» be loose at the end of the sentence like in English. It must always be before what it refers to. So, if you have:

• Você precisa de quantos sapatos?

When inverting you should have:

• De quantos sapatos você precisa? (How many shoes do you need?)

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But could the word order change?

Most of the times it can. But since the inversion is not standard, it may sound weird. The best thing to do is really to keep the same order as in affirmative sentences.

Colors #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Plural or singular???

As adjectives, colors also change gender and number to follow the nouns they point to.

But some colors have a different behavior.

Standard behavior

Colors that have their own name are used just like any ordinary adjective:

(1) — Some adjectives, especially the ones ending in «e» have their masculine and feminine versions equal. That is normal and will happen to many other adjectives as well.

Invariant colors

But… colors that got their names from other things don’t have plural forms:

• Gray = Cinza («cinza» comes from «ash»)
• Orange = Laranja (comes from the fruit)
• Violet = Violeta (it’s the name of a flower)
• Pink = Rosa («rosa» comes from «rose»)

Examples:

• Carro vermelho = Red car
• Casas amarelas = Yellow houses
• Carro cinza = Gray car
• Casas cinza = Gray houses

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Moreno and negro

The standard color used for objects and animals is «preto» (black).

• Um carro preto, um gato preto = A black car, a black cat
• Uma caneta preta — A black pen

The word «negro» is often used with more abstract things, meaning «dark».

When referring to people’s skin color, «negro» is the right choice, although many people prefer the term «afrodescendente» (descendent from Africans).

«Moreno» is only used for people. It may refer sometimes to the hair color, and in other cases to skin color.

• Black or dark hair is considered «moreno».
• Skin that is neither white nor black or very dark is also «pele morena»

When you say «ela é morena», you may be talking either about hair or skin, or both.

Numbers 1 #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Let’s count!

Numbers up to ten

The numbers 1 and 2 have feminine forms if they precede a feminine noun:

• Um dia e uma noite = One day and one night
• Dois dias e duas noites = Two days and two nights

Numbers up to nineteen

Up to 15, they have their names based on «#-ze», with some changes in the root.

After that, they become «dez(e)-#»:

(In Portugal, some of them may have a different spelling: «dezasseis, dezassete, dezanove»).

And finally…

20 — Vinte!!!

Congratulations, you have learned how to count up to twenty!

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Telling the time

Besides other possibilities, one very common way to tell the time in Portuguese uses just numbers and «e»:

• Onze e quinze = a quarter (fifteen) past eleven
• Uma e trinta = a half (thirty) past one
• Nove e quarenta = forty past nine / twenty to ten

The verb must be plural if the number is more than one

• É uma hora = It’s one o’clock
• São duas e dez = It’s ten past two

Note that «hour» is a feminine noun in Portuguese, thus «uma» and «duas» are used. But minutes are masculine: «duas e dois = two past two».

Verbs: Present 1 #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Present tense: Simple present or «Presente do indicativo»

Let’s start looking at the most basic verb tense: the simple present. In Portuguese, this is called «presente do indicativo.»

Basically, there are three kinds of verbs in Portuguese:

• 1st: verbs ending in ar — Ex: ajudar = to help
• 2nd: verbs ending in er — Ex: beber = to drink
• 3rd: verbs ending in ir — Ex: abrir = to open

Each of these follow a conjugation pattern. So all the regular verbs just get a consistent ending in each case:

(1) Remember that «você» and «vocês», although referring to the second person, are third person pronouns.

Você = you (sing.) / Vocês = you (plural)

Irregular verbs

Irregular verbs are those that don’t follow the same conjugation pattern. Their conjugations might or not follow a pattern, and each verb must be learned individually in this case.

Some examples: ser (to be), fazer (to do/make), ir (to go), ouvir (to hear/listen) and others.

Prepositions 2 #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Once, more, in this skill you will see many kinds of preposition usage, which only make sense when other words are taken into account:

• Position / Movement
• Time
• Demanded by the verbs

Expression:

• Por que? = Why?

Position / Movement

• «Em» — Replaces «in/on/at», without a clear distinction
  • Eu coloco açúcar em um copo = I put sugar in a glass
  • Vejo um prato em uma mesa = I see a plate on a table
  • Em casa = At home (or just «home»)
• «Sobre» — On (top of), or over something
  • Vejo um livro sobre a mesa = I see a book on the table
  • Ele voa sobre a cidade = It flies over the city
• «A» and «para» — «To» a destination
  • Ele vai ao mercado = He goes to the market
  • Ela vai para o Brazil = She goes to Brazil
  • Vou para casa = I go home
  • (In rare expressions, it can mean «by» or «on»)
• «Por» — Through / Around (without a clear path):
  • Ele passa por um parque = He goes through a park
  • Ele anda pela (por+a) casa = He walks around in the house
• «Atrás de» — Behind
  • Atrás de você! = Behind you!
• «Em cima de» — on top of
  • Um gato em cima do muro = A cat on (top of) the wall
• «Por cima de» — «on top of» or «(moving) over something»

Time

• «Em», replaces «in, on» in days, months, years and durations
  • Em 5 de abril = On April 5th
  • Em cinco dias = In/Within five days
  • Em fevereiro = In February
  • Em 2012 = In 2012
• «A», for time measured in hours:
  • Às (a + as) cinco horas = At five o’clock
• «Atrás» — ago:
  • Dois dias atrás = Two days ago

Prepositions demanded by verbs

Here are several verbs and how their meanings are ruled by prepositions. *

• Conversar:
  • Conversar com = To speak/talk with/to
• Olhar:
  • Olhar algo = To look at something / To observe something
  • Olhar para algo = To look at/towards something
• Tocar:
  • Tocar algo = To touch something (sentimental or rare) / To play some instrument/song
  • Tocar em algo = To touch something (preferred)
• Falar
  • Falar algo = To say something
  • Falar com alguém = To speak/talk with/to someone
  • Falar de algo = To speak of/about something
• Pensar and falar:
  • Pensar/Falar sobre algo = To think/speak about something
  • Pensar/Falar em algo = To think/speak of something

This kind of study about verbs and their prepositions is called «regência verbal», and if you already understand some Portuguese, you can search the internet for «regência de (verb)» in order to know how to use it regarding prepositions.

«Por» versus «Para» in general sentences:

English and Portuguese don’t always follow the same rules for these two prepositions, and it’s important to know that it will not be always «para=to» and «por=for».

It’s better to understand that:

• «Para» will be used whenever there is a destination, or when someone will receive something, or a purpose:
  • I brought this for you = Eu trouxe isto para você
  • I am going to Portugla = Eu vou para Portugal
  • Comprei farinha para cozinhar = I bought flour to cook
• «Por» will be used when you do something «on behalf», «because» or «for the sake» of someone/something, or «by some mean»
  • Fiz isto por você = I did this for (because of) you
  • Fiz isto para você = I did this for (giving to) you

Body Parts #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

As it happens many times with clothes, body parts will also dismiss the possessive pronouns very often when its obvious who the owner is.

So, you’re going to see things like:

• Ele vira a cabeça = He turns his head
• Ela lava as mãos = She washes her hands

Using the possessives is not wrong, and always necessary if the owner is not quite obvious.

Vocabulary

Differences in «number» for the word «costas».

The body part «back» in Portuguese is «costas». It is always plural, so:

• My back = as minhas costas

Preposition Contractions 2 #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

As it happens with «de», the following prepositions will also form contractions with articles and pronouns

Mandatory contractions with definite articles

(1) — The preposition «a», which has the same spelling and pronunciation as the article «a», is contracted by using the «grave accent». This accent does not change the pronunciation of it, it just indicates that there is the preposition «a» together with an article «a».

Mandatory contractions with «ele(s)/ela(s)»

Prepositions «por» and «a» will not contract here, keeping «por ele» and «a ele».

Optional contractions with «um/uma»

In Brazil, these contractions are considered somewhat informal.

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As with any contraction of preposition, meanings are not changed in any way. The prepositions are still demanded by the verbs or used in specific situations, and the articles are still used when you need things to be definite.

Family #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Nouns that change genders

You are probably getting used to Portuguese genders by now, but here, we will see some interesting distinctions between two kinds of nouns:

• Those that have the gender of the person/animal they refer to
• Those that have genders by themselves

Among family nouns, animals and professions, it’s very common to find those that change genders according to the person they refer to:

• Tio / Tia = Uncle / Aunt
• Filho / Filha = Son / Daughter
• Avô / Avó = Grandfather / Grandmother
• Irmão / Irmã = Brother / Sister
• Gato / Gata = Male cat / Female cat
• Engenheiro / Engenheira = Male engineer / Female engineer

On the other hand, some of them have always the same gender regardless of the person they refer to:

• Criança = Child — Always feminine
• Pessoa = Person — Always feminine

.
Genders and plurals or general statements

Here we are going to see what to do when we don’t know the gender of the people or when there is a group with mixed genders.

Portuguese takes the masculine gender as the standard gender for general cases.
This means that for nouns, adjectives and any other thing that can change genders, one chooses the masculine gender to talk about unknown or mixed genders.

Examples of unknown genders:

• There is a cat here = Há um gato aqui
• No one is perfect = Ninguém é perfeito

In these examples, the cat can be either male or female: a strange cat we don’t know the gender. And the people we are talking about can be just anyone, men and women.

If we use the feminine genders, both examples get very specific:

• Há uma gata aqui (you know for sure the cat is a female, there is no other option)
• Ninguém é perfeita (despite being an awkward sentence, this refers to a group containing only women)

In plurals, the same rule applies. If you have a group with mixed genders, the chosen gender is masculine:

• (os) Irmãos = (the) Siblings (any gender)
• (os) Irmãos = (the) Brothers (boys only)
• (as) Irmãs = (the) Sisters (girls only)
• .
• (os) Tios = (the) Uncles and aunts
• (os) Tios = (the) Uncles
• (as) Tias = (the) Aunts
• .
• (os) Pais = (the) Parents (father and mother)
• (os) Pais = (the) Fathers (only men)
• (as) Mães = (the) Mothers (only women)

One particular spelling exception happens with «avós», which seems to be feminine, but is actually masculine (mixed group):

• Os avós = Grandparents
• Os avôs = Grandfathers
• As avós = Grandmothers

Note that the unchangeable nouns keep the same gender in plural:

• As crianças = The children
• As pessoas = The people

Household #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Vocabulary:

Some interesting words that may be tricky.

Móvel

In English, «furniture» is uncountable, while in Portuguese, «móvel» is countable, meaning a «piece of furniture». So, very often, the translation of «furniture» will be «móveis» in plural.

Alternatively, the word «mobília» works as a collective, just like «furniture» in English.

Sala x Quarto

Every room in a house is called a «cômodo». But a bedroom is called «quarto», and a living room is called «sala (de estar)».

The words «quarto» and «sala» are not used for other rooms such as a kitchen or a bathroom.

In offices (escritórios), rooms are called «salas».

Parede x Muro

Although meaning «wall», each word refer to a different kind of wall:

• Parede: walls that belong to a house itself and many kinds of abstract walls
• Muro: outside walls, such as walls that surround gardens and plots

If a wall is really huge, such as for defending a castle, it may be called «muralha» (an augmentative of «muro»).

Ligar x Desligar

For turning appliances on and off, we use «ligar (turn on)» and «desligar (turn off)».

But these words may go further, such as meaning «connect» or «disconnect» a power cord.

And also making telephone calls: «Ligar para alguém = To call someone (over the phone)»

But be careful with «faucets», they will use «abrir/fechar» (open/close) instead, although some cases, especially showers, may still use «ligar/desligar».

Verbs: Infinitive 1 #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Infinitive verbs in Portuguese are just the verbs not conjugated.

In Portuguese there is nothing that matches «to» in an infinitive verb.

So both «bare infinitive» and «full infinitive» translate the same:

• I want to go = Eu quero ir
• Let’s try it = Vamos tentar

Infinitive or gerund?

Although having something called «gerdúndio» with verbs ending in «ndo», which we will see in further skills, Portuguese does not have what English calls a «gerund» (Using a verb ending in «ing» as a noun or noun clause).

Portuguese verbs ending in «ndo» are used only in progressive tenses.

But, if Portuguese doesn’t have «gerunds» how are they translated?

Portuguese uses infinitive verbs as translations for the English gerunds.

Examples:

• Try to do this = Tente fazer isto
• Try doing this = Tente fazer isto («Fazendo» is definitely not possible here)
• He likes playing with the dog = Ele gosta de brincar com o cão
• Running is good for your health = Correr é bom para a (sua) saúde

Some prepositions

Here too, prepositions can take particular meanings.

But mostly, they are not related to the infinitive verbs, but demanded by the other verb instead.

When they are related to the infinitive verbs, they can mean:

• De + infinitive = «from» or «for/meant to»
• A + infinitive = present participle (more common in European Portuguese) — Ex: fazendo = a fazer
• Para + infinitive = to / in order to

Examples:

• Estou a correr = Estou correndo = I’m running
• Cansado de correr = Tired from running
• É de comer? = Is it meant to be eaten?
• Parei para descansar = I stopped (in order) to rest

Verbs: Phrasal Future Tense #3 · 2018-10-25 ^

Future with verb «ir»

In Portuguese, the future tense has two possible ways of conjugating. One uses the verb «ir» in present as an auxiliary verb and the other doesn’t.

Normally, but not necessarily, the one with auxiliary verb is closer in meaning to the «going to» future and the other is closer to the «will» future. The simple form is also more formal.

• Eu comprarei um terno = I will buy a suit
• Eu vou comprar um terno = I’m going to buy a suit.

But that difference is not very clear in Portuguese, so they are used interchangeably. The simple form is more formal, though.

Conjugations:

present ir + infinitive = future

So, for this lesson, all you need to know is how to conjugate the verb «ir» (to go) in present tense. And to get started, you can see «ir» as «be going to» or «will», just like the English verb structure:

A special case

What to do when the main verb is «ir»?
Can I use «ele vai ir» (he will go)?

No, in this case, just use «ir» in present (it will serve both as present and future):

• Ele vai = he will go = he is going to
• Ele vai = he goes

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An informal trend

Many people commonly replace the present conjugation of «ir» with its future conjugation. That is not considered a correct future tense but it’s quite accepted.

So when you see «ele irá fazer», it means «ele vai fazer» = he will do (it).

Place adverbs #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Place adverbs and distance rules:

Portuguese has a few more of these adverbs than English. While English considers «near me» and «far from me», Portuguese includes «near you» in its meanings.

There is also a difference about «far» and «not so far».

So here they are:

• Aqui = Here
• Aí = There (where the listener is)
• Ali = There (not so far from us)
• Lá = There (far from us)

There isn’t a clear distinction about what is considered far enough to choose between «ali» and «lá», but this is not a big problem.

Some examples:

• Eu estou aqui = I am here
• Você está aí? = Are you there? *
• Ele não está lá = He is not there

When you’re referring to the listener, «aí» is usually the best choice, since it’s the place where the listener is.

The verb «haver»

In Portuguese, one way to say «there is» something somewhere is by using the verb «haver».

But different from English, in this meaning «haver» will always be singular:

• Há um gato aqui = There is a cat here
• Há dois gatos lá = There are two cats there

Informally, we use the verb «ter» without a subject (and also in singular):

• Tem um gato aqui = There is a cat here
• Tem dois gatos lá = There are two cats there

This meaning of «ter» will often be the first meaning a person will understand (if the sentence allows that). For that reason, if you intend to say «(do) you have», it’s usually better to not omit the subject.

Some additional usages of «aí»

Among the learned adverbs, «aí» is more flexible than the others. It’s used in abstract cases, and to mark actions that follow other actions.

Some informal examples:

• Aí ele pegou o carro e foi embora = Then he took the car and left
• E aí? = What’s up? / What is it going to be?
• Espere aí! = Wait a second! / Wait there!

To Be: Ser / Estar #2 · 2020-07-31 ^

Two verbs for one?

In Portuguese, the verb «to be» can be either «ser» or «estar», depending on each case and what the sentence means.

Basically, «ser» is for «permanent/ihnerent» things and «estar» is for «current states/locations».

Sometimes both can fit a sentence, sometimes only one of them makes sense.

Here are their present conjugations:

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«TWO BE OR NOT TWO BE»? — HOW TO CHOOSE

«Ser» and «Estar» can be confusing verbs at first, but they follow some rules.

Here, along with them, we also present you the verb «ficar», which sometimes shares a common meaning with «to be».

So, how do you choose between them?

In general:

• Ser — to be — permanently/inherently
• Estar — to be — currently/momentarily
• Ficar — to stay
• Ficar + verb gerund — To keep doing the verb’s action / To spend the time doing verb
  .

Here are the differences:

For characteristics and qualities

• Ser — Inherent quality — To be permanently/inherently, or something related to identity/personality
• Estar — Current state — To be at the moment or in short term
• Ficar — Change of state — To become/to turn (into)

Examples

• Ela é linda = She is beautiful (always, it’s her nature to be beautiful)
• Ela está linda = She is beautiful (at this moment, with these clothes, with this haircut, she looks beautiful now)

• Ela fica linda = She becomes beautiful

• Ela está linda nesse vestido = She is beautiful in this dress

• Ela fica linda nesse vestido = She becomes beautiful in this dress / This dress makes her beautiful
• Ela fica linda o ano inteiro = She stays beautiful the entire year (the complements and context make a difference, this one uses the general «stay» meaning)

Identity vs State — Ser vs Estar

Another way of seeing this, specially when referring to people, is the difference between identity/personality and current state.
That explains why, for instance, only «ser» is used for professions. Professions are attached to identity, they’re not really seen as a current states, although you can philosophically see it like that.

• Ele é engenheiro = He is an engineer
• Ele está engenheiro (very, very, very unusual)
• Ele é diferente — his personality/body is different from others
• Ele está diferente — he is currently behaving/looking different — he changed

.

For places and locations — static objects (which cannot be moved)

• Ser — Indicates the location of an unmovable thing.
• Estar — Hardly used, because unmovable objects doesn’t have the transitory meaning.
• Ficar — Indicates the location of an unmovable thing

The choice between «ser» and «ficar» has no rule, and there is no difference.

Examples

• A casa é naquela rua = the house is on that street
• A casa fica naquela rua = the house is on that street
• Meu escritório fica no restaurante = My office is in the restaurant.
  .

For places and locations — movable objects

• Ser — not used for movable objects
• Estar — indicates where the object is at this moment
• Ficar — indicates where the object belongs to/is used to be

Examples

• A chave está na parede da cozinha — The key is (currently hanging) on the kitchen wall
• A chave fica na parede da cozinha — The key belongs/stays on the kitchen wall / The kitchen wall is where the keys are commonly kept.

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Current possessions

An interesting Portuguese feature is the hability to use «estar com» indicating current possessions:

• Eu estou com as chaves = I have the keys (with me at the moment)

Also, some feelings, sensations, such as hunger and fear, and a few other things are considered things you «have», thus also using «estar com»:

• Eu estou com fome! = I’m hungry!
• Ela está com medo = She is afraid (at this moment)

Both could use «ter», but that is more suited to steady/permanent things:

• Ela tem medo de gatos = She is afraid of cats

The same transitory idea applies to «not having something at the moment», using the expression «estar sem»:

• Estou sem dinheiro = I don’t have money at the moment
• Estamos sem fome = We are not hungry

Preposition Contractions 3 #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Ready for another round of preposition contractions?

Here, the preposition «de» must form contractions with the previously learned place adverbs:

• de + aqui = daqui
• de + ali = dali
• de + aí = daí

Mostly, they will mean «from here» or «from there», but keep in mind that prepositions might be necessary for other reasons, such as in «eu gosto daqui = I like it here» («de» required by «gostar»).

And also, the preposition «a» will contract with «onde» (where).

• a + onde = aonde

«Onde» vs «Aonde»

Many people, including native speakers, will confuse these two words, but the trick is simple: remember that «aonde» contains «a», which is a destination preposition (to). This, use «onde» in static sentences, and «aonde» in sentences having something going towards a destination:

• De onde você é? = Where are you from?
• Onde ele está? = Where is he/it?
• Você vai aonde? = Where are you going? (destination)

Some additional usages of «daí»

Since «aí» is a very flexible adverb, the contraction «daí» will also get some special meanings.

Besides meaning the literal «from there (where you are)», it can also mean «thus/then/so». A very common expression is:

• E daí? = So what? (What then?)

Demonstratives #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Demonstratives are words that demonstrate something, such as «this» and «that» in English.

As it happens with place adverbs, demonstratives in Portuguese also consider three distances: «near the speaker», «near the listener», «far from both».

Distance rules

For abstract things or things for which the location is not clear or doesn’t atually exist, usually «isso» is the best choice.

* — In Brazil, the difference between «isto» and «isso» is almost unknown/forgotten. Thus Duolingo will accept replacing «isto» with «isso», and also translating «isso» with «this». But it won’t accept translating «that» with «isto», nor «this» with «aquilo».

Indefinite pronouns

The indefinite pronouns are used to represent something. They cannot be used as determiners, and they will mainly be used for things yet to be explained.

They are:

• Isto = this (thing)
• Isso = that (thing) (also accepting «this»)
• Aquilo = that (thing)

Definite pronouns/determiners

These are used to «point to something» that is already known or defined. Since they refer to a noun, they have inflections such as an adjective pronoun:

• Este / Esta / Estes / Estas
• Esse / Essa / Esses / Essas
• Aquele / Aquela / Aqueles / Aquelas

Often, when the noun is not present, you can translate these as «this one/these ones» or «that one/those ones».

Definite or Indefinite?

Use the indefinite version when you’re going to explain something.

• This is a dog = Isto é um cão (notice that «um cão» is indefinite too)
• What is that? = O qué aquilo?
• Isso não pode ser verdade = That cannot be true

Use the definite version when you’re choosing one from a list, of introducing things that don’t need to be explained:

• Quero este = I want this one
• Este é o Daniel = This (person) is Daniel (notice that Daniel is pretty definite)

Comparing:

• Isto é interessante = This is interesting
• Esta/Este é interessante = This one is insteresting
• Isto é o meu gato = This (thing here) is my cat
• Este é o meu gato = This (one) is my cat
• Quem é aquele? = Who is that (man over there)?
• Quem é aquela? = Who is that (woman over there)?

PS: avoid using «isto/isso/aquilo» for people and animals, it sounds like treating them like objects.

Occupations #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Nouns with two genders

As it happens with nouns for people and animals, professions in Portuguese can also change genders depending on the professional’s gender.

But here, it’s very common to see nouns that do change genders, but without changing forms.

As well as with the other nouns that change genders, in sentences where genders are unknown or mixed, Portuguese adopts the masculine gender, which will only show in articles, adjectives and other determiners for this case.

Nouns changing forms:

• Engenheiro / Engenheira = Engineer
• Arquiteto / Arquiteta = Architect
• Diretor / Diretora = (school) Principal / Director

Nouns that don’t change forms:

• O artista / A artista = The artist
• O profissional / A profissional = The professional
• O gerente / A gerente = The manager

Examples:

• Os artistas em geral são mais sentimentais = Artists in general are more sentimental. (Mixed or unknown genders use masculine articles)
• A gerente quer mais qualidade = The manager (a woman) wants more quality
• O gerente deu as instruções = The manager (a man) gave the instructions.

Preposition Contractions 4 #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Now you understand the demonstratives and prepositions, lets start using them together.

All the demonstratives must contract with «de» and with «em», but this will neither change their meanings nor the prepositions’.

Contractions with «de»:

• De + isto = Disto
• De + aquelas = Daquelas
• … same pattern for all demonstratives

Contractions with «em»:

• Em + isso = Nisso
• Em + aquele = Naquele
• …. same patter for all demonstratives

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Contractions with «a»:

For those starting in «a», there must be a contraction if the preposition «a» is present, using the «grave accent», as it happens with articles:

• A + aquilo = Àquilo
• A + aquelas = Àquelas
• …. same pattern for all inflections of «aquele».

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Always remember that there are many ways to use a preposition, and here this is also true. There are verbs such as «gostar (de)», which will demand prepositions that seem pointless and wont be translated:

• Eu gosto disto (de+isto) = I like this
• Vou àquele (a+aquele) mercado = I go to that market

Prepositions will always depend on the surrounding words to get a meaning. If you find this skill too confusing, go back and review the other preposition skills for a bit

Past — Pretérito Perfeito #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

The past tenses — Pretérito Perfeito

In Portuguese, there are a few different past tenses. In this skill, we will see the «pretérito perfeito«.

Although the name translates literally to «past perfect», it’s not equivalent to that English tense. There is a different point of view about tense names.

And why do we use the Portuguese name instead of the English name? Because this tense matches more than one in English.

This tense, the «pretérito perfeito», matches mainly the «simple past» and sometimes the «present perfect» when it’s about a single action concluded in the past. Later in the tree, we will see more about when the English «present perfect» fits this tense and when it doesn’t.

In short, the «pretérito perfeito» doesn’t consider «durations» and «continuity» of the past actions.

Examples:

• I went to the library = Eu fui para a biblioteca
• Did you play yesterday? = Você jogou ontem?
• I have found it! = Eu o encontrei
• She did not see the man across the street = Ela não viu o homem do outro lado da rua.
• Have you seen my wallet? = Você viu minha carteira?

Important: Portuguese doesn’t add auxiliary verbs such as «did». So the conjugated form is used in questions and negative sentences too.

Here are the regular conjugations for «pretérito perfeito» with the examples «andar» (to walk), «comer» (to eat) and «ouvir» (to hear/listen)

* — ouvir is regular in this past tense, but it’s irregular for the present «eu ouço».

Conjunctions #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Conjunctions are words that join up parts of a sentence, such as verb clauses.

Words such as «e (and)» and «ou (or)» are very common examples.

Que

Another one among the most common conjunctions is «que». You will see that this word has a lot of different functions in Portuguese.

Besides being a pronoun, like in «o que (what)» and «por que (why)», it can also be a conjunction (that), such as in these sentences:

• Ele acha que (ele) sabe = He thinks that he knows
• Eles falam que vai funcionar = They say that it will work.

«Ou» and «nem»:

• «Ou» is equivalent to «or»
• «Nem» is roughly equivalent to «nor»
  • It may have other funcitons, such as «not even»

But both can be used forming these constructions:

• Ou isto ou aquilo = Either this or that
• Nem isto nem aquilo = Neither this nor that

Prepositions 3 #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Desde:

This preposition has two main meanings:

• Since a certain point in the past
• As long as some condition is true

Use «desde que» if the complement is a clause with a verb.

Notice an important difference in verb conjugations when using this:

• Eu moro aqui desde que nasci = I have lived here since I was born

In Portuguese, use the «present» tense for a duration since some point. This is not possible in English. The Portuguese compound version is also accepted (Eu tenho morado aqui desde …), but it’s less common, and this compound version does not work exactly the same as in English (there will be as kill for it later).

Até:

Main meanings:

• (up) to (some point) — either time or distance
  • Eu vou até o mercado = I go (up) to the market
  • Você tem até três tentativas = You have up to three attempts
• Until:
  • Ele fica até as seis = He stays until six
• Even (intensifying):
  • Ate tu, Brutus? = Even you, Brutus?

Sem:

• Without

This can be used as a transitory lack of possession, including certain feelings and states, just like with «com»:

• Sem fome = not hungry
• Estou sem dinheiro = I do not have money (with me now)

Apesar:

This means mainly «despite» or «although», and should be used with «de» and a personal infinitive verb:

• Apesar de ser tarde, ele fica = Despite it being late, he stays
• Ele come apesar de não gostar = He eats it although he doesn’t like it.

This «de» will often not contract with pronouns, because these pronouns will be the subject of the next clause:

• Ele come apesar de ele não gostar
  • «ele» is the subject of «gostar»

Dates and Time #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Prepositions for time

Prepositions used for time expressions have different translations from those used for places. Nevertheless, they too follow well behaved rules in most cases.

Periods of the day:

This is one of the few exceptional cases, where both English and Portuguese have their particular usage:

• In the morning = de manhã
• At noon = ao meio-dia
• In the afternoon = à tarde / de tarde
• At night / In the evening = à noite / de noite
• Tonight = hoje à noite / esta noite

Numeric dates and named months:

Use «em» without articles.

• Aconteceu em 5 de abril = It happened on April 5th
• Ela nasceu em 1977 = She was born in 1977
• Ele volta em agosto = He returns in August

Numeric dates and months when using the nouns «dia, mês, ano»:

Use «em + article». If the unit is «mês», it’s necessary to add a «de» after it.

• O Natal é comemorado no dia 25 de dezembro = Christmas is celebrated on December 25th.
• As aulas começam no mês de agosto = The classes start in August.
• Estamos no ano 2015, quase em 2016 = We are in the year 2015, almost in 2016.
• Foi na primeira semana de janeiro = It was on the first week of January

Week days:

Use «em + article»:

• The show is on Friday = O show é na sexta-feira
• She travels on Sunday = Ela viaja no domingo

These prepositions can be omitted: «… é sexta-feira», «…viaja domingo».

Repeating week days:

If something happens regularly on certain week days, use the preposition «a» or «em» plus the plural article:

• Ele joga às/nas quartas-feiras = He plays on Wednesdays
• Ele não trabalha aos/nos domingos = De does not work on Sundays

Using «a» is more formal and better for written texts.

Terms:

For terms, the preposition used is also «em», without articles:

• A encomenda chegará em 10 dias = The order will arrive in 10 days
• Te vejo em meia hora = I see you in half an hour

Another very common option is «dentro de» (within), which has the same meaning.

Clock time:

Clock times will translate «at» as «a» and an article is needed.

If the following time is feminine, add the article «a» making it «à» (a+a)
If masculine, the article is «o», making it «ao» (a+o).
And if plural, add the respective «s».

• O filme começa às sete = The movie starts at seven
• Ela se levanta às oito horas = She gets up at eight o’clock
• Almoçamos ao meio-dia = We have lunch at noon
• Lobisomens aparecem à meia-noite = Werewolves appear at midnight

When telling the day period, use «de» before it:

• Vejo-te às cinco da tarde = See you at five in the afternoon
• São seis da manhã! = It’s six in the morning!

Measurements #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

To be or to have???

When talking about sizes, an interesting difference in how languages view things shows up.

Just like it happens when telling people’s ages, when telling things’ sizes, Portuguese uses the verb «ter» instead of translating the verb «to be» directly.

So, whenever telling something’s measurements, remember that:

• The bar is fifty centimeters (long) = A barra tem cinquenta centímetros (de comprimento)
• You must be two meters tall to enter the volleyball team = Você precisa ter dois metros de altura para entrar no time de vôlei.

Notice also the preposition «de» used when telling which dimension you are talking about.

Measurements without verbs

When measurements appear directly attached to something without a verb, similar to an adjective, Portuguese sentences use the form «de + size», working the same way food flavors do:

• A chocolate cake = Um bolo de chocolate
• A 100 meters run = Uma corrida de 100 metros
• They have bought a 20 pound cake!!! = Eles compraram um bolo de 20 libras!!!

PS: Brazil uses mostly the International System of Units, being «kilograms», «kilometers», «meters» and «centimeters» the units Brazilians understand.

Gram or grass??

A fun fact about these two words:

• A grama (feminine) = The grass
• O grama (masculine) = The gram

Verbs: Imperative #3 · 2018-10-25 ^

In addition to having tenses showing «when» an action takes place, languages also have moods, that indicate how the verb is being used. Different moods have different meanings.

Imperative is the verb mood for giving orders.

• Whenever you are telling someone to do something, use the imperative mood. (See? This «use» is in imperative mood)

In Portuguese, moods also change verb conjugations. Just like tenses and other moods, the imperative has its own conjugation forms:

(1) — There is no singular first person form (eu), for one cannot give orders to oneself.

(2) — Different from others, imperative has different conjugations for affirmative and negative sentences for «tu» and «vós».

Regarding the second person («you»), they follow the same idea as other conjugations. You can use either «tu» conjugations (2nd person) or «você» conjugations (3rd person). Depending on where you are, one might sound more formal than the other. In general, «você» conjugations are more formal, but that may vary.

Also, since English has only one form of «you» for both singular and plural, most English imperative sentences could be translated with any of the four conjugation options in Portuguese: «tu/você/vós/vocês». («Vós» is quite obsolete here too).

Just remember that when you are talking to a single person, you have to use the singular forms (tu/você). And when talking to more than one person, use (vós/vocês).

Ex: Open the door!

• Abre a porta! (tu)
• Abra a porta! (você)
• Abri a porta! (vós)
• Abram a porta! (vocês)

Comparison #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Comparatives and superlatives

Comparatives:

Use the words «mais» (more) and «menos» (less) to form comparisons with adjectives.

Use the conjunction «que» for the word «than»:

• Batatas são mais gostosas que tomates = Potatoes are tastier than tomatoes
• Este livro é menos interessante que o outro = This book is less interesting than the other one

Use the subject pronouns in comparisons:

• Ele sabe mais (do) que eu = He knows more than I do

The preposition+article «do» before «que» is optional and has no additional meaning.

Special comparatives:

Certain words will not use «mais» or «menos», but will have a synthetic form:

• Maior que = Bigger than
• Menor que = Smaller than *
• Melhor que = Better than
• Pior que = Worse than

* — Portugal accepts «mais pequeno»

Superlatives:

In Portuguese, all you need for creating superlatives is adding the definite article before it:

• Ele é o mais inteligente = He is the smartest one
• Estes são os melhores = These are the best ones

With «mais» or «menos», use the order «article + noun + comparative».

• Ela é a pessoa mais inteligente que eu conheço = She is the smartest person that I know *
• Eu quero o carro mais caro da loja = I want the most expensive car in the store

* — Be careful with «que» being not a comparison conjunction, superlatives will not compare two things.

With the synthetic ones, place the noun after:

• Ele é o melhor aluno = He is the best student
• Ele tem as piores ideias = He has the worst ideas

Intensifiers

For intensifying qualities, similarly to «so», «so much» and «so many» in English, use:

• Tão + adjective / verb / adverb
• Tanto + noun (since this relates to a noun, it inflects)

Examples:

• Está tão quente aqui! = It is so hot here
• Ela anda tão rápido = She walks so fast
• Tenho tantas coisas para te dizer = I have so many things to tell you
• Por que ele bebe tanta água? = Why does it drink so much water? (Uncountable, inflects only gender)

Equal intensity/amount comparison

Use «tão … quanto» and «tanto(as) quanto»:

• Ele é tão inteligente quanto você = He is as intelligent as you are
• Ela não tem tantos carros quanto nós = She does not have as many cars as we have

«Como» is accepted instead of «quanto», but it sounds quite awkward.

Adjectives II #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

A few adjective examples that accept only one position:

* — All numbers and ordinal numbers come before nouns. The only exception appears in titles for people, such as «Pedro Primeiro = Pedro the First».

Adverbs #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.

They are used for adding location, time, intensity, modes and many other things.

Adverbs don’t inflect!

Adverbs are not used to change nouns, and because of it, they don’t inflect.

It’s true they can change inflected adjectives, but even though, they remain uninflected.

Bem and Bom

«Bem» is an adverb, meaning «well» or, if modifying an adjective, «quite».
«Bom» is an adjective, meaning «good»:

• Ele está bem = He is well (ok)
• Elas estão bem = They are well (ok)
• Ele é bom = He is good (skilled/kind/etc.)
• As tortas são boas = The pies are good (tasty)
• Um carro bem rápido = A quite fast car

Muito and pouco:

When these words are adverbs, they have only this form. In this case, they are translated as «very» and «little», except when before comparatives, when «muito» becomes «much».

• São aeronaves muito rápidas = They are very fast aircrafts.
• Esta ação é pouco eficiente = This action is not very efficient (little efficient)
• Nós somos muito mais inteligentes = We are much more intelligent

Beware not to confuse «pouco» with «um pouco»:

• Pouco = little
• Um pouco = a little

When they are not adverbs, they define amounts of some noun and have an adjective function:

• Muitos carros (countable, masc., plural) = Many cars
• Muita água (uncountable, feminine) = A lot of water
• Poucas opções (countable, fem., plural) = Few options

Verbs: Continuous #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

In English, gerunds and present participles use the «ing» ending on the verbs.

In Portuguese, the verb ending is «ndo».

Present participle

The present participle is the continuous action of the verb, the continuous tense. In Portuguese, it’s called «gerúndio». The translations are mostly straight and clear, using the verb «estar».

• He is eating = Ele está comendo
• The teacher is talking = O professor está falando.

Out of curiosity, «estar a + infinitive» is also a form of progressive tense, being more common in European Portuguese.

Beware of the stative verbs!

In English, some verbs are static, meaning they cannot be used in the progressive form. They are verbs such as «like», «believe», «want» and others. But Portuguese doesn’t have those kind of verbs, so you will find some sentences whose translations are not so straight:

• Eu estou gostando disso = I like this (not «I’m liking»)
• Ela está querendo mais = She wants more (not «she is wanting»)

Is there a difference in the meaning between «Eu estou gostando» and «Eu gosto»??
Well….a little, when using the progressive form, you really mean you are «enjoying» something that is currently taking place, while the simple present form can be used in general.

Gerunds

Now, Gerunds in English create «nouns» and «noun clauses» using the «ing» verb ending. In Portuguese, a gerund such as this doesn’t exist!!! You use the infinitive verb instead:

• Try reading that book! = Tente ler aquele livro (not lendo)
• He likes eating = Ele gosta de comer (not comendo)
• Swimming is fun = Nadar é divertido (not nadando)

Places #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Prepositions for places

The easiest usage of prepositions is when they are about places. In this case, it’s often possible to trust dictionary translations for prepositions.

When talking about places, the general rules for prepositions are:

• Current location = Em (no, na) = In / On / At
• Origin = De (do, da) = From
• Destination (quick return) = A (ao, à) = to (1)
• Destination (permanent stay) = Para = to
• Motion in or through = Por (pelo, pela) = by, through

Examples:

• Estou no trabalho (I’m at work — workplace)
• Estou no restaurante (I’m at/in the restaurant)
• O almoço está na mesa (the lunch is on the table)
• Eu sou do Brasil (I’m from Brazil)
• Eu vim de lá (I came from there)
• Estou indo para casa (I’m going home)
• Vou à escola (I go to school)
• Passei pelo parque (I went through the park)
• Ela passou por mim (She passed by/near me)
• A formiga passeia pela (or na) mesa (The ant walks on the table).

(1) «A» is also used sometimes without «motion to», in expressions like:

• Está à beira do abismo = He/she is on the edge of abyss
• Ao lado da mesa = beside the table
• Ao longo da estrada = Along the road

Notice the positional words complementing the preposition: beira (edge/margin), lado (side), longo (long)

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Other more precise prepositions:

• Sobre = on top of / above
• Em cima de = on top of
• Acima de = above
• Embaixo de = under
• Abaixo de = below
• Dentro de = inside
• Fora de = outside
• Através de = through

Verbs: Past Imperfect 1 #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Pretérito imperfeito

«Imperfect»? What does it mean?

Originally, the term «perfect» was used for «completed» actions, although today some «perfect» tenses don’t really follow this strictly.

On the other hand, «imperfect» isn’t about «conclusions».

In Portuguese, the imperfect past talks about something that «was true» or «was happening» during a certain time period in the past.

It’s great for continuous actions in the past, habits and steady states creating contexts: things that «were being», if you allow us to use a «non-standard» English.
While the «pretérito perfeito» (the one you’ve studied so far) is great for «changing» something from an unconcluded to a concluded state.

.
Continuous meanings

In many cases, this tense has a continuous meaning, especially when the «while» idea is present:

• Eu cozinhava enquanto ela tomava banho = I was cooking while she was showering.
• Ele comia enquanto esperava o trem = He was eating while he waited (was waiting) for the train

.
Old habits

Since old habits are things that used to happen, spread along a time period, the «imperfect» tense is also the right form for this:

• Ele escrevia livros antes de se mudar = He used to write books before he moved
• Ela tinha muitos gatos na sua primeira casa = She had (used to have) many cats in her first house

But is «used to» really the right translation? Well, it’s an adaptation to convey the right meaning, since simple past can often be interpreted differently.

The literal translation of «used to» is «costumava» (and its conjugations for other persons)

• I used to swim a lot = Eu costumava nadar bastante
• We used to ride bikes = Nós costumávamos andar de bicicleta

When «used to» is a good option, «would» can also be a good one. But never with a standard conditional meaning.

.
Setting the scenery in past

Because scenery is something that is just there, not changing anything, not acting nor completing actions, «imperfect past» is also the best choice to describe it. The scenery «was just being» while the story happened.

• Era um dia frio, a casa estava vazia, mas João sentiu um estranho desejo de se levantar mais cedo = It was a cold day, the house was empty, but João felt a strange will of getting up earlier
• As montanhas estavam brancas, cobertas de neve, e as arvores eram todas verdes, os pássaros cantavam alegremente = The mountains were white, covered in snow, and the trees were all green, the birds sang (were singing) happily.

.
Comparing

• Eu andei de bicicleta = I rode a bike / I have ridden a bike
• Eu andava de bicicleta = I rode bikes / I was riding a bike / I used to ride a bike

One interesting rule for simple actions is: if you can use English’s present perfect, then also use Portuguese’s «pretérito perfeito«.

Conjugations

People #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Vocabulary

Pessoa(s)

• Pessoa => One person
• Pessoas => Many people (more than one person)

Gente

«Gente» is a collective noun (a singular noun representing many people). It’s used when it’s about a mass of people, an amount, for instance.

• Muita gente = Muitas pessoas = A lot of people

Be careful: the expression «a gente» is mainly used to mean «we/us».

Povo

«Povo» is also a collective noun, but it refers to «people from somewhere», as the Brazilian People, the Portuguese people. It’s more like a political usage.

It can be plural, and in this meaning it will also be pluralized in English:

• Povos = Peoples (yes, this means many different groups of peoples from many places)

Another possibility is to use «povo» as «common/ordinary people» in contrast with some elite, for instance.

Clitic Pronouns #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Subject and Object pronouns

In Portuguese, pronouns also change for subjects and objects.

So far you are used to the «pronomes do caso reto» (subjective pronouns), they are used for subjects: «Eu, tu/você, ele, nós, vós/vocês, eles»

But when they are objects, they turn into «pronome oblíquo» (objective pronouns). You can compare them like you can compare «he» with «him» and «she» with «her».

• «He» and «she» are subjective pronouns (pronomes do caso reto) = «ele» and «ela».
• «Him» and «her» are objective pronouns (pronomes do caso oblíquo) = «o» and «a».

In Portuguese, o, os, as, a, besides being articles, can also be direct object pronouns which are normally used to replace a direct object (a noun, person or thing) in a sentence in order to avoid repetition.

This answers, for instance, why «Eu os ouço» is used instead of «Eu ouço eles». (1 — See note at the end).

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Direct and indirect objects

In Portuguese, pronouns also change depending on whether the object is direct or indirect, and when there is a preposition.

Here is a table to make it easier:

Dir. Obj. — Direct objects are used when the verb doesn’t need a preposition. (1)

Ind. Obj. — Indirect objects are used when the verb needs a preposition, but this version of the pronoun removes the preposition (Dê-lhe o carro = Give him the car — See below to understand this completely)

Reflx. — Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject performs an action towards him or herself. (Ele se cortou = He cut himself / Eu me vi no espelho = I saw myself in the mirror / Tu te cortaste = you have cut yourself)

With prep. — These are also indirect objects, but the preposition is needed together with the pronoun. (Dê o carro a mim = Give the car to me). In Brazil, the «si» versions are mostly for reflexive cases with prepositions.

(1): The direct object pronoun is normally not used correctly in spoken form, so you would hear a lot more people saying Eu ouço eles than Eu os ouço. A great number of Brazilian speakers would prefer using «ele/ela/eles/elas» instead.

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(advanced) Placement of pronouns — Colocação pronominal

These pronouns can be placed either before or after the verb, or even in the middle!!

There are some rules that determine whether they should be put in one of these positions. In Brazil, though, these rules are rarely mastered by people, some of them might feel unnatural and even some writers disagree of them. In formal academic writings though, they would be required. In Portugal, they follow these rules more strictly than in Brazil. (Duolingo is not strict about these specific rules)

Pronouns before the verb — próclise

Negative words, some adverbs and pronouns attract the clitic pronoun to be placed just after them, before the verb.

When putting the pronouns before the verb, they are written without additional symbols.

• Ela não me viu = she didn’t see me
• Ninguém o encontrou = nobody found it/him
• Eu não lhe digo isto = Eu não digo isto a ele/ela = I do not tell this to him/her

A pronoun that does not use a preposition cannot start a sentence according to the formal rules, but even though, in Brazil this is a very common practice.

Pronouns after the verb — ênclise

If no «attracting» word is present, pronouns will go after the verb, attached with hyphens.

• Dei-lhe as chaves = I gave him/her the keys

If the pronoun is «o, a, os, as», it changes depending on the verb’s ending:

• Pego-o = I take it (normal)
• Peguei-o = I took it (normal)
• Pegam-no = They take it (verb ending in «m»)
• Pegá-lo (pegar + o) = To take it (verb ending in «r»)
• Pegamo-lo (pegamos + o) = We take it (verb ending in «s»)

When necessary, the accent is added so the verb keep the last syllable stressed after losing the «r»:

• Pegá-lo (to take it)
• Comê-lo (to eat it)
• Ouvi-lo (to hear it) — «i» is naturally stressed
• Pô-lo (to put it)

Pronouns in the middle of the verb — mesóclise

This is very rare today, but in formal rules, if you cannot use «próclise» for verbs in future conjugations, you add the pronoun in the middle of the verb:

• Ele me achará — Achar-me-á (he will find me)
• Ele me acharia — Achar-me-ia (he would find me)

Numbers 2 #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Tens — from 10 to 100

From 20 to 90, their names are mostly based on «#-enta».

• Dez, vinte, trinta, quarenta, cinquenta, sessenta, setenta, oitenta, noventa, cem

Hundreds — from 100 to 1000

From 200 to 900, their names are mostly based on «#-centos»

• Cem, duzentos, trezentos, quatrocentos, quinhentos, seiscentos, setecentos, oitocentos, novecentos, mil

All the hundreds from 200 to 900 have feminine forms: duzentas, trezentas …

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Forming big numbers

In Portuguese, forming big numbers is similar to English, but adding the conjunction «e» between digits and commas after thousands and bigger:

• Twenty-one = vinte e um/uma
• Forty-five = quarenta e cinco
• One hundred and ten (1)(2) = Cento e dez
• One thousand seven hundred sixty-two (2) = Mil, setecentos e sessenta e dois (masc.) = Mil, setecentas e sessenta e duas (fem.)
• Three hundred thousand = Trezentos/trezentas mil

(1) «Cento» is used instead of «cem» whenever followed by the rest of the number.
(2) There is no need to translate the «one/a» in «one/a hundred/thousand». The words «cem», «cento» and «mil» stand alone and contain «one» implied.

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Ordinal numbers

Orginal numbers are numbers for showing position, rank, etc.

They are always used before the noun. (Except in rare titles such as «Dom Pedro II» (Dom Pedro Segundo)

The suffixes

All the suffixes «st, nd, rd» and «th» are replaced by º or ª, being the first masculine and the second feminine:

• 1st = 1º / 1ª
• 12345th = 12345º / 12345ª

When saying or writing ordinal numbers in Portuguese, remember all of them have feminine forms.

From «first» to «tenth»

• Primeiro, segundo, terceiro, quarto, quinto, sexto, sétimo, oitavo, nono, décimo.

From «twentieth» to «100th»

• vigésimo, trigésimo, quadragésimo, quinquagésimo, sexagésimo, septuagésimo, octogésimo, nonagésimo, centésimo

Writing long ordinal numbers

This is actually easier than regular numbers, you just add words together:

• 247th = ducentésimo quadragésimo sétimo (masc.) / ducentésima quadragésima sétima (fem.)

Sizes #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Tamanho x Medida

«Tamanho» is a general word meaning «size».
It can be used either for exact measures or general sizes such as «pequeno (small), médio (mid-size)» and «grande (big)».

Clothes are often labeled with the letters «P, M, G» for their sizes. (PP is smaller than P and GG is bigger than G).

«Medida» is attached to numbers, exact measurements:

• Tirar medidas = To take measurements

Largo x Amplo x Grande

In Portuguese, these words are used differently:

Largo

«Largo» is a false cognate, and it is not a synonym of big.
«Largo» is related to «largura» (width), so it’s mostly «wide».

Amplo

«Amplo» is used mostly for «rooms», «spaces» and «ranges», when it can mean «wide», but not as an actual width measurement.

Grande

«Grande» means «big» or «large» in the most common senses.

Justo x Apertado

Sometimes both seem to mean the same (tight), but mostly they mean:

• Justo — Firm, tight, the exact size, with no clearance
• Apertado — Uncomfortably tight, too tight.

It’s true their meanings can overlap a little, but «justo» is not used often for things that have a negative connotation.

For machine parts, though, «apertado» and «justo» would mean the same.

Determiners #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Algum, Nenhum or Qualquer??

There’s an interesting distinction about the usage of these words between English and Portuguese.

For instance, one cannot say that «algum» is always «some» or that «qualquer» is always «any». In fact they can be just the other way around.

So, how to distinguish them?

The key is in whether the sentence is negative, affirmative or a question! So, in a simple table, it works like this:

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And here go the deails:

Affirmative sentences

Here are what you will probably see as a standard meaning for these words:

• Algum (affirmative) = some
• Nenhum (affirmative) = no/none
• Qualquer (affirmative) = any

It might seem weird to say that a sentence with «nenhum» is affirmative, since nenhum itself is a negative word. But since Portuguese often uses double negation with «nenhum», we are putting the ones that are not double negation here.

Examples:

• Está faltando alguma coisa aqui = Something is missing here
• Alguns gatos entraram na casa = Some cats entered the house
• Nenhum cachorro me mordeu = No dog bit me
• Nenhuma daquelas mulheres é fraca = None of those women is weak
• Qualquer carro é bom, desde que funcione = Any car is good, as long as it works
• Dê-me qualquer um destes = Give me any one of these

Questions

But now things change a little. You will notice that in questions they become:

• Algum = any
• Nenhum = not + any / no
• Qualquer = just any / any

Wait, all of them mean any in questions? Yes, but:

• Algum is used for standard questions
• Nenhum is used as «any» in negative questions
• Qualquer is not often used in questions, but can replace «algum» or keep its standard affirmative meaning.

See the examples:

• Você tem algum conselho para mim? = Do you have any advice for me?
• Você ouviu alguma coisa? = Did you hear anything?

Rarely, the examples above could use «qualquer», but it might seem unusual.

In plural form, «alguns/algumas» can mean «some» too:

• Você tem algumas moedas? = Do you have some coins?

For nenhum, in English you have the choice to choose where you are going to put the negation:

• Por que não há nenhuma mensagem? = Why aren’t there any messages? (negation in verb)
• Por que não há nenhuma mensagem? = Why are there no messages? (negation in noun)
• Ele não tem nenhuma moeda? = Doesn’t he have any coins?
• Ele não tem nenhuma moeda? = Does he have no coins?

And «qualquer» with its standard meaning:

• Qualquer um serve?? = Does just any one fit? (Among all the possibilities, all of them are good)

Negative sentences

• Algum (not used or rarely used in negative sentences)
• Nenhum = not + any / no
• Qualquer = just any / any

Again, for nenhum, you can choose where to put the negation:

• Não tem nenhum problema = There is no problem = There aren’t any problems.

And «qualquer» can less often replace «nenhum», or keep its standard affirmative meaning.

• Eu não quero qualquer professor = I don’t want just any teacher (I want a good teacher)
• Não tem qualquer problema = There aren’t any problems

So, whenever possible, «qualquer» will retain it’s «just any» meaning. In order to avoid doubt, prefer «nenhum» when you mean «no».

Verbs: Participle #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Past participle

In Portuguese, when one talks about «participle», it means mostly «past participle», since the idea of «present participle» is not that famous (other names are used for «present participles» in Portuguese).

Past participles are used mainly for three things:

• Creating adjectives out of verbs
• Creating sentences in passive voice
• Creating compound tenses

In this skill, we are going to see the first two cases.

In both of them, the participle must be inflected regarding genders and number. (That is not true for compound tenses though)

Adjectives:

Not all past participles suit adjective usages, but when they do, it’s as simple as using any other adjective:

• Ela está cansada = She is tired
• Ela ficou cansada = She got tired
• O carro está parado = The car is stopped
• Ele está abatido = He is downcast
• As portas estão abertas = The doors are open («aberto» is an irregular past participle)

Passive voice:

Passive voices in Portuguese are pretty much like English passive voices:

• Just use the verb «ser (to be)» + «past participle»

But remember: only «ser» can be used for passive voices.
Using «estar» + «past participle» will end up creating an adjective telling one’s current state. So:

• Passive voice: Ser + participle
• Inherent/Permanent quality: Ser + adjective/participle (this is rare with participles)
• Current state: Estar + adjective/participle

Passive voice examples:

• As portas são abertas toda manhã = The doors are opened every morning.
• O dinheiro foi roubado = The money was stolen
• Isto será feito amanhã = This will be done tomorrow

Conjugations

Regular past participle conjugations follow this pattern:

All of them will accept the inflections «o/a/os/as».

Irregular verbs

Some verbs follow irregular patterns, such as:

• Fazer — Feito (done/made)
• Ver — Visto (seen)

Some have both forms:

• Pagar — Pago / Pagado (paid)
• Pegar — Pego / Pegado (gotten/caught/taken)
• Ganhar — Ganho / Ganhado (won/earned)
• Acender — Aceso / Acendido (lightened/turned on the light)

When they have both forms, the regular form is used for compound tenses and the irregular forms are the ones inflected and used as adjectives and in passive voices. (This last rule has exceptions where the irregular form is the most popular in every case)

Prepositions 4 #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Some objective pronouns in Portuguese are different when they’re following a preposition:

For any preposition except «com» (examples using «para»):

• me becomes para mim
• te becomes para ti
• se becomes para si (The «si» form is often reflexive. In Brazil, it’s hardly ever used in another way)

These use the same form as the subject pronoun:

• para você
• para ele/ela
• para nós
• para vós / para vocês
• para eles/elas

For the preposition «com», some contractions are demanded:

• (com+mim) comigo
• (com+ti) contigo
• (com+nós) conosco
• (com+vós) convosco

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Mim não conjuga verbo («Mim» does not conjugate verbs)

This is a common sentence used to teach children not to use «mim» if it is supposed to be the subject of a following clause:

• Dê o livro para mim (Give me the book)
• Dê o livro para eu ler (Give me the book for me to read)

In the second sentence, «eu» should be used instead of «mim», although following «para», because it’s the subject of the clause «eu ler».

Pronouns #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Ninguém, alguém, nenhum, algum.

These are very similar to the determiners seen before.

They’re also often used in double negations:

• Não conheço ninguém = I don’t know anyone

Todo(s) x Tudo

The word «tudo» means «everything». It’s a genderless pronoun that doesn’t take articles and never works as a determiner.

The word «todo» can be either a determiner or a pronoun, but it refers to a noun and must inflect.

A few patterns are important:

• Todo carro = Every car
• Todo o carro = The entire car = O carro todo
• Todos os carros = Every car
• (cannot use «todos carros» meaning «every car»)

The noun «o todo» means «the whole», «the entire thing».

Relative pronouns

These kinds of pronouns refer to something previously stated and start a new clause. «Que» is the most common one:

• O homem que eu vi = The man that I saw
• O homem do qual eu falo = The man of which I talk about (here «de = about»)
• A menina cujo cabelo é dourado = The girl whose hair is golden

Past — Pretérito Perfeito 2 #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Conjugatoins for the irregular verbs:

* — The conjugations for «pôr» includes all derivations, such as «supor», «impor», «repor», «compor», etc.

Pretérito Perfeito Composto #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Pretérito Perfeito Composto

Here is a tricky verb tense.

This tense will resemble a lot the English present perfect, because it also uses the present tense of the verb «to have» plus the past participle of the main verb.

In Portuguese, however, this structure has another name and another meaning!

It’s called «pretérito perfeito composto» (translated literally as: compound preterite perfect).

Although using the analogous structure «present ter» + «past participle» of the main verb, its meaning is not the same.

Whenever you see this construction, remember it talks about a recent repetition, things have been repeating *lately. So, in general translations are like:

• Ele tem feito os exercícios regularmente = He has been doing his exercises regularly
• Meu computador tem feito barulhos estranhos = My computer has been making strange noises (lately).
• Ela tem comprado coisas diferentes = She has been buying different things (lately)

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Sempre

With this tense, the adverb «sempre» changes its translations.

Since it’s about repetition, it becomes «every time»:

• Ele tem feito sempre a mesma coisa = He has been doing the same thing every time.

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So, the first question you might be asking yourself is….»how do I translate the English present perfect to Portuguese then»?

Normally, when it’s a simple concluded action, you do it with the «pretérito perfeito»:

• I have done my job = Eu fiz o meu trabalho
• She has found her way home = Ela encontrou o caminho para casa.

But when it’s about something that is true «since» a certain point in the past, then you just use the present tense:

• I have lived here since I was a kid = Eu moro aqui desde quando eu era uma criança
• She has not drunk since the accident = Ela não bebe desde o acidente.

And finally, the verb «to be» and some of the so called «stative verbs» behave differently.

They can in many cases be translated word by word:

• I have been tired = Eu tenho estado cansado (this is a state that has been repeating lately).
• She has been happy = Ela tem estado feliz.

One possible explanation for that is that you cannot write things like «have been being».

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So, how to understand all that simply?

Just remember: Portuguese «ter + past.participle» always means a «recent repetition«. So, if the English sentence means that, you can translate it with the Portuguese «pretérito perfeito composto».

If the English sentence cannot or does not mean a recent repetition, then the Portuguese tense must be changed to fit the true meaning.

Countries #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Nationalities

In Portuguese, there are many adjectives for nationalities.

As adjectives, they do decline normally regarding gender and numbers:

• Um homem francês = A French man
• Homens franceses = French men
• Uma mulher francesa = a French woman
• Mulheres francesas = French women

Notice that Portuguese does not use capital letters for these, only for country names:

• O Brasil é dos brasileiros = Brazil belongs to (the) Brazilians. (1)

Nouns x Adjectives:

Virtually all of these adjectives can be used as nouns without any change! Just remember these nouns, just like professions, should be inflected as well:

• Um alemão = A German man
• Uma alemã = A German woman
• Os alemães = The German people/men (1)
• As alemãs = The German women

Even when the English language can use uninflected adjectives referring to plural things, Portuguese will keep the inflections:

• The French like good food = Os franceses gostam de comida boa
• The rich eat expensive food = Os ricos comem comida cara

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(1) As usual, the masculine plural form is used for general statements and mixed gender groups.

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Cities, Countries, Continents and Articles

In English, most country names use no article, with a few exceptions like «the United States of America» (Os Estados Unidos da América). The same is true for cities and continents.

But in Portuguese, they do! And mostly, the articles are mandatory.

Just like the other nouns, each country has its own gender, and some reject the article. Unfortunately, there is no clear rule for that, except when its name contains an ordinary noun as the main part of it, the article will follow that noun:

• O Reino Unido — The United Kingdom
• Os Estados Unidos da América (EUA) — The United States of America (USA)

.
Countries with masculine articles:

• O Brasil — Ele está no Brasil = He is in Brazil
• O Canadá — Ele foi ao Canadá = He’s been to Canadá
• O México — Ela gosta do México = She likes Mexico
• O Paraguai — Paraguay
• O Uruguai — Uruguay
• O Peru — Peru
• …

.
Countries with feminine articles:

• A Alemanha — A Alemanha é grande = Germany is big
• A Argentina — Ela mora na Argentina = She lives in Argentina
• A França — France (1)
• A Itália — Italy (1)
• A Espanha — Spain (1)
• A Inglaterra — England (1)
• …

(1) In European Portuguese, these can be used without articles when after a preposition.

.
Countries that use no article:

• Portugal — Ele foi a Portugal — Portugal é bonito.

.
Continents

All continents are feminine and require the article:

• A América (… Central/do Norte/do Sul)
• A Europa
• A África
• A Ásia
• A Oceania
• A Antártida

.
Cities

Most cities use no articles:

• Berlim — Berlin (sometimes feminine)
• Londres — London
• Lisboa — Lisbon
• São Paulo
• Brasília
• Salvador
• …

But there are a few that use it:

• O Rio de Janeiro (but not all cities containing «Rio» in their names will use it)

Education #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Nouns in context — Brazil

Série:

«Série» is used in schools meaning «grade/year» in English.

• Literal meaning = series
• In educational context = grade / year

It’s used only for elementary and middle school grades, which are called «ensino fundamental» in Brazil, having eight to nine grades.

• He is in the first grade = Ele está na primeira série
• A third grade student = Um aluno da terceira série

Ano:

«Ano» is also used as «grade», mainly in reference to high school grades or years in college.

• Literal meaning = year
• In educational context = grade / year

High school in Brazil is called «ensino médio», having three grades.

Ano and série may be used interchangeably depending on where people live. To avoid confusion, people might use more complete sentences:

• Um aluno do primeiro ano do ensino médio = A student from the first grade of the high school

Grau:

Nowadays, «grau» is not used in standard Brazilian education anymore. But before changes, «graus» were used referring to major education levels:

• «Primeiro grau» became «ensino fundamental» = elementary and middle school
• «Segundo grau» became «ensino médio» = high school

• «Terceiro grau» became «ensino superior» = college / university

• Literal meaning: degree (measure unit and abstract intensity, but not an educational degree)

Diploma:

«Diploma» is a document stating your educational level. In English it translates as «degree».

• A Mathematics degree = Um diploma de Matemática

Teste / Prova:

Both «teste» and «prova» are «exams». Some schools may use «teste» for intermediate exams and «prova» for final exams.

• Literal meaning: teste = test
• Literal meaning: prova = proof
• Educational meaning: teste/prova = exam

Terms:

• Bimestre = a period of two months
• Trimestre = a period of three months
• Semestre = a period of six months

Verbs: Pluperfect #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Pluperfect

«Pluperfect» (literally «more than perfect») is a verb tense that works exactly like the English tense «past perfect».

In Portuguese it is called Pretérito mais-que-perfeito.

Here, we are going to see the Pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto, meaning it’s a compound tense (having an auxiliary verb).

The compound version of the tense is the most popular version and its structure and meaning are identical to that of English. (Except that adverbs don’t go in between the verbs).

The auxiliary verb used is «ter» in «imperfect past»:

• She had already gone = Ela já tinha ido
• You had found a treasure = Você tinha encontrado um tesouro.

Optionally, some people prefer using the verb «haver», there is no difference in meaning, and it might sound more formal:

• As pessoas não haviam chegado = The people had not arrived

Conjugation table for «ter» and «haver»:

* — Notice that conjugations for «eu, ele, ela» and «você» are the same! For that reason, it’s highly recommended that the personal pronoun be explicit, even for the «eu» case, unless context is very clear! Otherwise, one would not know who is doing the action due to so many possibilities.

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(Advanced) Pretérito mais-que-perfeito

For those who like advanced knowledge, let’s talk about the simple version of this tense. This is getting almost forgotten in Portuguese, but it can still be seen in some books. (These conjugations are not the scope of this unit)

* — Here you can see that for the third person plural this tense matches the «pretérito perfeito». For this reason you might see some additional accepted translations that will be exclusive for this case.

** — Notice also that this is different from future conjugations:

• Future «tu» and «ele» have accents on the last syllable (ex: ,»tu andarás», «ele correrá»).
• Future «vós» don’t have accents (ex: «vós andareis»)
• Remember the accents change the stressed syllable, so these tenses are easily recognized in speech.

Travel and Transport #3 · 2018-10-25 ^

Taking a __:

In Portuguese, the most common verb for «taking a bus» and other means of transport is «pegar». Less often the verb «tomar» is possible:

• Vou pegar um taxi = I will take a taxi
• Você vai pegar qual ônibus? = Which bus will you take?

Going by __:

If you’re going somewhere «by bus» or another mean, you are going «de ônibus»:

• Vamos de ônibus ou de avião? = Are we going by bus or by plane?
• Estou de carro hoje = I’ve got my/a car today /// I’m riding my/a car today

«Andar de __«:

The verb «andar» can be associated with this expression adding the idea of «riding», «going by», etc.

• Ele gosta de andar de bicicleta = He likes to ride bicycles
• Você já andou de avião? = Have you ever flown in an airplane?
• Quer andar de carro comigo? = Do you want to go for a ride (by car) with me?

The exception, when you have no vehicle, is «a pé».

• Vou a pé = I’m going by foot
• Andar a pé = To walk by foot

The verb «andar» itself, if not associated with anything, will mostly mean to walk (although having the possibility of more abstract meanings), so «andar» and «andar a pé» means basically the same.

• Vou andando = I’ll go walking

Directions #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

A few nouns

Direção:

Besides meaning «direction», it is also very often used in expressions indicating «towards» a certain direction:

• Ele voa em direção à luz = It flies towards the light

Valid expressions are «em direção a» or «na direção de». Mixing them is not valid.

With possessives: «em/na minha direção» or «na direção dele».

Direita x Direito:

When they are nouns, one is about directions, the other is about law:

• Vire à direita? = Turn right
• Você tem o direito de receber duas recompensas = You have the right to receive two rewards

Remember that «direita/direito» can also be adjectives, in which case they will inflect normally:

• O lado direito = The right side

Orientação:

Although being used for directions, it is more commonly used for «guidance/instructions».

You can ask someone for guidance with this word:

• Preciso de uma orientação = I need some guidance.

Tráfico x Tráfego:

A very tempting false friend for «traffic» is the word «tráfico», which actually means «trafficking».

• Tráfico = Trafficking
• Tráfego / Trânsito = Traffic

Feelings #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Feelings you «have»

In Portuguese, some feelings are expressed differently from English.

While English uses «I am …» and other forms, Portuguese uses some form of possessive sentence.

• Eu estou com medo = I am afraid
• Ela está com dor = She is in pain / He feels pain
• Estou com vontade de andar = I feel like walking = I want to walk
• Ela tem pena de mim = She pities me = She feels sorry for me
• Tenho certeza! = I’m sure!

Except for «certeza», all of them can also accept «sentir»:

• Eu sinto medo / Estou sentindo medo
• Ela sente dor / Ela está sentindo dor
• Sinto vontade de andar
• Ela sente pena de mim / Ela está sentindo pena de mim

Hints: — It’s natural to use «estar com» as a form of temporary possession in Portuguese. It can be used even with concrete objects: «Estou com seu carro = I have your car (currently, your car is under my possession).

The verb «sentir»

In Portuguese, the verb «sentir» also works a little differently, being a reflexive verb when you feel somehow.

Normally, it takes a direct object just like in English:

• I feel the wind = Eu sinto o vento
• She feels something weird = Ela sente algo estranho

But if you feel somehow, you must use the reflexive form of it:

• I feel weird = Sinto-me estranho
• She feels happy = Ela sente-se feliz

Verbs: Future #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

So far you’ve seen the phrasal future with «ir + infinitive».

Now we are going to see the true future conjugations of the verbs, which are more formal and preferred in written texts.

Both versions fit either «will + verb» and «be going to + verb».

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Examples:

• Ele virá amanhã? = Will he come tomorrow?
• Tentarei fazer isto = I will try to do this

Sports #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Vocabulary

Jogar x Brincar x Tocar

There is a very confusing verb for English speakers when learning Portuguese, and this verb is «to play».

In Portuguese, there are three distinct verbs that translate «to play», each one with its own meaning:

• Jogar = To play a game
• Brincar = (simply) to play / have fun / make jokes, etc.
• Tocar = To play a song or an instrument

Notice that «jogar» and «tocar» have objects, such as «jogar futebol (play soccer)» and «tocar piano (play the piano)». But «brincar» is intransitive.

Ganhar x Vencer

Both verbs are used for «winning», but notice that you can «win a contest» or «win a prize», there are different meanings.

• Vencer = To win a contest/competition
• Ganhar = Either to win a prize or a competition

So, you can:

• Ganhar o jogo = Vencer o jogo = To win the game/match
• Ganhar um prêmio = To win/earn a prize

«Ganhar» is also used for earning money and receiving things:

• Ele ganha um presente = He receives a gift
• Ele ganha dez mil por mês = He earns ten thousand a month

Dar

The verb dar is very versatile, and sometimes it’s used for simply «doing» or «performing» something.

• Ela dá um sorriso = She smiles
• Ele deu uma olhada no problema = He took a look at the problem

In sports, one can:

• Dar um salto (= saltar) = To jump
• Dar um soco (= socar) = To punch
• Dar um chute (= chutar) = To kick

Future Subjunctive #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Welcome to the subjunctive mood!!

Although English has almost completely forgotten the subjunctive moods, they’re quite alive and well in Portuguese. Please don’t get scared about them

The subjunctive mood is used in cases talking about uncertain events, and sometimes because of a specific grammar construction that requires it.

The future subjunctive talks about events we think may happen in the future, mostly as a trigger to something, forming conditional sentences.

It’s used mainly with «quando», «se» and «depois que».

• Quando ele chegar, terá uma surpresa = When he arrives (in the future), he will have a surprise
• Se chover, eu não vou ao cinema = If it rains (in the future), I will not go to the movies.
• Só verei TV depois que ela for embora = I will only watch TV after she goes away.

Regular conjugations

You may be wondering: It really looks like the infinitive, right? Well, in fact the regular conjugations are identical to the personal infinitive verbs.

Irregular conjugations

Well, it couldn’t be that easy…
Here are some of the main irregular verbs (they are not equal to their personal infinitive forms):

* — The verb «ter» is conjugated exactly like the verb «estar», just without the starting «es».

Verbs: Future Perfect #2 · 2019-06-04 ^

Futuro do presente composto

In Portuguese, the equivalent tense to «Future Perfect» is called «Futuro do presente composto» (literally «compound future of the present»).

This tense is used to say that something will have been or will have happened.

The construction is similar to English, taking future «ter» (will have) and the past participle of the main verb:

• When we finish the course, we will have learned a lot.
• Quando terminarmos o curso, nós teremos aprendido muito.

So, all you have to do is to understand «ter» future conjugations and pay attention to some irregular past participle endings:

Can one use the phrasal future? (Ex: vai ter + past part.)

In speech, it’s common, but many people might consider it wrong in writing. Also, grammar books usually don’t even mention this possibility

Medical #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

«Doer» or «machucar»?

The English verb «to hurt» can have two distinct meanings in Portuguese:

• Something hurts another — Machucar
• Something is in pain — Doer

Examples:

• Minhas pernas doem = My legs hurt
• Meus sapatos machucam meus dedos dos pés = My shoes hurt my toes

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Discarding the possessive adjectives??

An interesting feature in Portuguese is the fact that one can choose to simply not use the possessive adjective if it’s obvious something belongs to someone. One uses the definite article instead.

The most common case where it happens is about body parts:

• He hurt his finger = Ele machucou o dedo
• She turned her head to look = Ela virou a cabeça para olhar
• We can move our feet = Nos podemos mexer os pés

But remember: only when it’s obvious (something in the sentence states who the owner is). The following sentences would keep the possessive:

• My head hurts = Minha cabeça dói
• His arm is strong = O braço dele é forte

Verbs: Subjunctive Present #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

The Subjunctive mood

Introduction

In Portuguese, there is a mood dedicated to uncertain statements.
This mood often confuses English speakers because English barely has this feature.

Even though, English contains subjunctive moods, but they are often ignored or have the same form as the indicative mood.

It’s more common to see subjunctive in past in English, especially in «if» sentences:

• If I were you… (this differs from the indicative «was», but other verbs would seem just like the simple past)

Here, we are going to see the present subjunctive, which can be found in sentences such as:

• I suggest that he go = Eu sugiro que ele vá

The present subjunctive

Portuguese uses the present subjunctive in much more cases than English.

Typical usages of the subjunctive come after certain verbs that express a «possible» result, but not necessarily certain, and also after some conditional keywords.
Mostly, if other keywords are not present, the present subjunctive conjugations will come after «que». You will also notice that conjugation tables for this tense shows conjugations preceded by «que».

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Some verbs asking for the subjunctive

Examples of verbs expressing «hope/doubt»

• Espero que você esteja bem = I hope you are fine
• Duvido que seja verdade = I doubt it’s true
• Não creio que seja possível = I don’t believe/think it’s possible
• Acredito que as coisas vão melhorar = I believe things will get better
• Ela deseja que tudo acabe bem = She hopes everything ends well.

Sometimes, the subjunctive mood is also used for commands/suggestions when these commands are given through another verb. In some of these cases, English behaves the same way:

• Queremos que ela fique por mais tempo = We want her to stay for longer
• Ordeno que os prisioneiros sejam libertados = I command that the prisoners be freed
• Eles pedem que tiremos os sapatos antes de entrar = They ask that we take off our shoes before entering
• Sugiro que eles esperem a tempestade passar = I suggest that they wait for the storm to pass
• Eu insisto que você prove um pedaço do bolo = I insist that you try a piece of the cake

Because of this, and also because conjugations are the same, many people confuse subjunctive and imperative moods.

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Keywords asking for the subjunctive

In many cases, these keywords are either conditional keywords or words that state something that has effect onto the present, or that talks about an expected result:

• Caso seja verdade, então devemos nos preocupar = In case it’s true, then we should worry
• Embora sejamos grandes, não podemos alcançar o céu = Although we are big, we can’t reach the sky
• Farei isto, mesmo que ele não concorde = I’ll do this, even if he doesn’t agree.
• Ainda que eu queira, não posso = Even if I want to, I can’t.
• Acharei você, nem que eu precise ir até o fim do mundo = I’ll find you, even if I need to go to the ends of the earth
• Tome o remédio para que melhore = Take your medicine so that you get better
• Faça tudo de modo que não deixe nenhum vestígio = Do everything in a way that doesn’t leave any trace.

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Present subjunctive conjugations

Regular conjugations

Irregular «ser», «estar» and «ver»

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As you may have noticed or read, all these conjugations are identical to the negative imperative conjugations. Nevertheless, that does not mean they are the same thing. Imperative mood is used when giving orders, while the subjunctive is required in certain expressions or by certain desire verbs.

Arts #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Pintura x Quadro

The words may overlap their meanings, but:

• Pintura = painting
• Foto / Fotografia = Photograph
• Quadro = A square frame for paintings or pictures.

When the paintings and photos are hanging on the wall, people will mostly refer to them as «quadros».

Also, when talking about paintings from famours painters, «quadro» will be the choice.

Tocar

Again, the English verb «to play» may cause some confusion. Remember:

• Tocar = to play an instrument
• Jogar = to play a game
• Brincar = (simply) to play / have fun / make jokes

Verbs: Continuous 2 #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Stative verbs

Portuguese doesn’t have stative verbs. That means that virtually any verb can be used in the continuous forms.

For that reason, some of the translations may not be as straightforward as we expect:

• Estou me lembrando de você = I remember you (I’m starting to remember you)
• O que você está querendo com isso? = What do you want (to achieve) with that?
• Estou adorando! = I love it!

Abstract Objects IV #1 · 2018-10-25 ^

Por cause de

A common expression meaning «because of»:

• Tudo isto está acontecendo por causa do novo sistema = All of this is happening because of the new system
• Estamos aqui por sua causa = We are here because of you

Verbs: Conditional #2 · 2019-02-20 ^

Futuro do pretérito

This lesson is about a particular tense, known in Portuguese as «Futuro do Pretérito» (future of the past).

It gives the verb a meaning that is in most cases equal to that of the auxiliary verb «would». So it’s used in conditionals.

The regular conjugations are quite easy, for they don’t change the infinitive part of the verb, they only add an extra ending.

Here they go:

• Navegar = to sail
• Saber = to know / to know how to
• Partir = to depart / to leave

Verbs: Conditional Perfect #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

This conditional form uses «ter» in «Futuro do pretérito» tense + the main verb in past participle.

It’s for things that «would have been»:

• Ele teria chegado atrasado = He would have arrived late
• I would have found you = Eu teria te encontrado

Also, this conjugation is often used for a specific kind of conditional, which works like the English counterpart.
In the «if» clause, the subjunctive tense is used:

Examples:

• If I had gone to bed early, I would have caught the train
• Se eu tivesse ido para a cama cedo, eu teria pego o trem

* — Optionally, it’s possible to use «haver» instead of «ter».

An informal option:

There is also the possibility of an informal version using imperfect past, but it may not work if the phrase doesn’t contain both clauses:

• Se eu tivesse ido para a cama cedo, eu tinha pego o trem

If the sentence is just a plain sentence without the «if clause», listeners will probably assume the standard imperfect past meaning.

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Conjugations for «Ter» and «Haver»

In this skill, there are very little examples using the past subjunctive. These will appear later in the past subjunctive skill. Nevertheless, you can see some conjugations below.

Verbs: Modal #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Modal verbs in Portuguese work just as they do in English.

They take the conjugations and come before an infinitive verb. The only difference is that they have several conjugations in Portuguese, just like any other verb.

Conjugations in Portuguese should follow their normal meanings, such as:

• Pretérito perfeito: final result in past
• Pretérito imperfeito: ongoing action in a time room in past
• Futuro do pretérito: hypothetical/conditional actions

Some modal verbs

Poder:

«Poder» can often be translated as «can», but it can also mean «to be able to» and «to have permission to», thus being sometimes «can/could», sometimes «may/might» and «be able to».

• Só ele pode fazer isto = Only he can do this
• Posso ir ao banheiro? = May I go to the bathroom?
• O carro poderia ser vermelho = The car could be red
• Isso pode funcionar = That might work
• Eu tentei, mas não pude encontrar = I tried, but I wasn’t able to find it
• Eu poderia comer mais, mas não quero = I could eat more, but I don’t want to
• Ele não podia dormir porque tinha medo do escuro = He couldn’t sleep because he was afraid of the dark

Dever:

«Dever» can have many shades of meaning, from an obligation to a probability, thus matching «must», «should», «shall», «need to», depending on context.

• Devemos nos reportar ao chefe = We must report ourselves to the boss
• Isso deve funcionar = This should/must work
• Tudo deveria ser diferente = Everything should be different
• O cliente deve pagar até o primeiro dia de Janeiro = The client shall/must pay until the first day of January.

* — When not a modal verb, «dever» means «to owe».

Precisar:

«Precisar» means «to need» or «to have to».

• Preciso ir = I have to go

Verbs: Subjunctive Past #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

The Past Subjunctive

The past subjunctive talks about actions in the past that are uncertain and also about hypothetical things in general.

In English, you can find past subjunctive in «if clauses»:

• If I were you, I would stay here = Se eu fosse você, eu ficaria aqui

The conditions for using the past subjunctive are very similar to those for using the present subjunctive. There is just a difference in tenses.

But here, a very important case comes into play: the conditionals!

Conditionals with «if»

One of the most important usages of the past subjunctive is for creating conditionals. You will notice also that the «if» keyword (se) is present in conjugation tables.

• Se eu fosse rico, compraria um barco = If I were rich, I’d buy a boat
• Nós iríamos à praia se não estivesse chovendo = We would go to the beach if it weren’t raining
• Se eles gostassem de biscoitos, eu lhes daria uma caixa = If they liked cookies, I’d give them a box

Optionally, there is the informal possibility of using the imperfect past in the main clause:

• Se eu fosse rico, comprava um barco

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Some verbs asking for the subjunctive

Examples of verbs expressing «hope/doubt» in past:

• Eu esperava que você voltasse = I was expecting you to come back
• Duvido que fosse verdade = I doubt it was true
• Não creio que fosse possível = I don’t believe/think it was possible
• Eu não acreditava que fosse possível = I didn’t believe it was possible
• Eu acreditava que as coisas fossem melhorar = I believed things were going to get better
• Ela desejava que tudo acabasse bem = She was hoping everything would end well

Verbs giving orders:

• Ordenei que os prisioneiros fossem libertados = I commanded that the prisoners be freed
• Eles pediram que tirássemos os sapatos antes de entrar = They asked us to take off our shoes before entering
• Sugeri que eles esperassem a tempestade passar = I suggested that they wait for the storm to pass
• Ela insistiu que eu provasse um pedaço do bolo = She insisted that I try a piece of the cake

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Keywords asking for the subjunctive

Here too, some keywords will ask for the past subjunctive just like they do in present tense. But now, a very important keyword comes into play: «if«; allowing us to create the most common conditionals. (Note that «if» is present in the conjugation tables for past subjunctive)

• Caso fosse verdade, então deveríamos nos preocupar = If it were true, then we should worry
• Embora fôssemos grandes, não podíamos alcançar o céu = Although we were big, we couldn’t reach the sky
• Eu faria isto, mesmo que ele não concordasse = I’d do this, even if he didn’t agree
• Ainda que eu quisesse, não poderia = Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t
• Eu acharia você, nem que eu precisasse dar a volta ao mundo = I would find you, even if I needed to circle the world around.
• Ele tomou o remédio para que melhorasse = He took the medicine in order to get better
• Ela fez tudo de modo que não deixasse vestígios = She did everything in a way that didn’t leave traces

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Past subjunctive conjugations

In this table there are three regular conjugations (ar, er, ir) and the verbs «ser» and «estar»:

Some irregular verbs

* — The conjugations for «ir» are exactly the same as «ser» in this tense.

Verbs: Past Imperfect 2 #2 · 2019-10-30 ^

Pretérito imperfeito

«Imperfect»? What does it mean?

Originally, the term «perfect» was used for «completed» actions, although today some «perfect» tenses don’t really follow this strictly.

On the other hand, «imperfect» isn’t about «conclusions».

In Portuguese, the imperfect past talks about something that «was true» or «was happening» during a certain time period in the past.

It’s great for continuous actions in the past, habits and steady states creating contexts: things that «were being», if you allow us to use a «non-standard» English.
While the «pretérito perfeito» (the one you’ve studied so far) is great for «changing» something from an unconcluded to a concluded state.

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Continuous meanings

In many cases, this tense has a continuous meaning, especially when the «while» idea is present:

• Eu cozinhava enquanto ela tomava banho = I was cooking while she was showering.
• Ele comia enquanto esperava o trem = He was eating while he waited (was waiting) for the train

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Old habits

Since old habits are things that used to happen, spread along a time period, the «imperfect» tense is also the right form for this:

• Ele escrevia livros antes de se mudar = He used to write books before he moved
• Ela tinha muitos gatos na sua primeira casa = She had (used to have) many cats in her first house

But is «used to» really the right translation? Well, it’s an adaptation to convey the right meaning, since simple past can often be interpreted differently.

The literal translation of «used to» is «costumava» (and its conjugations for other persons)

• I used to swim a lot = Eu costumava nadar bastante
• We used to ride bikes = Nós costumávamos andar de bicicleta

When «used to» is a good option, «would» can also be a good one. But never with a standard conditional meaning.

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Setting the scenery in past

Because scenery is something that is just there, not changing anything, not acting nor completing actions, «imperfect past» is also the best choice to describe it. The scenery «was just being» while the story happened.

• Era um dia frio, a casa estava vazia, mas João sentiu um estranho desejo de se levantar mais cedo = It was a cold day, the house was empty, but João felt a strange will of getting up earlier
• As montanhas estavam brancas, cobertas de neve, e as arvores eram todas verdes, os pássaros cantavam alegremente = The mountains were white, covered in snow, and the trees were all green, the birds sang (were singing) happily.

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Comparing

• Eu andei de bicicleta = I rode a bike / I have ridden a bike
• Eu andava de bicicleta = I rode bikes / I was riding a bike / I used to ride a bike

One interesting rule for simple actions is: if you can use English’s present perfect, then also use Portuguese’s «pretérito perfeito«.

Conjugations

Verbs: Subjunctive Pluperfect #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

Pretérito mais-que-perfeito do subjuntivo

Following rules similar to the other subjunctive mood tenses, here comes the «pretérito mais-que-perfeito», which is for things that happened before another event in the past. (Or, in the subjunctive case, had the possibility of happening, or was a hypothetical occurrence, etc.)

This tense is formed with the past subjunctive of «ter» plus the main verb in past participle. In many cases, this will match the English form «had happened». (Optionally, «haver» can be used instead)

Conditionals with «if»

The conditionals with this tense can have two types of main clauses:

• The ones that would have happened in the past, using «teria(…) + past participle»
• The ones that would apply generally and to the present, using «futuro do pretérito».

Examples:

• Se eu tivesse chegado mais cedo, ela não teria ficado brava = If I had arrived earlier, she would not have gotten upset
• Nós teríamos ido à praia se não tivesse chovido naquele dia = We would have gone to the beach if it had not rained that day
• Se eles tivessem comprado nossos biscoitos, hoje estaríamos ricos = If they had bought our cookies, today we would be rich

Here, all examples talk about hypothetical situations in the past. The first two, talks about the hypothetical results in the past while the third one talks about the hypothetical result in present.

As the other «futuro do pretérito» conditionals, there is also the informal possibility of using the imperfect past in the main clause:

• Se eu tivesse chegado mais cedo, ela não tinha ficado brava

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Some verbs asking for the subjunctive

Examples of verbs expressing «hope/doubt/belief» in past:

• Eu achei que você tivesse voltado = I thought you had come back.
• Duvidei que ela tivesse ficado = I doubted that she had stayed
• Ele queria que o Brasil tivesse sido campeão = He wishes Brazil had been the champion

* — The use of «queria» is very common meaning «would like» or «wish», although it literally means «wanted».

.
Keywords asking for the subjunctive

Here too, some keywords will ask for the past subjunctive just like they do in present tense. But now, a very important keyword comes into play: «if«; allowing us to create the most common conditionals. (Note that «if» is present in the conjugation tables for past subjunctive)

• Caso isto tivesse acontecido, teríamos mudado nossos planos = In case this had happened, we would have changed our plans
• Embora tivéssemos sido grandes, não pudemos alcançar o céu = Although we had been big, we were not able to reach the sky
• Eu teria feito isto, mesmo que ele não tivesse concordado = I would have done this, even if he had not agreed
• Ainda que eu tivesse voltado, meu coração teria ficado = Even if I had returned, my heart would have stayed
• Eu teria achado você, nem que eu tivesse precisado ir até o fim do mundo = I would have found you, even if I had needed to go to the ends of the earth
• Era para ter sido feito de modo que não tivesse deixado nenhum vestígio = It should have been done in a way that hadn’t left any trace

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Past subjunctive conjugations for ter and haver

Business #2 · 2018-10-25 ^

A few words

Interesse:

«Interesse» is a false friend in a business/economic context.

In Portuguese, this word is not used as an amount of money one pays as interest. It means only «something one is interested in».

For money interests, the word used is «juros», used almost always in plural:

• O banco cobra juros pelos empréstimos = The bank charges interests for the loans.

Fábrica:

«Fábrica» is another false friend. In Portuguese, it means «factory» (a place that produces goods).

For «fabric (material)», use «tecido» instead.

• Este tecido é macio = This fabric is soft
• A fábrica produz gases tóxicos = The factory produces toxic gasses.
• Uma fábrica de tecidos = A fabric factory

Idioms and Proverbs #2 · 2021-09-24 ^

Hey everybody!!!

This bonus skill might seem pretty confusing at first. (And it really is :p).

Why is that?? Well….the translations here are definitely not literal. The main purpose of this lesson is not to teach grammar and normal language translations, but to teach how people commonly say things in everyday life.

Since we are talking about idioms and proverbs, each language will have their own way of saying things.

That said, please don’t get frustrated if you can’t do it right on the first attempts. We hope you have fun!

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75 skills with tips and notes

Do you want to know what is the
Portuguese vocabulary
you need to speak?

Yes, around 300 words it’s all you need!

Oi, então? E ai?

Before you start learning Portuguese, you might have thought of how much Portuguese vocabulary you need.

You might have thought of how many words you need to know to start speaking, and sustain a conversation with native speakers.

Well, I can tell you that you only need around 300 words* (*according to my own research and under the circumstances this research was carried out, of course.).

I’m going to present them to you here with some explanations. These words are very important because, in many cases, one word can be used in different situations, with different meanings.

By the way, a revolutionary way to learn Portuguese vocabulary easily and effortless is already available. Click the box above on the right hand side to have a look.

Or sign up for my free newsletter now to get information about vocabulary subtleties among other curiosities in Portuguese.

OK, here I’ll divide this essential Portuguese Vocabulary into categories, so that you can build sentences.

Learn no more than 10 words or expressions per day. Choose them from the different categories and learn them by heart. And yes, put your heart into it too.

Try to identify each word of this Portuguese vocabulary with the corresponding English words you use in the same situations.

Then, when you are having a conversation with one of your Portuguese native speaking friends, use this Portuguese words and… feeeeel them.

Build your own sentences. Common sense will guide you through.

So, Ready to learn this essential Portuguese vocabulary?

Here we go, choose them by category, if you feel it’s easier for you.

1. Nouns

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2. Verbs

.

3. Adjectives

.

3. Prepositions

.

4. Connector

.

5. Determinants

.

a) Definite Articles.

b) Indefinite Articles.

c) Possessives.

d) Demonstratives.

6. Pronouns.

7. Indefinite articles or pronouns.

8. Adverbs.

9. Interrogatives.

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Definite and Indefinite articles

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These words exist in the Portuguese vocabulary because saying, for instance, A porta» [«the door»] is not the same as saying Uma porta» [«a door»].

So, the Definite articles are as follows, but you also should read this page here:

THE	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	O [oo]	A [ah]
Plural	OS [oosh]	AS [ash]

Go to top of the page.

And the Indefinite articles which are the Portuguese words for «A», «An» and «Some», are as follows:

A/An/Some	Masculine	Feminine
Singular	UM [oong]	UMA [oo-mah]
Plural	UNS [oongsh]	UMAS [oomah-sh]

Go to top of the page.

Prepositions

Are also vital words in the Portuguese vocabulary because they are linking words. These words place the position or movement of something in time and place. There are many but, basically, we only need 9 to communicate. In Portuguese some of them must be contracted with the definite articles above.

Let’s look at the Prepositions, and then their contractions.

Prepositions	Meaning	Sound	Contractions	Meaning
De	From Of About	[deh] EU [chee] BR	Do da dos das	From the Of the About the
A	To At (with time)	[Ah]	Ao À Aos Às	To the At the
Até	Up to Until Even (e.g. Even Maria was there)	[Ah-tay]	Até o Até a Até os Até as	Up to the Until + time Even the
Em	In On At	[eng]	No Na Nos Nas	In the On the At the
Por *	For Through Via By	[poohr]	Pelo Pela Pelos Pelas	For the Through The Via The By the
Para *	To Towards For (as aim) In orther to	[pah-rah]	Para o Para a Para os Para as	To the Towards the For the In order to
Com	With	[con]	Com o Com a Com os Com as	With the
Sem	Without	[seng]	Sem o Sem a Sem os Sem as	Without the
Sobre	About	[soh-bray]	Sobre o Sobre a Sobre os Sobre as	About the

The difference between «Por» and «Para» is commonly confusing. It might be a good idea to check it out in order for you to use them correctly.

And that’s it. These are all the prepositions of the Portuguese vocabulary you need to know to communicate.

Go to top of the page.

Possessives

are the words that demonstrates ownership or possession. In the Portuguese vocabulary, they can be pronouns (replacing an object name) or adjectives (qualifying an object). Let’s look at the next table to understand them better.

In this first group, the possessive comes before the noun,
e.g. O meu amigo come carne. (My friend eats meat).

	Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Masculine Plural	Feminine Plural
My	O meu… [oo meh-oo]	A minha… [ah mee-nyah]	Os meus… [oosh meh-oosh]	As minhas… [ash mee-nyash]
Your dude (informal)	O teu… [oo teh-oo]	A tua… [ah too-ah]	Os teus… [oosh teh-oosh]	As tuas… [ash too-ash]
Your Sir Your Madam (formal)	O seu… [oo seh-oo]	A sua… [ah soo-ah]	Os seus… [oosh seh-oosh]	As suas… [ash soo-ash]
Our	O nosso… [oo noh-soo]	A nossa… [ah noh-sah]	Os nossos… [osh noh-soosh]	As nossas… [ash noh-sash]
Your guys (plural)	O vosso… [oo voh-soo]	A vossa… [ah voh-sah]	Os vossos… [osh voh-soosh]	As vossas… [ash voh-sash]

In this second group, the possessive comes after the noun,
e.g. O amigo dele come carne. (His friend eats meat).

His… / … of him (his)	… dele [deh-lee]
Her… / … of her	… dela [deh-lah]
Their… / … of them (for males)	… deles [deh-lesh]
Their… … of them (for females)	… delas [deh-lash]

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Nouns

If you are not sure what a noun is,
click here to learn more.

When reading this Portuguese vocabulary, you’ll find a definite article (O, A, Os, As) — «The» in English — in front of each noun, which indicates the gender (masculine or feminine) and the number (singular or plural) of it.

So, research shows that the most important nouns of the Portuguese vocabulary are:

Portuguese noun	Word sound	English translation
A Água	[ah ah-goo-ah]	The Water
A Ajuda	[ah ah-joo-dah]	The Help
Os Anos	[oosh ah-noosh]	The Years
O Apelido	[oo ah-peh-lee-doo]	The Surname
O Autocarro	[oo aoo-toh-car-roo]	The Bus (in EU Portuguese)
(O) Azar	[oo ah-zahr]	(The) Bad luck Tough
O Balcão	[oo bahl-kaong]	The Balcony The Counter
O Banho	[oo bah-nyioo]	The Bath
O Bilhete	[oo bee-lyieh-teh]	The Ticket
O Cartão	[oo cahr-taong]	The Card
A Casa	[ah kah-sah]	The House The Home
O Casal	[oo kah-zahl] in EU [oo kah-zahoo] in BR	The Couple
A Chegada	[ah shay-gah-dah]	The Arrival
A Coisa	[Ah koee-zah]	The Thing
A Conta	[ah-kong-tah]	The Bill
O Copo	[oo koh-poo]	The Glass
O Cuidado	[oo-koo-ee-dah-doo]	Careful The carefulness
A Desculpa	[ah dsh-cool-pah]	The Excuse
O Dia	[oo deer]	The Day
O Dinheiro	[oo dee-nyieh-ee-roh]	The Money The Cash
A Direita	[ah dee-ray-ee-tah]	The Right hand side
O Direito	[oo dee-ray-ee-too]	The (legal) Right
A Era	[ah air-rah]	The Era
O Esquerdo/A Esquerda	[ah eesh-kayr-dah] [oo eesh-kayr-doo]	The Left hand side
A Esquina	[ah sh-keen-ah]	The Corner
O Estudo	[oo sh-too-doo]	The Study
O Favor	[oo fah-vohr]	The Favour
O Fim	[oo feeng]	The End
A Frente	[ah-frayn-tt] in EU [ah-frayn-tchee] in BR	The front
O Frio	[oo free-oo]	The cold
A Gente	[ah jayn-tt] in EU and [ah jayn-tt] in BR	One (The people) We
O Homem	[oo oh-mayeen]	The Man
* A Hora (also compare with Tempo and Vez)	[ah oh-rah]	The Time The Hour
O Horário	[oo oh-ráh-ree-oo]	The Timetable
A Ida	[ah ee-dah]	The Go
O Lado	[oo lah-doo]	The Side
A Licença	[ah lee-sayn-sah]	The Permission The Licence
A Maioria (de)	[ah may-oo-ree-ah]	Most (of) The majority (of)
O Mal	[oo mahll]	The Bad thing
O Mês Os Meses	[oo may-sh] [oosh may-say-sh]	The month/The months
O Minuto	[oo mee-noo-too]	The minute
A Mulher	[ah moo-lyier]	The Woman The Wife
A Noite	[ah noh-ee-teh]	The Night
O Nome	[oo noh-meh]	The Name
As Novidades	[ash noo-vee-dah-desh]	The News (in terms of what is new)
O Número	[oo noo-may-roh]	The Number
O Ônibus	[oo oh-nee-booss]	The Bus (Brazilian Portuguese
A Palavra	[ah pah-lah-vrah]	The Word
(Os) Parabéns	[(oosh) pah-rah-baingsh]	(The) Congratulations
O Pé	[oo peh]	The Foot
As Pessoas	[ash peh-soh-ash]	The People
A Porta	[ah pohr-tah]	The Door
O Português	[oo poor-too-gay-sh]	The Portuguese
O Prato	[oo prah-too]	The Plate The dish
A Pressa	[ah pray-sah]	The hurry The Rush
O Primeiro	[oo pree-mahee-roh]	The first
O Princípio	[oo preen-cee-peeoh]	The Beginning
O Problema	[oh proh-blay-mah]	The Problem
O Próximo	[oo pro-see-moo]	The Next The following
O Quarto	[oo kwar-too]	The Fourth The Bedroom
O Recado	[oo ray-kah-doo]	The Message
A Rua	[ah roo-ah]	The road The street
O Semáforo	[oo say-mah-foo-roh]	The Traffic lights
A Semana	[ah say-mah-nah]	The Week
A Sorte	[ah sohr-tt] in EU or [ah sohr-tchee] in BR	The Luck
(A) Tarde	[(ah) tar-deh] in EU or [(ah) tar-tchee] in BR	Late (The) Afternoon
* O Tempo (also compare with Horas and Vez)	[oo taym-poo]	The Time (as The Weather
O Trabalho	[oo trah-bah-lyioo]	The Work The Assignment
O Troco	[oo troh-koo]	The Change
O Último	[oo ool-tee-moo] in EU and [oo ool-tchee-moo] in BR	The Last (one)
* A Vez (also compare with Tempo and Horas)	[ah vaysh]	The turn The time
A Viagem	[ah vee-ah-jaying]	The journey The Trip
A Volta	[ah vohl-tah]	The Return The Going back
O Vôo	[oo voh-oo]	The Flight

* Tempo, Vez and Hora are words that might be easily misused among the meanings of the Portuguese vocabulary if we don’t understand them properly:
In Portuguese you’d use the word «Vez» to describe a «turn» («Agora é a minha vez.» — «Now it’s my turn»). However, there are situations that we might incorrectly tend to say «tempo» instead of «vez» (e.g. «Esta vez vou de carro» — «This time I’ll go by car»). Here we are using the word «time», but what we really mean is «this turn, i’m going by car».
Tempo is more like measuring a period of time, for instance asking «how long» something is going to take («Quanto tempo é a reunião? Muito tempo?» — «How long is the meeting? Very long?»).
Hora(s) is used to specify for instance a flight time, or the specific time of a flight («A que horas é o vôo? As 14.30?» — «What time is the flight? At 14.30?»).

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Verbs

Are another important category of words of the Portuguese Vocabulary. If you are not sure what a verb (or doing word) is,

click here to learn more.

Portuguese verb	Word sound	English translation
Abrir	[ah-breer]	To Open
Achar	[ah-shahr]	To think To Guess To Find
Ajudar	[Ah-joo-darh]	To Help
Andar	[An-darh]	To be doing something To Walk
Apanhar	[ah-pah-nyiarh]	To Take / To Catch / To Get
Aprender	[Ah-prayn-dayrh]	To Learn
Assinar	[Ah-see-narh]	To Sign
Chegar	[shay-garh]	To arrive
Deixar (de)	[day-sharh]	To Leave behind To let (To Stop doing something)
Descer	[Desh-sayrh]	To go down To Descend
Desculpar-se	[daysh-cool-parr say]	To Forgive
Dizer	[dee-zayhr] EU [Tchee-zayhr] BR	To Say / To Tell
Dormir	[Door-meer]	To Sleep
Escrever	[Aysh-cray-vehr]	To write / to Spell
Estar	[eesh-tahr]	To be (temporary)
Estudar	[ees-too-dahr]	To study
Falar	[fah-lahr]	To Speak To Say (BR) / To Tell (BR)
Fazer	[fah-zayhr]	To Do / To Make
Fechar	[fay-shahr]	To Close
Ficar	[fee-kahr]	To be located To become To Stay
Ficar com	[fee-kahr con]	To keep To stay with
Gostar de	[goosh-tahr]	To Like
Ir	[eerh]	To Go
Ler	[layrh]	To Read
Melhorar	[may-lyio-rahr]	To better / to improve
Morar	[moh-rahr]	To Live
Olhar	[oh-lyiahr]	To look (at)
Parecer	[pah-ray-cehr]	To Seem / To Look like
Pedir	[peh-deer] EU [pee-cheer] BR	to Ask (for smething)
Perceber [EU]	[payr-seh-behr]	To Understand
Perguntar	[pehr-goon-tahr]	To ask (questions)
Poder	[poh-dehr]	Can To be able to
Pôr	[pohr]	To Put
Precisar	[pray-cee-zahr]	To need
Preferir	[pray-fay-reehr]	To Prefer
Responder	[raysh-pohn-dehr]	To Answer
Saber	[sah-behr]	To Know (skills)
Sair	[sah-eehr]	To Leave / To Go out
Ser	[sayhr]	To Be (permanent)
Sentar(-se)	[sayn-tahr]	To Sit Down
Sentir	[sayn-teehr] EU / [sayn-cheehr] BR	To Feel
Subir	[soo-beehr]	To Go Up / To climb
Ter (de)	[tay-rh (deh)] EU [tay-rh (chee)] BR	To Have (to)
Trabalhar	[trah-bah-lyiahr]	To work
Trazer	[trah-zehr]	To Bring
Trocar	[tro-kahr]	To change / To Exchange
Usar	[oo-sahr]	To Use
Ver	[vayrr]	To see To Watch
Viajar	[vee-ah-jar]	To Travel / To Commute
Vir	[Veerr]	To Come
Voltar (a+other verb)	[Vohl-tahr ah)]	To Come Back /(To do again)
Voar	[voo-ahr]	To fly

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Adjectives

Are another category of the Portuguese vocabulary that we need to identify and learn. Adjectives are words that describe objects, people or circumstances. They are of great importance in the Portuguese vocabulary.

Remember Adjectives follow nouns (e.g. to say «A tall man» in Portuguese you’d say «Um Homem alto«.

Because, in the Portuguese vocabulary, adjectives describe nouns, they have to agree in number and gender with these nouns.

When an adjective ends with an «o», it means that it’s describing a masculine noun. The adjectives in the following table will be all in their masculine form.

In order for you to learn better the adjectives of the Portuguese vocabulary, I’d suggest you learn first the masculine, and then adapt it to the other forms.

You can easily transform it into the feminine gender by replacing the last «o» by an «a».

The same applies to plurals — in which case you need to ad an «s» after the «o» or «a».

e.g. «Aberto» means «open» for masculine nouns like «Um livro aberto«, but if you are describing a feminine noun like «porta» (door), you say «Uma porta aberta.

And the same for plurals: «Uns livros abertos» and «Umas portas abertas.

So, here you have the most common adjectives in the Portuguese vocabulary.

Portuguese adjective	Word sound	English translation
Aberto	[ah-bayr-too]	Open
Alto	[ahl-too]EU / [ahoo-too]BR	Tall
Baixo	[bah-ee-shoo]	Small (short in high)
Barato	[bah-rah-too]	Cheap
Bom/Boa/Bons/Boas	[bong]	Good
Bonito	[Boo-nee-too]	Pretty / beautiful
Caro	[kah-roo]	Expensive / Dear
Casado	[kah-zah-doo]	Married
Comprido	[coom-pree-doo]	Long (in lengh)
Curto	[coor-too]	Short (in lengh)
Directo	[dee-reh-too]	Direct
Direito	[dee-ray-too]	Right (hand) / Straight (legal) Right
Esquerdo	[eesh-kehr-doo]	Left hand
Fechado	[fay-shah-doooo]	Closed
Feio	[fay-eeoo]	Ugly
Frio	[free-oo]	Cold
Grande/Grandes	[Gran-deh] EU / [Gran-chee] BR	Big / Large
Longa	[lon-gah]	Long
longe (de)	[lon-gee]	Far (from)
Lotado	[loo-tah-doo]	Packed with people Fully booked (e.g. hotel)
Melhor/Melhores	[may-lyiohr]	Better
Mau/Má/Maus/Más	[Maaooh]	Bad
Novo	[noh-voo]	New / young
Pequeno	[pay-kay-noo]	Small / short
Perto (de)	[pehr-too]	Near / Close (to)
(O)Pior/(Os)Piores	[(oo) pee-ohr]	(The) Worse
Quente	[kayn-teh]EU / [kayn-chee]BR	Hot/warm
Sério	[say-ree-oo]	Serious / Honest
Velho	[vay-lyioo]	Old

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Are you finding Portuguese vocabulary difficult or rather interesting?

Connectors are also very important words of the Portuguese vocabulary. As their name suggests, they connect 2 sentences and put them together in a way that makes sense when we speak.

You don’t need to know many of them. In the following table we will have the most frequent and important ones:

Portuguese connector	Word sound	English translation
A não ser que…	[ah naong sehr kay] EU [ah naong sehr kee]	Unless…
Como se…	[komo seh] EU [komo see]	As if…
E	[ee]	And
Enquanto	[eng-kwantoh]	While Whilest
Já que	[jah]	Once Given that Given that
Mas	[mash]Eu [mah-eess] BR	But
Nem	[naying]	nor
Nem…nem	[naying…naying]	Neither…nor…
Ou	[oh-oo]	Or
Ou…ou	[oh-oo…oh-oo]	Either…or…
Para	[pah-rah]	In order to
Por isso	[poor-ee-soh]	Therefore
Portanto	[poor-tan-too]	Therefore So…
Que	[kay] EU [kee] BR	That
Se	[seh] EU [see]	If
Senão	[seh-naung] EU [see-naung]	Otherwise

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Adverbs are also very important words of the Portuguese vocabulary. Adverbs describe or tell us more about how a verb is performing.

Think this way: if adjectives describe objects, adverbs describe actions.

If we take as an example the sentence «Ele fala bem Português» (or in English, He speaks Portuguese well.), we can see that the word «fala» [speaks] is the verb (in other words, the doing word) and the word «bem» [well] is the adverb — which describe how the verb is doing.

While you are learning the Portuguese vocabulary, you’ll realize that sometimes adverbs can also describe adjectives (e.g. «Ela é muito bonita» [She is very pretty]. So, «muito» [very] is the adverb and «bonita» [pretty] is the adjective.

Also many adverb words that in English end in …ly, in Portuguese the same words end in …mente.

So, can you imagine how much can you increase your Portuguese vocabulary right now?

Can you imagine how may words you can immediately convert from English into Portuguese? Lots of them! For instance, «immediately» in Portuguese is «imediatamente»; «automatically» in Portuguese is «automaticamente»; «basically» is «basicamente», and so on.

Now, who can tell me this is not great…?

In the following table, I’ll present you the most common adverbs in the Portuguese vocabulary. I’m also adding some useful common expressions that use those adverbs. Learn them, and use them when you are talking to your Portuguese speaking friends. They will be impressed with your Portuguese skills!

But, hey! Don’t be greedy! Remember: 10 words or expressions only per day. Otherwise you’ll be retaining NONE in your memory!

OK, ready? Let’s then analyze the most frequent adverbs of the Portuguese vocabulary.

Portuguese adverb	Word sound	English translation
Agora Agora?	[ah-goh-rah]	Now Nowadays Right now?
Já agora…	[jah ah-goh-rah]	might as well…
Aí	[ah-ee]	There (where the listener is) In that place So In that case
Ainda	[ah-een-dah]	Still Yet
Ainda agora	[ah-een-dah agoh-rah]	Just now
Ainda assim	[ah-een-dah asee-ing]	Nevertheless
Ainda que	[ah-een-dah kay]	Although Even though
Aqui	[ah-kee]	Here In this place At this point In this occasion
Assim	[ah-sing]	This way
Assim como	[ah-sing coh-mo]	As well as
…e assim por diante	[ee ah-sing por dee-an-teh]EU [ee ah-sing por chee-an-chee]BR	…and so on
Assim que	[ah-sing kee]	As soon as
Assim seja	[ah-sing say-jah]	Amen
Ainda assim	[Ah-een-dah-sing]	However / Even though
Bem	[Bah-ing]EU [Baing]BR	Well
Depressa	[deh-pray-sah] EU [chee-pray-sah]BR	Quickly
Devagar	[deh-vah-gahr] EU [chee-vah-gahr] BR	Slowly
Então Então?	[eing-taung]	So In this case Having said that Then What’s up?
Desde então	[des-deing-taung]	Since then
Hoje	[Ohjeh]	Today
Hoje em dia	[ohjen-dee-ah] EU [ohjen-cee-ah]	Nowadays
Mais hoje, mais amanhã	[mah-eesh ohjeh, mah-eesh ah-mah-nyiah]	Sooner or later
De hoje em diante	[deh ohjen dee-an-teh] EU [chee ohjen chee-an-chee] BR	From today on
Já	[jah]	Already Now
Já agora	[jah-goh-rah]	By the way
Para já	[prah jah]	For the time being For now
Lá	[lah]	Over there In that place In between those people Among those things
Logo	[loh-goo]	Later Immediately promptly
Logo que	[loh-goo kay]	As soon as
Desde logo	[daysh-deh loh-goo]EU [daysh-chee loh-goo]	Since then
Mal	[mal] EU [mah-oo] BR	Badly As soon as
Mal por mal…	[Mal por mal]	Preferentially…
De mal a pior	[deh-mahlah-pee-ohr] EU [chee-mahoo-ah-pee-ohr] BR	From worse to worse
Mais	[mah-eesh] EU [mah-eess] BR	More In addition Also Plus
Não … mais	[Naong mah-eesh] EU [naong mah-eess] BR	Not +(verb or noun)+ anymore
Mais dia menos dia	[mah-eesh dear meh-noosh dear] EU [mah-eesh cheeah meh-noosh cheeah] BR	Sooner or later
De mais	[deh mah-eesh] EU [chee mah-eess] BR	Too much Too many
Sem mais nem menos	[sing mah-eesh nehing mehnosh] EU [mah-eesh cheeah meh-noosh cheeah] BR	Suddenly All of a sudden
Menos	[meh-noosh] EU [meh-nooss] BR	Less Minus
A menos que	[ah meh-noosh kay] EU [ah meh-noosh kee]	Unless
Nem mais nem menos	[Naing mah-eesh naing meh-noosh] EU [Nen mah-eess nen meh-nooss]	No more no less Exactely
Pelo menos	[pay-loo meh-noosh] EU [pay-loo mah-eess]	At least
Mesmo	[maysh-moo] EU [mays-moo] BR	Really Even (so)
É mesmo?	[ay maysh-moo?] EU [ ay mayss-moo?] BR	Really?
Mesmo que/se	[maysh-noo kay /seh] EU [mayss-moo kee / see]	Even that / if
Mesmo aqui	[maysh-moo ah-kee] EU [mayss-moo ah-kee]	Right here
Mesmo assim	[maysh-moo ah-sing] EU [mayss-moo ah-sing]	Even though Still! (like: expensive still!)
O mesmo	[oo maysh-moo] EU [oo mayss-moo]	The same
Nada	[nah-dah]	Nothing No … nothing No … anything
De nada	[deh nah-dah] EU [chee nah-dah] BR	Don’t mention it You’re welcome
Não ser nada a	[naong sehr nah-dah ah]	Do not have any family connections with
Não	[nahong]	No don’t
Nunca	[nung-kah]	Never Never ever
Mais do que nunca	[mah-eesh doo kay nung-kah]	More than ever
Quase nunca	[kwah-zay nung-kah]	Almost never Rarely
Muito	[mooing-too]	Very With intensity Too much Frequently
Ontem	[on-teng]	Yesterday
Pouco	[paw-coo]	Little (as «not much») Rarely
Muito pouco	[mooing-too paw-coo]	Very little
Fazer pouco de	[fah-zayr paw-coo deh]	To take the micky of
Há pouco (EU) Faz pouco (BR)	[ah paw-coo] EU [fah-eess paw-coo] BR	A while ago
Por pouco	[poor paw-coo]	By the skin of my teeth
Pouco a pouco	[paw-coo ah paw-coo]	Little by little
Pronto	[pron-too]	Ready Readly
(pagamento) a pronto	[ah pron-too]	(payment) in cash
E pronto!	[ee pron-too!]	And full stop!
Sempre	[seng-pray]	Always For ever Constantly **In the end…
Sempre que	[seng-pray kay]	Every time that
Sim	[sing]	Yes
Só	[soh]	Only
A sós	[ah sosh]	In private
Também	[tam-baying]	Also As well Too In addition
Não só mas também	[naong soh mash tam-baying]	Not only but also
Tão	[taung]	So much
Tão (+ adjective)	[taung]	Too (e.g. Too good!)
Tanto	[tahn-too]	So much
Tanto melhor	[tahn-too may-lyior]	Even better
Tanto faz	[tahn-too fahsh]	It doesn’t matter
Tanto quanto (…sei)	[tahn-too kwan-too]	As far as (…I know)
A páginas tantas	[ah pah-gee-nash tahn-tash] EU	All of a sudden
Tarde	[Tar-deh] EU [Tar-chee] BR	Late
Muito tarde	[muing-too tar-deh] EU [muing-too tar-chee] BR	Too Late / very late

At that point of the situation

** This is a rather coloquial expression in the Portuguese vocabulary but very usefull and «sempre» gives the idea of decision (e.g. «Sempre foste a Portugal?» — «In the end, did you go to Portugal?»).

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Interrogatives are also very important words of the Portuguese vocabulary. Interrogatives are the question-words. They allow us to ask questions like «Onde?» [on-deh] — «where», «Quando» [kwando] — «When», etc.

The interrogatives of the Portuguese vocabulary are like this:

Portuguese Interrogative	Word sound	Meaning
A que horas?	[ah kay oh-rash?	What time at?
Com que frequência?	[con kay fray-kwen-ceeah?]	How often?
Com quem?	[con kaing?]	With who?
Como?	[koh-moh?]	How / What?
Como (é)?	[koh-moh (ay)?]	what (is it) like?
Donde?	[don-deh?] EU {don-chee?] BR	Where from?
De que côr?	[deh kay cohr?] EU [chee-kee-cohr] BR	What colour?
Há quanto tempo?	[ah kwan-too teing-poo?]	How long ago?
* (O) que?	[oo kay?]	what?
Onde?	[on-deh?] EU [on-chee?]	where?
Para onde?	[pah-rah on-deh?] EU [pah-rah on-chee?]	where to?
Para que?	[pah-rah kay?] EU [pah-rah kee?]	What for?
Porque? / Por que?	[poohr kay?] EU [poohr kee?]	Why?
Qual Quais?	[kwal?] [kwaiss?]	Which one Which ones?
Quando?	[kwan-doo?]	When?
Quanto?	[kwan-too?]	How much?
Quantos?	[kwan-toosh?] EU [kwan-tooss?]	How many?
Quantos anos?	[kwan-toos ah-noos?]	How old?
De que tamanho?	[deh kay tah-mah-nyio?] EU [chee kee tah-mah-nyio?]	How big/small? What size?
Quem?	[kaying?]	Who?
Quem?	[kaying?]	Who?

* «O que?» is normally followed by a verb, (e.g. «O que bebe?» — «what would you like to drink?»), whereas «Que?» is followed by a noun (e.g. «Que carro tem?» — «What car do you have?»).

Note: When European (EU) Portuguese native speakers ask a question, they normally emphasize these question words of the Portuguese vocabulary with «é que» (e.g. Quem é que come carne? — Who eats meat?). If you ask questions with this «é que», you’ll impress your Portuguese friends, because normally, only native speakers use it! However, it has to be said really fast to sound natural.
My suggestion is: practise them all running the words together like this: «Como é que?» [koo-may kay?], «porque é que?» [poohr-kay-kay?], and so on.

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And yes, now, go to the streets and start asking people questions in Portuguese! Even if nobody understands you (in case you are in a non-Portuguese speaking country), at least you are practising by saying it aloud…!

Numbers are also very important words in the Portuguese vocabulary.
Please click here to learn and practise the Portuguese numbers.

Fantástico! With this Portuguese vocabulary you can already speak Portuguese!

I told you it wouldn’t be difficult!

Agora, vamos praticar! [ahgoh-rah vah-moosh prah-tee-car!] Now, let’s practise!

Rafa x

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