Inhalt
Contents

Nouns

Singular and Plural Nouns

Gender of Nouns

Verbs

Stem-Changing Verbs

Verbs with Orthographic Changes

Verb Tenses

Negatives

Formal and Familiar Address

Active and Passive Voice

Reflexive Verbs

Impersonal Verbs

Infinitives

Gerunds

Participles

Adjectives

Comparative and Superlative

Absolute Superlative

Adverbs

Pronouns

Subject Pronouns

Direct Object Pronouns

Indirect Object Pronouns

Prepositional (Stressed) Pronouns

Reflexive Pronouns

Possessive Pronouns

Interrogatives and Exclamations

Indefinite Pronouns and Adjectives

Relative Pronouns

Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives

Passive Reflexive Constructions with "Se"

Impersonal Constructions with "Se"

Prepositions

Articles

Conjunctions

Interjections

Numbers

Prefixes and Suffixes

Phrases

Sentences and Clauses

Grammar Pages

Appendix of Irregular Verbs

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Nouns

A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing or idea.

João (John), casa (house), amizade (friendship).

See also:

Singular and Plural Nouns

Gender of Nouns

Proper Nouns

A proper noun is the name of a particular person, place or entity.

Afonso I, Luís Váz de Camões, o Brasil, Rio de Janeiro, o Natal (Christmas)

Common Nouns

All nouns other than proper nouns are called common.  Common nouns are subdivided into count and noncount nouns.

Count nouns have both singular and plural forms.  They can be used to answer the question, 'How many...?'

Collective nouns refer to a class or a group:

a reunião (meeting), o público (audience)

Abstract nouns refer to qualities and ideas.

a bondade (goodness), a justiça (justice), a beleza (beauty)

Noncount Nouns

Noncount nouns refer to things that cannot be counted.  In English, they do not usually take a definite article, but in Portuguese they often do. Noncount nouns include substances, abstract nouns, games and activities, and natural phenomena:

o leite (milk), a saúde (health), a natação (swimming), o calor (heat)


Singular and Plural Nouns
Singular and Plural Forms of Nouns

There are two grammatical forms to show number: singular and plural.  The singular for count nouns indicates that there is one, the plural that there are two or more. The plural of nouns and adjectives is regularly formed by adding -s to a words ending.

Nouns ending in a vowel (the majority)  add -s.

a casa (the house) -- as casas (the houses)

a lei (the law) -- as leis (the laws)

Nouns ending in -r or -z add -es.

a flor (flower)  as flores (flowers)

a mulher (the woman)  as mulheres (the women)

a voz (voice)  as vozes (voices)

Nouns ending in the letter -m change it to -ns when forming the plural.

a homem (man)  os homens (men)

Nouns ending in -s  add  -es to the singular form if the last syllable is stressed.

Nouns ending in -s do not change to form the plural if the last syllable is not stressed.

o mês (month) -- os mêses (months)

o país (the country) -- os países (the countries)

o lápis (pencil)  os lápis (pencils)

Nouns ending with -al,  -el, -ol and -ul  replace the ending -l with -is to form the plural.

o animal (animal)  os animais (animals)

o papel (paper)  os papéis (papers)

Nouns ending in -il  change the -il  to -eis  if the last syllable is not stressed.

o fóssil (the fossil)  os fósseis (the fossils)

Nouns ending in -ão form the plural by :

Changing the ending -ão to -ões. This rule encompasses the majority of nouns ending in -ão.  As a rule of thumb, when in doubt, change nouns ending in -ão to -ões to form the plural.

a lição (lesson)  as lições (lessons)

Changing the ending -ão to -ãos.

o irmão (the brother)  os irmãos (the brothers)

Changing the ending -ão to -ães. There are only a few nouns to which this rule applies.

o pão (the bread)  os pães (the breads)

(The following word is used in Portugal only. The more common term in Brazil is chachorro.)

o cão (the dog)  os cães (the dogs)


Gender of Nouns

Nouns have two genders in Portuguese: masculine and feminine.

The ending of a noun often indicates its gender.  Nouns ending in -o are usually masculine, while nouns ending in -a are usually feminine,

o touro (the bull)

a vaca (the cow)

However,  there are many exceptions.

You need to memorize the article, either definite or indefinite, together with noun in order to be able to identify the gender of a noun.


Adjectives
Adjective

Adjectives are words that qualify the meaning of a noun or pronoun.

um livro INTERESSANTE (an interesting book)

uma casa NOVA (a new house)

Adjectives answer the questions

What kind?, How many?, Whose?, Which one?

Portuguese adjectives agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the nouns they qualify.

um livro vermelho (a red book)

as casas vermelhas (the red houses)

Adjectives can be used as nouns, in which case they take a definite article.

os ricos (rich people), os pobres (the poor)

Comparative and Superlative

Absolute Superlative

Types of Adjectives

Descriptive adjectives refer to some quality or physical state of a noun in such a way as to distinguish it from others in its class.  These adjectives usually follow the nouns they qualify.

uma mulher inteligente (a clever woman)

Limiting adjectives include adjectives of quantity, cardinal numbers, possessive adjectives, demonstrative adjectives, and articles (definite and indefinite).  They usually precede the nouns they qualify.

Adjectives of quantity answer the question 'How much?'

muitos livros (a lot of books)

demasiado calor (too much heat)

Possessive adjectives answer the question 'Whose?'

The forms are as follows.

MASC. SING.	FEM. SING
meu (my, mine)	minha (my, mine)
teu (your, yours;fam.)	tua (your, yours;fam.)
seu  (his;your polite)	sua  (her,your;polite)
nosso (our, ours)	nossa (our, ours)
vosso (your, yours)	vossa (your, yours)
seu (their, theirs;polite)	sua (their, theirs;your,yours; polite)
MASC. PLURAL	FEM. PLURAL
meus (my, mine)	minhas (my, mine)
teus (your, yours)	tuas (your, yours)
seus (their, theirs)	suas (their, theirs)
nossos (our, ours)	nossas (our, ours)
vossos (your, yours)	vossas (your, yours;formal fam.plural)
seus (their, theirs;polite)	suas (their, theirs; your, yours; polite form)
They agree in gender and number with the thing possessed, NOT with the possessor.

meus livros (my books)

sua casa (their house)

See also Possessive Pronouns

Demonstrative adjectives answer the question 'Which one?'

este livro (this book)

aquelas montanhas (those mountains over there)

See also

Demonstrative Pronouns

Cardinal numbers answer the question 'How many?'

duas meninas (two girls)

cinquenta dólares (fifty dollars)

Ordinal numbers identify the position a noun occupies in a sequence.

a primeira página (the first page)

o segundo andar (the second floor)

See also Numbers

Comparative and Superlative Forms of Adjectives

Absolute Superlative


Comparative and Superlative
Comparative and Superlative Adjectives

See also

Coordinate Conjunctions

There are three degrees of comparison for an adjective.

POSITIVE:	alto (tall)
COMPARATIVE:	mais alto (taller) menos alto (less tall)
SUPERLATIVE:	o... mais alto (the tallest)
	o... menos alto (the least tall)

A few adjectives are compared irregularly.

POSITIVE	COMPARATIVE	SUPERLATIVE
bom (good)	melhor (better)	o melhor (best)
mau (bad)	pior (worse)	o pior (worst)
grande (great)	maior (greater)	o maior (greatest)
pequeno (small)	menor (lesser)	o menor (least)

The relative superlative is formed by placing the definite article in front of the noun or pronoun being compared.

Rachel é a menos vaidosa de todas.

(Rachel is the least conceited of all.)

Absolute Superlative

The absolute superlative indicates a high degree of some quality, rather than a comparison.  It is formed by adding the suffix -íssimo (feminine -íssima), -érrimo (feminine -érrima) or -ílimo (feminine -ílima) to the adjective:

uma mulher linda (a pretty woman)

uma mulher lindíssima (a very pretty woman)

A number of adjectives have two absolute superlatives:

Adjective	Absolute Superlative forms
bom (good)	boníssimo	óptimo (optimum)
gentil (gentle)	gentilíssimo	gentílimo (most gentle)
pobre (poor)	pobríssimo	paupérrimo (very poor)


Adverbs

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. Many adverbs are formed from adjectives by adding the suffix -mente to the feminine singular form. This suffix corresponds to -ly in English.

Escreve correctamente.

(He writes clearly.)

Some adverbs are also formed with the suffix -o, the adjectival ending.  In these cases, both adverbial endings are correct.

Escreve rápido e correcto.

(He writes quickly and correctly.)

Escreve rápidamente e correctamente.

(He writes quickly and correctly.)

Comparative and Superlative Degrees of Adverbs

Adverbs are compared by preceding them with mais or menos.

facilmente (easily)-- mais facilmente (more easily)

correctamente (correctly)-- menos correctamente (less correctly)

The superlative of an adverb is expressed by adding the suffix -mente  to the absolute superlative of the adjective to be used adverbially or to place the adverb muito before an adverb ending with the suffix -mente.

A raínha sentou-se elegantíssimamente no trono.

(the queen sat very elegantly on the throne.)

Irregular Forms of Comparison

Adverb	Comparative Adverb
bem (well)	melhor (better)
mal (badly)	pior (worse)
muito (a lot)	mais (more)
pouco (a little)	menos (less)

See also Comparative and Superlative Adjectives


Articles

The articles are of two sorts: definite articles (English 'the') and indefinite articles (English 'a').

DEFINITE ARTICLES	INDEFINITE ARTICLES
Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
o (the)	os (the)	um (a)	uns (some)
a (the)	as (the)	uma (a)	umas (some)
Articles always agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.

o homem (the man -- masculine s.)

a mulher (the woman -- feminine s.)

os homens (the men -- masculine pl.)

as mulheres (the women -- feminine pl.)

Contraction of Prepositions and Articles

There are contractions of prepositions with the definite articles in Portuguese:

	singular		plural
preposition	o	a	os	as
a (to, at)	ao	à	aos	às
de (of, from)	do	da	dos	das
em (in, on)	no	na	nos	nas
por (by, for)	pelo	pela	pelos	pelas
There are contractions of prepositions with the indefinite articles in Portuguese:

	singular		plural
preposition	um	uma	uns	umas
de (of, from)	dum	duma	duns	dumas
em (in, on)	num	numa	nuns	numas


Prefixes and Suffixes

Prefixes

Some common prefixes with their meanings include:

ante	(before)	anteontem (the day before yesterday)
con	(with)	conjurar (to conspire)
contra	(against)	contrapeso (counterweight)
de	(from)	decaer (to decline)
en	(in, on)	encerrar (to shut in)
entre	(among)	entretempo (between-season)
sin	(without)	sinvergonha (shameless)
sobre	(over)	sobrexcitar (overexcite)

The following prefixes are derived from Latin prepositions.

bi	(two)	bigamia (bigamy)
circun	(around)	circunvoar (to fly around)
im	(not)	impar (uneven)
inter	(between)	interpôr (to interpose)
pos	(after)	pospôr (to put behind)
pro	(forward)	propôr (to put forward)
re	(again)	recortar (to cut again)
retro	(backward)	retroceder (to go back)
semi	(half)	semisólido (semisolid)
sub	(up, under)	subir (to go up)
super	(over, extra)	superemgrego (overemployment)
trans	(across)	transbordar (to ferry across)
ultra	(beyond)	ultramarino (overseas)
Suffixes

Here is a list of some common suffixes.  Many of them derive from Latin.

Portuguese	English	Examples
-ancia	-ance	abundancia (abundance)
-ção	-tion	operação(operation)
-dade	-ty	utilidade (utility)
-dor	-man	pescador (fisherman)
-encia	-ence	omnipotencia (omnipotence)
-ero	-er	cartero (mail carrier)
-ez	-ness	redondez (roundness)
-ia	-y	gloria (glory)
-ivel	-ible	deduzivel (deducible)
-cço	-ical	paradócço (paradoxical)
-ismo	-ism	feminismo (feminism)
-ista	-ist	socialista (socialist)
-iz	-ess	actriz (actress)
-or	-or	vencedor (conqueror)
-orio	-ory	migratorio (migratory)
-oso	-ous	geloso (jealous)
Diminutives

Portugese uses the diminutive suffixes -zinho (f. -zinha), -inho (f. -inha), and -acho:

o cafezinho (a little cup of coffee)

una porta (door)

una portinha (small door)

um rio (river)

um riacho (creek, brook)

Augmentative Suffixes

The augmentative suffix -ão is added to a noun to indicate large size or exaggeration of a quality.  The suffixes -aço (f. -aça) adds a derogatory or slang connotation.

um carro (a car)-- um carrão (a big car)

rico (rich man)-- ricaço (money-bags)


The term productive is applied to simple processes for creating word forms.


Appendix of Irregular Verbs

Many verbs are irregularly conjugated in some or all of the tenses.  Here are sixteen of the most common ones.

Infinitive	Present ans past participle.	Present indicative	Present subjunctive	Preterit indicative	Polite command
crer (to believe)	crendo crido	creio crês crê cremos credes crêem	creia creias creia creiamos creiais creiam	cri creste creu cremos crestes creram	creia, creiam
dar (to give)	dando dado	dou dás dá damos dais dão	dê dês dê dêmos deis dêem	dei deste deu demos destes deram	dê dêem
dizer (to say)	dizendo dito	digo dizes diz dizemos  dizeis dizem	diga digas diga digamos digais digam	disse disseste disse dissemos dissestes disseram	diga digam
estar (to be) This verb expresses temporary being, as in Como esta? (How are you?) See also Ser.	estando estado	estou estás está estamos estais  estão	esteja estejas esteja estejamos estejais estejam	estive estiveste esteve estivemos estivestes estiveram	esteja estejam
fazer (to do)	fazendo feito	faço fazes faz fazemos fazeis  fazem	faça faças faça façamos façais façam	fiz fizeste fez fizemos fizestes fizeram	faça façam
haver (to have)	havendo havido	hei hás  há havemos haveis  hão	haja hajas haja hajamos hajais hajam	houve houveste houve houvemos houvestes houveram	haja  hajam
ir (to go)	indo ido	vou vais vai vamos  ides vão	vá vás vá vamos vades vão	fui foste foi fomos fostes foram	vá vão
poder (may, can, to be able to)	podendo podido	posso podes pode podemos podeis podem	possa possas possa possamos possais possam	pude pudeste pôde pudemos pudestes puderam	possa  possam
pôr (to put)	pondo pôsto	ponho pões põe pomos pondes põem	ponha ponhas ponha ponhamos ponhais ponham	pus puseste pôs pusemos pusestes puseram	ponha ponham
querer (to want)	querendo querido	quero queres quer queremos quereis querem	queira queiras queira queiramos queirais queiram	quis quiseste quis quisemos quisestes quiseram	queira queiram
saber (to know)	sabendo sabido	sei sabes sabe sabemos sabeis sabem	saiba saibas saiba saibamos saibais saibam	soube soubeste soube soubemos soubestes souberam	saiba saibam
ser (to be) This verb expresses permanent being. See also, Estar.	sendo sido	sou és é somos sois são	seja sejas seja sejamos sejais sejam	fui foste foi fomos fostes foram	seja sejam
ter (to have)	tendo tido	tenho tens tem temos tendes têm	tenha tenhas tenha tenhamos tenhais tenham	tive tiveste teve tivemos tivestes tiveram	tenha tenham
trazer (to bring)	trazendo trazido	trago  trazes traz  trazemos trazeis trazem	traga tragas traga tragamos tragais tragam	trouxe trouxeste trouxe trouxemos trouxestes trouxeram	traga tragam
ver (to see)	vendo visto	vejo vês vê vemos vêdes vêem	veja vejas veja vejamos vejais vejam	vi viste viu vimos vistes viram	veja vejam
vir (to come)	vindo vindo	venho vens vem vimos vindes vêm	venha venhas venha venhamos venhais venham	vim vieste veio viemos viestes vieram	venha venham


Phrases

A phrase is a group of words functioning as a single part of speech (noun, verb, adverb, etc.).

Noun Phrases

Nouns are qualified by articles and adjectives.  A noun phrase consists of a noun and the words that serve to qualify it.

NOUN:  livro (book)

NOUN PHRASE:  um livro interessante (an interesting book)

um livro de música (a music book)

uma casa de campo (a country house)

Appositive Noun and Adjective Phrases

An appositive phrase renames the noun or pronoun to which it is in apposition.  Appositive phrases are set off by commas.

Articles are not used in an appositive phrase unless it involves a superlative or is qualified by a following adjective or adjective clause.

.

Luis de Camôes, poeta de Portugal

(Luis de Camoes, the Portuguese poet)

BUT

Malhôa, o melhor pintor

(Malhôa, the best painter)

Camões, o grande poeta que escreveu Os Lusíadas

(Camões, the great poet who wrote The Lusiad)

Infinitive Phrases

See also Infinitives

An infinitive phrase may function in the following ways.

As an adverb.

Ao chegar no destino êle encontrou dois guias locais.

(Upon arriving at his destination, he met two local guides.)

As the object of a verb.

Quero ver os quadros de Malhôa.

(I want to see the paintings of Malhôa.)

As the subject of a sentence.

É difícil aprender português.

(Learning Portuguese is difficult.)

Gerund Phrases

Phrases with a gerund (which is equivalent to the English present participle) function adverbially.  They indicate an action simultaneous with the action of the main verb.

Devemos nos preparar para uma viagem tentando tirar o máximo da mesma.

(We should prepare for a trip, seeking to get the most out of it.)

Phrases with a past participle function adjectivally.

Luís Váz de Camões, nacido em 1524, é o imortal poeta de Portugal.

(Luís Váz de Camões, born in 1524, is the immortal poet of Portugal.)


Prepositions

Prepositions are placed before pronouns and nouns (or infinitives used as nouns) in order to form a prepositional phrase qualifying another word in the sentence.  The noun or pronoun in the phrase is called the object of the preposition.

Prepositional phrases may function adjectivally or adverbially.

As ilhas dos Açores, no Atlântico, são relativamente inacessíveis.

(The Açores Islands, in the Atlantic, are relatively inaccessible.)

Here the word ilhas (islands) is qualified by two prepositional phrases, dos Açores (of the Açores) and no Atlantico (in the Atlantic).

Durante o último decénio, ilusionistas portugueses têm sido objecto de uma grande atenção mundial.

(During the past decade, Portuguese magicians have been the object of a great deal of attention around the world.)

Here the compound verb form têm sido (have been) is qualified by the prepositional phrase durante o último decénio (during the past decade).

See also

Prepositional (Disjunctive) Pronouns


Conjunctions

Conjunctions join words, phrases and clauses together.

Coordinate Conjunctions

Coordinate conjunctions join clauses that are capable of functioning independently.

Commonly used coordinate conjunctions include:

e (and), ou (or), nem (nor), pois (so, then), que  (that), porém (however), portanto (therefore), mas (but), todavia  (nevertheless), contudo (however),

Correlative conjunctions function in pairs.

ou...  ou (either... or)

já…   já (now…now)

ora… ora (now…now)

seja… seja (be…or)

quer… quer (either… or)

nem... nem (neither... nor)

nem chove, nem faz sol  (it neither rains or shines)

seja menino, seja menina… (be it a boy or a girl…)

Subordinate Conjunctions

Unlike coordinate conjunctions, which join independent clauses, subordinate conjunctions join a dependent clause to the main clause of the sentence.  They also indicate the relationship of the dependent clause to the main clause.

Here are some common subordinate conjunctions.

quando (when), até que (until), enquanto (as), porque (because)

Conjunctions Requiring Subjunctive Verb

Certain subordinate conjunctions require a subjunctive verb in the dependent clause.

antes que	(before)
assim que	(as soon as)
posto que	(even if, although)
para que	(in order that)
a menos que	(unless)
Antes de comer a maçâ, deixa-me lavá-la.

(Before you eat the apple, let me wash it.)

Assim que lhe encontrar, lhe darei as notícias.

(As soon as I find him, Ill give him the news.)


Interjections

Interjections are words or expressions stuck in at random to express the speaker's emotions.  They are usually set off from the rest of the sentence by an exclamation mark or a comma.

Interjections	Expressing
Ah! (oh! ouch!)	Admiration, pain, happiness
ai! ui!	Pain , surprise
upa!	To make one stand up
eia! sus!  força!	Encouragement


Pronouns

A pronoun is a word that stands for a previously mentioned (or understood) noun.  That noun is called the antecedent of the pronoun.

Subject Pronouns

Direct Object Pronouns

Indirect Object Pronouns

Prepositional (Stressed) Pronouns

Reflexive Pronouns

Passive Reflexive Constructions with "Se"

Impersonal Constructions with "Se"

Possessive Pronouns

Interrogatives and Exclamations

Indefinite Pronouns and Adjectives

Relative Pronouns

Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives


Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative Pronouns and Adjectives

Demonstratives identify or point to nouns.  They are used as both pronouns and adjectives.

The demonstrative adjectives are as follows.

SINGULAR
Masculine	Feminine
este	esta	(this)
esse	essa	(that)
aquele	aquela	(that)
PLURAL
Masculine	Feminine
estes	estas	(these)
esses	essas	(those)
aqueles	aquelas	(those)

Este refers to something near the speaker; esse refers to something at a distance from the speaker but in the vicinity of the person spoken to; aquele refers to something at a distance from both the speaker and the listener.

Demonstrative pronouns are formed by adding a written accent to the corresponding demonstrative adjective. They agree in gender and number with the nouns they represent.

Não quero esta mesa; prefiro àquela.

(I don't want this table; I prefer that one over there).

The neuter demonstrative pronouns are isto, isso and aquilo.  They do not have written accents since there are no corresponding adjectives to confuse them with.

Isso me preocupa. (That worries me.)

Isso é certo. (That is true.)


Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite Pronouns and Adjectives

Indefinite pronouns and adjectives refer to people or things that are not specific.

The following indefinite adjectives change their form to agree in gender and number with the nouns they qualify.

algum (some), certo (a certain), demasiado (too much, too many), muito (much, many), nenhum (not any), outro (another), pouco (a little, few), tanto (much, many), todo (all)

The indefinite pronouns are:

algo (something, anything), nada (nothing), alguém (somebody, anybody), ninguém (nobody), quem/quer (whoever/whosoever)


Possessive Pronouns

The possessive pronouns are formed by adding the appropriate definite article to the long forms of possessive adjectives.

ADJECTIVE	PRONOUN
umas coisas minhas (some things of mine)	as minhas (mine)
um carro seu (a car of yours)	o seu (yours)
uns amigos seus (some friends of hers, his, yours)	os seus (hers, his, yours)
umas amigas suas (some friends of hers, his, yours)	as suas (hers, his, yours)
um amigo nosso (a friend of ours)	o nosso (ours)
uma amiga vossa (a girlfriend of yours)	a vossa (yours)
uma casa sua (a house of theirs, yours)	a sua (theirs, yours)

Possessive pronouns, like possessive adjectives, agree with the thing possessed rather than with the possessor:

Tenho as suas cartas e as minhas.

(I have your letters and mine.)

Note:  The 3rd person forms (ele, ela) and o are often used with the preposition de to avoid ambiguity instead of the possessive pronoun seu.

Tenho o livro dele, não odela.

(I have his book, not hers.)

Also,

Comprei o meu bilhete e o do senhor.

(I bought my ticket and yours. Literally, and the sirs.)


Prepositional Pronouns
Prepositional (Disjunctive) Pronouns

Prepositional pronouns are the object of the preposition that they follow.

The prepositional pronouns are as follows.

	SINGULAR	PLURAL
1st person	mim (me)	nós (us)
2nd (familiar)	ti (you)	vós (you)
3rd	ele (him)	eles (them - m)
3rd	ela (her)	elas (them - f)
3rd (polite)	o senhor (you)	os senhores (them)
3rd (polite)	a senhora (you)	as senhoras (them)
3rd (familiar)	você (you)	vocês (you)
Deu o livro à mim.

(He gave the book to me.)

Deu o livro a ela.

(He gave the book to her.)


Direct Object Pronouns

Direct object pronouns stand for the persons or things that receive the action of the verb.  When a direct object pronoun follows the verb it is preceded by a hyphen.

Eu vi-o na rua.

(I saw him / it / you in the street.)

The forms of the direct object pronouns are as follows.

	SINGULAR	PLURAL
1st person	me (me)	nós (us)
2nd (familiar)	te (you)	vós (you)
3rd person	o (him,it, you)	os (them, you)
3rd person	a (her,it, you)	as (them, you)
3rd (formal)	o senhor	os senhores
3rd (formal)	a senhora	as senhoras
3rd (familiar)	você (you)	vocês (you)


Indirect Object Pronouns

Indirect object pronouns stand for persons or things indirectly affected by the action of the verb.  They are usually associated with verbs of saying and giving.

Escrevi-lhe uma carta.

(I wrote a letter to her.)

The forms of the indirect object pronouns are as follows.

	SINGULAR	PLURAL
1st person	me (to me)	nós (to us)
2nd   familiar	te  (to you)	vós (to you)
3rd person	lhe (to him, her, you)	lhes (to him, her, you)
3rd (formal)	ao senhor (to him)	aos senhores (to you - m.)
3rd (formal)	à senhora (to her)	às senhoras (to you - f.)
3rd (familiar)	à você (to you)	à vocês  (to you)


Subject Pronouns

The subject pronouns are as follows.

1st person:	eu (I)	nós (we)
2nd (familiar)	tu (you)	vós (you)
3rd	ele (he)	eles (they - m)
3rd	ela (she)	elas (they - f)
3rd (polite)	o senhor (you	os senhores (you - m)
3rd (polite)	a senhora (you)	as senhoras (you - f)
3rd (familiar)	você (you)	vocês (you)
Subject pronouns are regularly omitted, since they can be deduced from the conjugated verb forms.

Trago os refrescos/os sucos.

(I'm bringing the soft drinks.)


Reflexive Pronouns

The reflexive pronouns are as follows.

	SINGULAR	PLURAL
1st person	me (myself)	nós (ourselves)
2nd (familiar)	te (yourself)	vós (yourselves)
2nd (polite)	se (yourself)	se (yourselves)
3rd	se (him/her/itself)	se (themselves)

Reflexive pronouns are always used with reflexive verbs.  Sometimes the literal meaning of the reflexive pronouns ('myself,' etc.) can be translated into English, but usually they cannot be translated in isolation from the verb.

Como se chama?

(Whats your name?)

Reflexive pronouns normally precede the conjugated verb, but are attached to the infinitive, the present participle, and affirmative commands.

Quero lavar-me. (I want to wash up.)


Passive Reflexive with "Se"
Passive Reflexive Constructions with "Se"

Reflexive constructions are often used where the passive voice would be used in English.

Naquela cidade se falam muitas línguas.

(Many languages are spoken in that city.)


Impersonal Constructions with "Se"

Se is used in impersonal constructions as an indefinite pronoun similar to the English 'one' or impersonal 'you' and 'they'.

This construction should be easily translated as 'one,' 'you,' they', or people as the subject.

Como se vai ao teatro?

(How do you get to the theater?)


Interrogative Pronouns
Interrogatives and Exclamations

Interrogatives ask a question, and are distinguished by their written accents.  The most common interrogatives are:

Quem? De quem?	(Who?) (Whose?)
Que? Quê?	(What? Which?)  (What?)
Qual?	(Which?)
Como?	(How?)
Quando?	(When?)
Quanto?	(How much?)
Quantos?	(How many?)
Onde?	(Where?)
Porque? Porquê?	(Why?) (Why?)
Para quê?	(What for?)

Exclamatory words also have written accents.  The most common one is Que...! used in front of an adjective, adverb or noun.

Que casa! (What a house!)


Relative Pronouns

Relative pronouns introduce a subordinate clause and replace something mentioned earlier in the sentence.  They can function as either subject or object pronouns without any change in form.

The most common relative pronoun is que (who, that, which, whom).

O senhor que mora neste casa é do Brasil.

(The gentleman who lives in this house is from Brazil.)

O livro que está na mesa é do meu pai.

(The book which is on the table is my fathers.)

The compound relative pronouns  o que, a que (plural os que, as que) or o qual, a qual (pl. os quais, as quais used very rarely) are used interchangeably after prepositions of more than one syllable, or to avoid confusion and ambiguity.

Sabe o que ele disse?

(Do you know what he said?)

Estes livros são os que quero.

(These books are the ones I want.)

The relative pronoun cujo, cuja (plural cujos, cujas) usually functions as an adjective meaning 'whose' or 'of which.': It agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies.

Os senhores cuja chegada esperamos estão atrasados.

(The gentlemen, whose arrival we are awaiting, are late.)


Numbers

There are two kinds of numbers, cardinal and ordinal.

Cardinal numbers are used for counting.

	0  zero	10 dez
	1  um/uma	11 onze
	2  dois/duas	12 doze
	3  três	13 treze
	4  quatro	14 catorze
	5  cinco	15 quinze
	6  seis	16 dezesseis
	7  sete	17 dezessete
	8  oito	18 dezoito
	9  nove	19 dezenove
20 vinte

21 vinte e um, uma

22 vinte e dois, duas

30 trinta

31 trinta e um, uma

40 quarenta

50 cinquenta

60 sessenta

70 setenta

80 oitenta

90 noventa

100 cem

101 cento  e um

200 duzentos, -as

300 trezentos, -as

400 quatrocentos, -as

500 quinhentos

600 seiscentos

700 setecentos

800 oitocentos, -as

900 novecentos, -as

1.000 mil 1.500 mil quinhentos, -as

2.000 dois mil

1.000.000 um milhão

et cetera.

1997 mil novecentos noventa e sete

The Ordinal numbers are used to establish a relative position:

primeiro, -a (first)

segundo, -a (second)

terceiro, -a (third)

quarto, -a (fourth)

quinto, -a (fifth)

sexto, -a (sixth)

sétimo, -a (seventh)

oitavo, -a (eighth)

nono, -a (ninth)

décimo, -a (tenth)

The ordinals are used only up to décimo (tenth).  After ten, cardinal numbers are generally used to indicate the ordinals.

Manuel Segundo (Manual the Second)

Afonso Treze (Alphonse the Thirteenth)

Papa Pío Doze (Pope Pius the Twelfth)

o século vinte (the twentieth century).


Sentences and Clauses

The sentence is a group of words expressing a complete thought. It begins with a capital letter and closes with a punctuation mark.

Usually a sentence consists of a subject and a predicate.

The subject is the topic of the sentence. The predicate is what is said about the subject. The most common forms of subject are nouns and  pronouns:

The predicate of the sentence is what is said about the subject. The predicate always contains a verb. The most common form of a predicate is one consisting of the verb of action and direct or indirect object:

SUBJECT	PREDICATE
Eu	estou preparada para uma viagem..
(I	am prepared for a trip.)
João	não fala português..
(John	doesn't speak Portuguese.)
Eu	escrivi-lhe uma carta.
(I	wrote him a letter.)
O meu amigo	afirmou os resultadas da Loteria Federal..
(My friend	affirmed the results of the Federal Lottery.)

Linking verbs are part of the predicate:

Ana	é médica.
(Ann	is a doctor.)
Subject Predicate Agreement

In order to form a grammatically correct sentence, certain parts of speech (verbs, nouns, pronouns) have to agree with each other in number (singular or plural) and person (first, second, or third):

	SUBJECT	PREDICATE
	A estudante	está pronta.
	(The student	is ready.)
	Os estudantes	estão prontos.
	(The students	are ready.)
Clauses

A clause is a structure containing a subject and predicate. Independent clauses can stand by themselves as a sentence. Subordinate clauses serve as part of a sentence but do not express a complete thought and cannot stand by themselves. They are subordinate to the main clause.


Interrogative Sentences (Question)
Interrogative Sentences (Questions)

Many questions begin with either interrogative pronouns or interrogative adverbs.

The most common interrogative pronoun is que? (what).  It is also used as an adjective.  The interrogative pronoun quem? (who) cannot be used adjectivally.

Que é  isto?

(What is this?) (Pronominal)

Que horas são?

(What time is it?) (Adjectival)

Interrogative adverbs include the following:

como? (how?), quando? (when?), quanto? (how much?), cujo? (whose?), aonde? (whereto?), donde? (wherefrom?), porque? por que?  (why?)


Verb Tenses

Simple Tenses

Progressive Tenses

Perfect Tenses

Perfect Progressive Tenses


Simple Tenses

Portuguese has four simple tenses.

PRESENT:

falo (I speak, I am speaking)

FUTURE:

falarei (I will speak)

IMPERFECT:

falava (I was speaking, I used to speak)

PRETERIT:

falei (I spoke)

Present

The present tense of regular verbs is formed by removing the infinitive ending and adding personal endings to the verb stem.  There is a different set of personal endings for each of the three conjugations.

1st Conjugation: fal-ar (to speak)

fal-o (I speak)	fal-amos (we speak)
fal-as (you speak)	fal-áis (you pl. speak)
fal-a (he, she, it speaks, you speak)	fal-am (they, you pl. speak)

2nd Conjugation: com-er (to eat)

com-o (I eat)	com-emos (we eat)
com-es (you eat)	com-éis (you pl. eat)
com-e (he, she, it eats, you eat)	com-em (they, you pl. eat)

3rd Conjugation: part-ir (to leave)

part-o (I leave)	part-imos (we leave)
part-es (you leave)	part-ís (you pl. leave)
part-e (he, she, it leaves, you leave)	part-em (they, you pl. leave)
Imperfect

The imperfect tense of regular verbs is formed by removing the infinitive ending (-ar, -er or -ir) and adding personal endings to the verb stem.  There is one set of endings for the first (-ar) conjugation and a second set of endings shared by the second (-er) and third (-ir) conjugations.

The imperfect tense is used to express action or state in the past as continuing, repeated or habitual.  It can be translated as was/were + participle, used + infinitive, or kept on + participle.

1st Conjugation: fal-ar (to speak)

fal-ava (I was speaking)	fal-ávamos (we were speaking)
fal-avas (you were speaking)	fal-áveis (you all were speaking)
fal-ava (he, she, it was speaking, you were speaking)	fal-avam (they, you were speaking)
2nd Conjugation: com-er (to eat)

com-ia (I was eating)	com-íamos (we were eating)
com-ias (you were eating)	com-íeis (you all were eating)
com-ia (he, she, it was eating, you were eating)	com-iam (they, you were eating)
3rd Conjugation: part-ir (to leave)

part-ia (I used to leave)	part-íamos (we used to leave)
part-ias (you used to leave)	part-íeis (you all used to leave)
part-ia (he, she, it, you used to leave)	part-iam (they, you used to leave)
Preterit

The preterit tense of regular verbs is formed by removing the infinitive ending (-ar, -er or -ir) and adding personal endings to the verb stem.  As with the imperfect tense, there is one set of endings for the first (-ar) conjugation and a second set of endings shared by the second (-er) and third (-ir) conjugations. The preterit tense is used to express simple narration in the past.

1st Conjugation: fal-ar (to speak)

fal-ei (I spoke)	fal-ámos (we spoke)
fal-aste (you spoke)	fal-astes (you all spoke)
fal-ou (he, she, it, you spoke)	fal-aram (they, you spoke)
2nd Conjugation: com-er (to eat)

com-i (I ate)	com-emos (we ate)
com-este (you ate)	com-estes (you pl. ate)
com-eu (he, she it, you ate)	com-eram (they, you ate)
3rd Conjugation: part-ir (to leave)

part-i (I left)	part-imos (we left)
part-iste (you left)	part-istes (you all left)
part-iu (he, she, it, you left)	part-iram (they, you left)
Future

The future tense of regular verbs is formed by adding personal endings to the entire infinitive form (rather than to the verb stem).  The endings are the same for all three conjugations.

1st Conjugation: falar (to speak)

falar-ei (I will speak)	falar-emos (we will speak)
falar-ás (you will speak)	falar-eis (you all will speak)
falar-á (he, she, it will speak)	falar-ão (they will speak)
2nd Conjugation: comer (to eat)

comer-ei (I will eat)	comer-emos (we will eat)
comer-ás (you will eat)	comer-eis (you all will eat)
comer-á (he, she, it will eat)	comer-ão (they will eat)
3rd Conjugation: partir (to leave)

partir-ei (I will leave)	partir-emos (we will leave)
partir-ás (you will leave)	partir-eis (you all will leave)
partir-á (he, she, it will leave)	partir-ão (they will leave)
The verb ir (to go), followed by an infinitive is often used to express future action.  The English equivalent is the progressive form of to go.

Vou aprender português.

(I am going to learn Portuguese.)

Ela não vai comer.

(She is not going to eat.)


Progressive Tenses

The gerund (the English present participle) is used with the verb estar to form the progressive tenses, which express an ongoing action.

Estou estudando português.

(I am studying Portuguese.)

Você estava lendo o jornal brasileiro.

(You were reading the Brazilian newspaper.)

Present Progressive

The present progressive tense is formed by the present tense of the verb estar and the gerund (= English present participle) of the main verb.

estou	falando (I am speaking)
estás	falando (you are speaking)
está	falando (he, she, it is speaking, you are speaking)
estamos	falando (we are speaking)
estais	falando (you pl. are speaking)
estão	falando (they, you pl. are speaking)
Imperfect Progressive

The imperfect progressive tense is formed by the imperfect tense of the verb estar and the gerund (= English present participle) of the main verb.

estava	falando (I was speaking)
estavas	falando (you were speaking)
estava	falando (he, she, it was speaking, you were speaking)
estávamos	falando (we were speaking)
estáveis	falando (you all were speaking)
estavam	falando (they, you pl. were speaking)
Preterit Progressive

The preterit progressive tense is formed by the preterit tense of the verb estar and the gerund  (= English present participle) of the main verb.

estive	falando (I was speaking)
estiveste	falando (you were speaking)
esteve	falando (he, she, it was speaking, you were speaking)
estivemos	falando (we were speaking)
estivestes	falando (you pl. were speaking)
estiveram	falando (they were speaking)
Future Progressive

The future progressive tense is formed by the future tense of the verb estar and the gerund      (= English present participle) of the main verb.

estarei	falando (I will be speaking)
estarás	falando (you will be speaking)
estará	falando (he, she, it, you will be speaking)
estaremos	falando (we will be speaking)
estareis	falando (you pl. will be speaking)
estarão	falando (they, you will be speaking)


Perfect Tenses

The perfect tenses are compound tenses formed with the auxiliary verb ter (to have) (or haver) and the past participle of the main verb.  The past participle in perfect tenses is invariable in form.

The present perfect uses the present tense of ter.

The future perfect uses the future tense of ter or haver.

The perfect infinitive is composed of the infinitive of ter or haver and the past

The perfect participle is composed of the gerund (the English present participle) of ter or haver and the past participle of the verb.

See also the Appendix of Irregular Verbs for the conjugation of the auxiliary verbs ter and haver.

Present Perfect

The present perfect is a compound tense formed with the present tense (indicative and subjunctive) of the auxiliary verb ter (or sometimes haver) and the past participle of the main verb.  The past participle is invariable; it does not agree in gender and number with the subject.

tenho	falado, comido, partido (I have spoken, eaten, left)
tens	falado, comido, partido (you have spoken, eaten, left)
tem	falado, comido, partido (he,she, it has spoken, eaten, left)
temos	falado, comido, partido (we have spoken, eaten, left)
tendes	falado, comido, partido (you all have spoken, eaten, left)
têm	falado, comido, partido (they have spoken, eaten, left)

The present perfect tense denotes an action or state that started in the past and extends into the present.  This tense is in contrast with the past tense, which denotes an action entirely in the past.

Tenho estado em Rio de Janeiro.

(I have been staying in Rio de Janeiro.)

In conversation, the present or preterit tense of acabar de followed by an infinitive is often used to express action which has just finished.  The equivalent in English is just or have just.

Acabou de chegar.

(I've just come.)

Acabo de estudiar a minha lição.

(I've just studied my lesson.)

Preterit Perfect

The preterit perfect or past anterior is not used in Portuguese as it may be the case in other languages. The preterit or pluperfect is used in its place.

Êle disse que tinha tido a mamorada no Brasil.

(He said that he had a girlfriend in Brazil.)

Past Perfect (Pluperfect)

The past perfect or pluperfect tense uses the imperfect tense of the verb  ter (or haver) as the auxiliary.

tinha	falado, comido,  partido  (I had spoken, eaten, left)
tinhas	falado, comido, partido (you had spoken, eaten, left)
tinha	falado, comido, partido (he, she, it, you had spoken, eaten, left)
tínhamos	falado, comido, partido (we had spoken, eaten, left)
tínheis	falado, comido, partido (you pl. had spoken, eaten, left)
tinham	falado, comido, partido (they, you pl. had spoken, eaten, left)

The past perfect denotes an action occurring prior to another action in the past.

Quando chegaram à casa, Ana tinha saído.

(When they arrived home, Ann had gone out.)

Future Perfect

The future perfect uses the future tense (indicative and subjunctive) of the auxiliary verb ter or haver.

terei	falado, comido, partido  (I will have spoken, eaten, left)
terás	falado, comido, partido
terá	falado, comido, partido
teremos	falado, comido, partido
tereis	falado, comido, partido
terão	falado, comido, partido


Perfect Progressive Tenses

Perfect progressive tenses combine characteristics of perfect tenses and continuous tenses.  They are formed of three elements:

1) a conjugated tense of ter or haver (to have);

2) the perfect participle of estar (to be); and

3) the gerund (English present participle) of the main verb.

The perfect progressive tenses are seldom used.

Present Perfect Progressive

The present perfect progressive tense is formed by the present perfect of the verb estar and the gerund (English present participle) of the main verb.

tenho estado	falando (I have been speaking)
tens estado	falando (you have been speaking)
tem estado	falando (he, she, it has been speaking, you have been speaking)
temos estado	falando (we have been speaking)
tendes estado	falando (you pl. have been speaking)
têm estado	falando (they, you have been speaking)
Past Perfect Progressive

The past perfect progressive tense is formed by the past perfect (pluperfect) of the verb estar and the gerund (English present participle) of the main verb.

tinha estado	falando (I had been speaking)
tinhas estado	falando (you had been speaking)
tinha estado	falando (he, she, it, you had been speaking)
tínhamos estado	falando (we had been speaking)
tínheis estado	falando (you pl. had been speaking)
tinham estado	falando (they, you had been speaking)
Future Perfect Progressive

The future perfect progressive tense is formed by the future perfect of the verb estar and the gerund (English present participle) of the main verb.

terei estado	falando (I will have been speaking)
terás estado	falando (you will have been speaking)
terá estado	falando (he, she, it, you will have been speaking)
teremos estado	falando (we will have been speaking)
tereis estado	falando (you pl. will have been speaking)
terão estado	falando (they, you will have been speaking)


Verbs

Portuguese verbs belong to one of three conjugations which can be distinguished by the endings of the infinitive forms.

1st Conjugation (-ar): falar (to speak)

2nd Conjugation (-er): comer (to eat)

3rd Conjugation (-ir): partir (to leave)

There are four simple tenses: present, future, imperfect and preterit.

There are four compound tenses: present perfect, future perfect, pluperfect (past perfect), and preterit perfect (past anterior).

There are four moods: indicative (expressing a fact), subjunctive (expressing an emotional attitude), conditional (expressing the idea of "would"), and imperative (expressing a command).

There are two numbers, singular and plural.

There are three persons:

1st person (I, we)

2nd person (you) - familiar form used in Portugal only

3rd person (he/she/it, they) - also used for you, singular and plural

Note: The 2nd person forms are used in Portugal only when addressing family members or close friends (familiar 2nd person).  In both Portugal and Brazil, the 3rd person is used in conversation as a show of respect (polite 2nd person).

See:

Formal and Familiar Address

A verb agrees in person and number with its subject (the doer of the action), even when the subject is understood without being expressed by a noun or pronoun.  The polite

o senhor/a senhora

See also:

Stem-Changing Verbs

Verbs with Orthographic Changes

Verb Tenses

Negatives

Active and Passive Voice

Reflexive Verbs

Impersonal Verbs

Infinitives

Participles

Gerunds


Negatives

The most common negatives are:

não (not, no)

nunca (never)

nada (nothing)

ninguém (no one)

jamais (never)

tampouco (neither, no more)

A verb is negated by placing não in front of it.

Não sei. (I don't know.)

Double negatives are standard in Portuguese.

Não vejo ninguém na rua.

(I don't see nobody [= anybody] in the street.)


Formal and Familiar Address

Tu (plural vós) is the second person pronoun (English 'you'). This familiar form of address has traditionally been used when speaking to anyone with whom one is on a first-name basis: family members, close friends, children and pet animals.  The 2nd person singular verb forms are used with this pronoun.

Te sentes bem, querida?

(Do you feel okay, dear?)

According to region, the more polite você can replace tu as the singular pronoun used with loved ones and close friends.

The more polite form of the second person pronoun is você (plural vocês for both masculine and feminine).  It derives from the phrase Vossa Mercê (Your Grace), and is therefore abbreviated to Vo….+ …cê = você. Although it indicates the second person mode of address, você is conjugated with third person verb forms (English he/she/it). This lends a respectful sense of distance to the conversation.

Vocês continuam estudando o português?

(Are you (plural) still studying Portuguese?).

In Brazil, vocês is used as the plural form of familiar address.  This means, in effect, that familiar address only exists in the singular there.

Like você/vocês, the polite o senhor/a senhora/os senhores/as senhoras style of address is 2nd person in English, but uses 3rd person verb forms in Portuguese.

O senhor fala inglês? (Do you speak English?, literally Does the gentleman speak English?)

Você fala português? (Do you speak Portuguese? - used among family and friends, or in writing when the writer is addressing the reader)


Impersonal Verbs

Impersonal verbs do not take a personal subject.  In English, they are used with the subject pronoun 'it.'  The most commonly used impersonal verbs are Faz (it makes/is) and há (there is/are).

Faz calor hoje.

(It's hot today.)

Há vinte pessoas na reunião.

(There are twenty people at the meeting.)


Reflexive Verbs

Reflexive verbs are those in which the subject acts upon itself in some way.  They require the use of reflexive pronouns.

In indicative sentences the reflexive pronoun follows the conjugated verb.  In interrogative and negative sentences it precedes the conjugated verb.  When used with the infinitive, the present participle, and affirmative commands the reflexive pronoun is attached by a hyphen.

chamar se (to be called)

Indicative sentence:

Chamo-me Marina.

(My name is Marina.)

Interrogative sentence:

Como se chama?

(Whats your name?)

Negative sentence:

Eu não me levanto às 8 horas.

(I dont get up at 8 oclock.)

Reflexive sentence with infinitive:

Informar-se sobre a cultura e história do Brasil é essencial para o sucesso de uma viagem.

(To be informed about the culture and history of Brazil is essential for a successful trip.)


Participles

Gerund (Present Participle)

The gerund (the English present participle) is formed by adding the suffix -ando to the stem of first conjugation (-ar) verbs, the suffix -endo to the stem of second (-er) and the suffix -indo  to the stem of the third (-ir) conjugation verbs.  Unlike the present participle in English, the gerund in Portuguese is never used as a noun.

Infinitive	Gerund (Present Participle)
falar (to speak)	falando (speaking)
comer (to eat)	comendo (eating)
partir (to leave)	partindo (leaving)
The gerund (present participle) is used with the verb estar to form the progressive tenses, which express an ongoing action.

Estava lendo os jornais ontem.

(I was reading the newspapers yesterday.)

Past Participle

The past participle is formed by adding -ado to the stem of -ar verbs and -ido to the stem of -er and -ir verbs (or ído if the stem ends in a vowel).

Infinitive	Past Participle
falar (to speak)	falado (spoken)
fechar (to close)	fechado (closed)
perder (to lose)	perdido (lost)
receber (to receive)	recebido (received)
cair (to fall)	caído (fallen)
O português falado no Brasil é bastante diferente do falado em Portugal.

(Portuguese spoken in Brazil is quite different from Portuguese spoken in Portugal.)

When used with the auxiliary verb ter to form compound tenses, the past participle ending does not change.

Temos falado muito ultimamente.

(We have been talking a lot lately.)

When used adjectivally, however, past participles agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify.

A loja está fechada.

(The store is closed.)

Todos os bancos estão fechados hoje.

(All the banks are closed today.)


Gerunds

The Portuguese gerund is equivalent to the English present participle.  Unlike the gerund in English, the Portuguese gerund is never used as a noun.

See:

Participles


Infinitives

The infinitive is the basic form of a verb.  Portuguese/English dictionaries always identify a verb by its infinitive.

falar (to speak)

comer (to eat)

partir (to leave)

A guia de viagem tem informaçoes actualizadas onde comer, onde hospedar-se.

(A guidebook contains updated information on where to eat and where to stay.)

The Personal Infinitive

The personal infinitive is an inflected infinitive which shows the person and number of the subject.

Infinitive	falar (to speak)	aprender (to learn)	partir (to leave)
1st person singular	falar	aprender	partir
2nd person singular	falares	aprenderes	partires
3rd person singular	falar	aprender	partir
1st person plural	falarmos	aprendermos	partirmos
2nd person plural	falardes	aprenderdes	partirdes
3rd person plural	falarem	aprenderem	partirem

Vieram aqui sem sabermos.

(They came here without our knowing it.)


Active and Passive Voice

If the subject of the sentence denotes the person or thing performing the action, the verb is in the active voice.

João Sousa escreveu este livro.

(John Sousa wrote this book.)

If the subject of the sentence denotes the receiver of the action, the verb is in the passive voice.

Este livro foi escrito por João Sousa.

(This book was written by John Sousa.)

When the agent is specified in the passive voice, the construction is:

SUBJECT + ser + past participle + por + AGENT

Esta carta foi escrita por um amigo meu.

(This letter was written by a friend of mine.)

Since the past participle is functioning as an adjective, it agrees in gender and number with the subject.

If the passive subject is a thing (rather than a person) and the agent is not mentioned, then the passive reflexive construction is used.  The verb agrees in number with the passive subject (which is always in the 3rd person).

Se vê o rio pela ponte.

(The river is visible from the bridge.)

Falam-se muitas línguas naquela cidade.

(Many languages are spoken in that city.)


Conditional Mood

The conditional is often treated as though it were a tense rather than a mood. In fact, the conditional is a mood which has only two tenses: a simple tense (the present conditional) used when referring to present possibilities, and a compound tense (the conditional perfect) used when referring to possibilities in the past.

Present Conditional

The conditional is formed (like the future) by adding a single set of personal endings to the infinitives of all three conjugations.  The endings are identical to those of the imperfect tense of second and third conjugation verbs.

falar-ia (I would speak), comer-ia (I would eat), partir-ia (I would leave)

falar-ias (you would speak)

falar-ia  (he, she, it would speak)

falar-íamos (we would speak)

falar-íes (you all would speak)

falar-iam (they would speak)

The conditional expresses the idea of 'would' (contingent possibility).

Raquel disse que viria.

(Rachel said that she would come.)

It can also be used to express doubt in the past, just as the future tense can be used in the present.

Que horas eram quando almocei ontem?

(I wonder what time was it when I ate breakfast yesterday?).

Conditional Perfect

The conditional perfect  is a compound tense using the conditional of the auxiliary verb ter in the spoken form(haver in the literary form) with the past participle of the main verb.

Teria feito ontem, mas não tive tempo.

(I would have done it yesterday, but I didn't have time.)

teria comido	(I would have eaten)
terias comido	(you would have eaten)
teria comido	(he, she, it, you would have eaten)
teríamos comido	(we would have eaten)
teríeis comido	(you would have eaten)
teriam comido	(they, you (plural) would have eaten)


Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive mood is used in dependent clauses introduced by que (that) when the main clause expresses a wish, a strong emotional attitude, or an uncertainty.

Duvido que seja a verdade.

(I doubt that it would be true.)

Peço que repita a frase.

(I am asking that you repeat the phrase, please.)

The subjunctive is also used for formal commands, and after impersonal expressions like é necessário (it is necessary).  (In Portugal only, it is used for negative informal commands.)

Tome isto, senhor.

(Here, take this, sir.)

Assine aqui, por favor.

(Please sign here, sir.)

Present Subjunctive

The present subjunctive is regularly formed by adding one set of personal endings to the stem of -ar verbs and a second set of endings to -er and -ir verbs.

Fico contente que ele fale português.

(Im glad that he speaks Portuguese.)

Sinto muito que esteja doente.

(Im sorry that you are ill.)

1st Conjugation: falar (to speak)

fal-e (that I speak)	fal-emos (that we speak)
fal-es (that you speak)	fal-eis (that you all speak)
fal-e (that he, she, it, you speak)	fal-em (that they, you (pl.) speak)
2nd Conjugation: comer (to eat)

com-a (that I eat)	com-amos (that we eat)
com-as (that you eat)	com-ais (that you all eat)
com-a (that he, she, it, you eat)	com-am (that they, you (pl.) eat)
3rd Conjugation: partir (to leave)

part-a (that I leave)	part-amos (that we leave)
part-as (that you leave)	part-ais (that you all leave)
part-a (that he, she, it, you leave)	part-am (that they, you (pl.) leave)
 Imperfect Subjunctive

The imperfect subjunctive is formed by dropping the last syllable -ram in the 3rd person plural preterit indicative and adding the endings as shown below.  There is one set of endings for first conjugation (-ar) verbs and another set of endings for the second (-er) and third (-ir) conjugations.

Esperava que ele partisse tarde.

(I was expecting him to leave late.)

Eu lhe disse que falasse português.

(I told him to speak Portuguese.)

1st Conjugation: falar (to speak).  3rd person plural preterit indicative - fala-ram:

1st person sing.	falasse	(that I spoke)
2nd person sing.	falasses	(that you spoke)
3rd person sing.	falasse	(that he, she, it, you spoke)
1st person pl.	falássemos	(that we spoke)
2nd person pl.	falásseis	(that you all spoke)
3rd person pl.	falassem	(that they, you pl. spoke)
2nd Conjugation: comer (to eat).  3rd person preterit indicative - come-ram:

1st person sing.	comesse	(that I ate)
2nd person sing.	comesses	(that you ate)
3rd person sing.	comesse	(that he, she, it, you ate)
1st person pl.	com-ssemos	(that we ate)
2nd person pl.	comêsseis	(that you all ate)
3rd person pl.	com-ssem	(that they, you pl. ate)
3rd Conjugation: partir (to live).  3rd person preterit indicative - parti-ram:

1st person sing.	partisse	(that I left)
2nd person sing.	partisses	(that you left)
3rd person sing.	partisse	(that he, she, it, you left)
1st person pl.	partíssemos	(that we left)
2nd person pl.	partísseis	(that you all left)
3rd person pl.	partíssem	(that they, you pl. left)
Future Subjunctive

The future subjunctive is formed by dropping the ending -ram from the third person plural of the preterit indicative and adding the endings -r, -res, -r, -rmos, -rdes, -rem:

Irei embora assim que partir.

(Ill leave as soon as he leaves.)

1st Conjugation: falar (to speak).  3rd person plural preterit indicative - fala-ram:

1st person sing.	falar	(I would speak)
2nd person sing.	falares	(you would speak)
3rd person sing.	falar	(he, she, it, you would speak)
1st person pl.	falarmos	(we would speak)
2nd person pl.	falardes	(you pl. would speak)
3rd person pl.	falarem	(they, you pl. would speak)
2nd Conjugation: vender (to sell).  3rd person preterit indicative - vende-ram:

1st person sing.	vender	(I would sell)
2nd person sing.	venderes	(you would sell)
3rd person sing.	vender	(he, she, it, you would sell)
1st person pl.	vendermos	(we would sell)
2nd person pl.	venderdes	(you pl. would sell)
3rd person pl.	venderem	(they, you pl. would sell)
3rd Conjugation: partir (to live).  3rd person preterit indicative - parti-ram:

1st person sing.	partir	(I would leave)
2nd person sing.	partires	(you would leave)
3rd person sing.	partir	(he, she, it, you would leave)
1st person pl.	partírmos	(we would leave)
2nd person pl.	partírdes	(you pl. would leave)
3rd person pl.	partírem	(they, you pl. would leave)
Past Perfect (Pluperfect) Subjunctive

The past perfect or pluperfect subjunctive is a compound tense formed with the imperfect subjunctive of ter for the spoken form, (or haver for the literary form) and and the past participle of the main verb.

tivesse comido	(that I would have eaten)
tivesses comido	(that you would have eaten)
tivesse comido	(that he, she, it, you would have eaten)
tivéssemos comido	(that we would have eaten)
tivésseis comido	(that you would have eaten)
tivessem comido	(that they, you pl. would have eaten)


Imperative Mood

In Brazil, the present subjunctive is used for formal and familiar commands, both positive and negative.

In Portugal, familiar commands, when positive, are expressed by means of the imperative mood which is identical to the third person singular of the present tense.  Negative familiar commands, both singular and plural, are expressed by the present subjunctive.

Faz favor.

(Do me a favor.)

Venha aqui, por favor!

(Come here, please!)

Durma, por favor.

(Please go to sleep)


Stem-Changing Verbs

Some verbs in Portuguese change the spelling of their stems in certain conjugated forms. These verbs are regular verbs, except that the vowel of their stem undergoes predictable changes. Fortunately, only the present tense of the indicative and subjunctive and the polite command forms are affected. These verbs can be divided into three major groups.

GROUP 1: Verbs in the first conjugation ending in -ear change the stem vowel from e to ei throughout the singular and in the third person plural. The verb passear (to walk,stroll), along with others like  pentear, chatear, cear and recear, is thus conjugated as follows:

Passear (to walk, stroll):

Present Indicative	Present Subjunctive	Imperative (polite)
passeio (I walk)	passeie (I may walk)
passeias (you walk)	passeies (you may walk)
passeia (he, she, it walks, you walk)	passeie (he, she, it, you may walk)	passeie  (Go for a walk, please!)
passeamos (we walk)	passeemos (we may walk)	passeamos(Let's go for a walk!)
passeais (you pl. walk)	passeeis (you pl. may walk)
passeiam (they, you walk)	passeiem (they, you may walk)	passeiem(Go for a walk, please!)
GROUP 2: Verbs in the third conjugation (ending in -ir) with the stem vowels e or o change the e to i and the o to u in the first person singular of the present indicative and in the entire present subjunctive, as well as in the polite command forms. The verbs mentir (to lie) and dormir (to sleep), along with preferir, ferir, repetir, sentir, servir, sugerir, vestir, cobrir, tossir, are thus conjugated as follows:

Mentir (to lie):

Present Indicative	Present Subjunctive	Imperative (polite)
minto (I lie)	minta (I may lie)
mentes (you lie)	mintas (you may lie)
mente (he, she, it lies, you lie)	minta  (he, she, it, you may lie)	mente (Don't tell the truth, please!)
mentimos (we lie)	mintamos (we may lie)	mentimos (Let's not tell the truth, please!)
mentis (you lie, pl.)	mintais (you may lie, pl.)
mentem (they, you lie)	mintam (they, you may lie)	mentem (Don't tell the truth, please!)
Dormir (to sleep):

durmo (I sleep)	durma (I may sleep)
dormes (you sleep)	durmas (you may sleep)
dorme (he, she, it sleeps, you sleep)	durma (he, she, it, you may sleep)	durma (Please go to sleep!)
dormimos (we sleep)	durmamos (we may sleep)	dormimos (Let's go to sleep!)
dormis (you sleep, pl.)	durmais (you may sleep, pl.)
dormem (they, you sleep)	durmam (they, you may sleep)	durmam (Please go to sleep!)
GROUP 3: Verbs in the third conjugation (ending in -ir) with the stem vowel u  change the u to o in the second and third persons of the singular and the third person plural of the present indicative only. Thus subir (to climb) is conjugated as follows:

subir (to climb)

Present Indicative: subo (I climb), sobes (you climb, Portugal only), sobe (he, she, it climbs, you climb), subimos (we climb), subis (you climb, pl. Portugal only), sobem (they, you climb)

Conjugated like subir are:

consumir (to consume), fugir (to flee), sacudir (to shake) and sumir (to hide).


Verbs with Orthographic Changes

Since g and c have different sounds depending on the following vowel (soft before i and e, hard before a, o and u) the addition of personal endings when conjugating a verb requires certain spelling changes to preserve their sound.  This mostly affects the subjunctive forms, where a becomes e and vice versa.

pagar (to pay), pague (let him pay)

sacar (to take out), saque (let him take out)

almoçar (to have lunch), almocei, almoce.

eleger (to elect), elejo, eleja,

dirigir (to guide), dirijo, dirija.

erguer (to erect), ergo, erga,

distinguir (to distinguish), distingo, distinga.

pagar (to pay), pague (let him pay)


Grammar Pages

Number

Person

Gender

1st Conjugation

2nd Conjugation

3rd Conjugation


Number

There are two numbers in Portuguese: singular and plural.

Most nouns in Portuguese have singular and plural forms:

a casa (the house) -- as casas (the houses)

a lei (the law) -- as leis (the laws)

See

Singular and Plural Forms of Nouns

Pronouns also have singular and plural forms:

Singular	Plural
eu (I)	nós (we)
tu (you)	vós (you)
ele (he)	eles (they m)
ela (she)	elas (they f)
o senhor (you, masculine formal)	os senhores (you, masc. pl., formal)
a senhora (you, feminine formal)	as senhoras (you, feminine pl., formal)
você (you, familiar. )	vocês (you, familiar plural)

See

Subject Pronouns

Direct Object Pronouns

Indirect Object Pronouns

Prepositional (Stressed) Pronouns

Reflexive Pronouns

Possessive Pronouns

Interrogatives and Exclamations

Indefinite Pronouns and Adjectives

Demonstrative Pronouns

Adjectives and articles agree with nouns in number (and also in gender).

um livro vermelho	(a red book)
as casas vermelhas	(the red houses)

See

Adjectives

Articles

Verbs and different verbal forms (present and past participles) agree with the subject of the sentence in number:

SUBJECT	PREDICATE
A estudante	está pronta.
(The student (female)	is ready.)
Os estudantes	estão prontos.
(The students (male and female)	are ready.)
See

Verbs

1st Conjugation

2nd Conjugation

3rd Conjugation

Participles


Person

Grammatical person indicates the relationship of speaker or writer to the rest of the sentence. First person refers to the speaker or to the speaker group (eu ( I ), nós (we)). 2nd person refers to whomever is being spoken to.  The 2nd person forms are commonly replaced with the following pronouns.  These pronouns are used with 3rd person forms of conjugated verbs

você (you)

o senhor (you - formal masculine)

a senhora (you - formal feminine for a Mrs.)

a senhorita (you - formal feminine for a Miss)

The 3rd person refers to the entity being spoken about, ele (he), ela (she), eles (they, m.), elas (they, f.).

See

Subject Pronouns

Direct Object Pronouns

Indirect Object Pronouns

Prepositional (Disjunctive) Pronouns

Reflexive Pronouns

Possessive Pronouns

Verbs are inflected (receive different endings) to agree with the person of the subject

fal-ar (to speak)
1st person	fal-o	fal-amos
2nd person	fal-as	fal-áis
3rd person	fal-a	fal-am

See

Verbs

1st Conjugation

2nd Conjugation

3rd Conjugation


Gender

There are two genders in Portuguese: masculine and feminine.

All nouns in Portuguese are either masculine or feminine.

Although there are no rules by which the gender of all nouns can be determined, the gender of many nouns can be determined by their meaning or their ending.  The gender of other nouns must be learned individually.  The best way to memorize the gender of words is to memorize the article when learning a new word.

o touro	(the bull) masculine
a vaca	(the cow) feminine

See

Gender of Nouns

Knowing the gender of every noun is important not only for the noun itself,  but for the spelling and pronunciation of the words it influences in a sentence: adjectives, articles, past participles, and pronouns. They agree in the gender and in the number with the noun.

See

Adjectives

Article

Past Participle

Active and Passive Voice


1st Conjugation

Present Infinitive	Present Participle
fal-ar (to speak)	falando
	Past Participle
	falado
	Present	Present Perfect
eu	fal-o	tenho	falado
tu	fal-as	tens	falado
ele, ela, você	fal-a	tem	falado
nós	fal-amos	temos	falado
vós	fal-áis	tendes	falado
eles, elas, vocês	fal-am	têm	falado
	Imperfect	Pluperfect (Past Perfect)
eu	fal-ava	tinha	falado
tu	fal-avas	tinhas	falado
ele, ela, você	fal-ava	tinha	falado
nós	fal-ávamos	tínhamos	falado
vós	fal-áveis	tínheis	falado
eles, elas, vocês	fal-avam	tinham	falado
	Future	Future Perfect
eu	falar-ei	terei	falado
tu	falar-ás	terás	falado
ele, ela, você	falar-á	terá	falado
nós	falar-emos	teremos	falado
vós	falar-eis	tereis	falado
eles, elas, vocês	falar-ão	terão	falado
	Preterit
eu	fal-ei
tu	fal-aste
ele, ela, você	fal-ou
nós	fal-ámos
vós	fal-astes
eles, elas, vocês	fal-aram
	Present Subjunctive	Future Subjunctive
eu	fal-e	fa-lar
tu	fal-es	fal-ares
ele, ela, você	fal-e	fa-lar
nós	fal-emos	fal-armos
vós	fal-eis	fal-ardes
eles, elas, vocês	fal-em	fal-arem
	Imperfect Subjunctive	Past Perfect Subjunctive
eu	fal-asse	tivesse	falado
tu	fal-asses	tivesses	falado
ele, ela, você	fal-asse	tivesse	falado
nós	fal-ássemos	tivéssemos	falado
vós	fal-ásseis	tivésseis	falado
eles, elas, vocês	fal-assem	tivessem	falado
	Present Conditional	Conditional Perfect
eu	falar-ia	teria	falado
tu	falar-ias	terias	falado
ele, ela, você	falar-ia	teria	falado
nós	falar-íamos	teríamos	falado
vós	falar-íes	teríeis	falado
eles, elas, vocês	falar-iam	teriam	falado
	Imperative
tu	fala
formal	fale
nós	falemos
vós	falai
formal	falem


2nd Conjugation

Present Infinitive	Present Participle
com-er (to eat)	comendo
	Past Participle
	comido
	Present	Present Perfect
eu	com-o	tenho	comido
tu	com-es	tens	comido
ele, ela, você	com-e	tem	comido
nós	com-emos	temos	comido
vós	com-éis	tendes	comido
eles, elas, vocês	com-em	têm	comido
	Imperfect	Pluperfect (Past Perfect)
eu	com-ia	tinha	comido
tu	com-ias	tinhas	comido
ele, ela, você	com-ia	tinha	comido
nós	com-íamos	tínhamos	comido
vós	com-íeis	tínheis	comido
eles, elas, vocês	com-iam	tinham	comido
	Future	Future Perfect
eu	comer-ei	terei	comido
tu	comer-ás	terás	comido
ele, ela, você	comer-á	terá	comido
nós	comer-emos	teremos	comido
vós	comer-eis	tereis	comido
eles, elas, vocês	comer-ão	terão	comido
	Preterit
eu	com-i
tu	com-este
ele, ela, você	com-eu
nós	com-emos
vós	com-estes
eles, elas, vocês	com-eram
	Present Subjunctive	Future Subjunctive
eu	com-a	com -er
tu	com-as	com -eres
ele, ela, você	com-a	com -er
nós	com-amos	com -ermos
vós	com-ais	com -erdes
eles, elas, vocês	com-am	com -erem
	Imperfect Subjunctive	Past Perfect Subjunctive
eu	com-esse	tivesse	comido
tu	com-esses	tivesses	comido
ele, ela, você	com-esse	tivesse	comido
nós	com-êssemos	tivéssemos	comido
vós	com-êsseis	tivésseis	comido
eles, elas, vocês	com-essem	tivessem	comido
	Present Conditional	Conditional Perfect
eu	comer-ia	teria	comido
tu	comer-ias	terias	comido
ele, ela, você	comer-ia	teria	comido
nós	comer-íamos	teríamos	comido
vós	comer-íes	teríeis	comido
eles, elas, vocês	comer-iam	teriam	comido
	Imperative
tu	come
formal	coma
nós	comamos
vós	comei
formal	comam


3rd Conjugation

Present Infinitive	Present Participle
part-ir (to depart)	partindo
	Past Participle
	partido
	Present	Present Perfect
eu	part-o	tenho	partido
tu	part-es	tens	partido
ele, ela, você	part-e	tem	partido
nós	part-imos	temos	partido
vós	part-ís	tendes	partido
eles, elas, vocês	part-em	têm	partido
	Imperfect	Pluperfect (Past Perfect)
eu	part-ia	tinha	partido
tu	part-ias	tinhas	partido
ele, ela, você	part-ia	tinha	partido
nós	part-íamos	tínhamos	partido
vós	part-íeis	tínheis	partido
eles, elas, vocês	part-iam	tinham	partido
	Future	Future Perfect
eu	partir-ei	terei	partido
tu	partir-ás	terás	partido
ele, ela, você	partir-á	terá	partido
nós	partir-emos	teremos	partido
vós	partir-eis	tereis	partido
eles, elas, vocês	partir-ão	terão	partido
	Preterit
eu	part-i
tu	part-iste
ele, ela, você	part-iu
nós	part-imos
vós	part-istes
eles, elas, vocês	part-iram
	Present Subjunctive	Future Subjunctive
eu	part-a	part-ir
tu	part-as	part-ires
ele, ela, você	part-a	par-tir
nós	part-amos	par-tirmos
vós	part-ais	part-irdes
eles, elas, vocês	part-am	part-irem
	Imperfect Subjunctive	Past Perfect Subjunctive
eu	part-isse	tivesse	partido
tu	part-isses	tivesses	partido
ele, ela, você	part-isse	tivesse	partido
nós	part-íssemos	tivéssemos	partido
vós	part-ísseis	tivésseis	partido
eles, elas, vocês	part-issem	tivessem	partido
	Present Conditional	Conditional Perfect
eu	partir-ia	teria	partido
tu	partir-ias	terias	partido
ele, ela, você	partir-ia	teria	partido
nós	partir-íamos	teríamos	partido
vós	partir-íes	teríeis	partido
eles, elas, vocês	partir-iam	teriam	partido
	Imperative
tu	parte
formal	parta
nós	partamos
vós	parti
formal	partam


Absolute Construction

When a past participle phrase begins a sentence, and the participle has no direct connection with the main verb, the phrase is said to be absolute.  This is a stylistic device associated with literary writing rather than with common speech.

Terminada a guerra, começaram a reconstruir.

(The war over, they began to rebuild.)


Active and Passive Voice

If the subject of the sentence denotes the person or thing performing action, the verb is in the active voice.

Sam Barroqueiro escreveu esta novela.

(Sam Barroqueiro wrote this novel.)

If the subject of the sentence denotes the receiver of the action, the verb is in the passive voice.

Esta novela foi escrita por Sam Barroqueiro.

(This novel was written by Sam Barroqueiro.)


Adjective Clauses

An adjective clause contains a subject and verb but, like an adjective, it qualifies a preceding noun or pronoun.

MAIN  CLAUSE	ADJECTIVE CLAUSE
Os Andes detêm o ar  humido	que vem do oriente.
(The Andes stop the  humid air	that comes from the east.)


Adjectives

Adjectives are words that qualify the meaning of a noun or pronoun.

um livro INTERESSANTE (an interesting book)

uma casa NOVA (a new house)

Portuguese adjectives agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the nouns they qualify.

um livro vermelho (a red book)

as casas vermelhas (the red houses)


Adverbs

Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs.

Ele escreve rapidamente. (He writes quickly.)

Many adverbs are formed from adjectives by adding the suffix -mente to the feminine singular form.

Escreve correctamente. (He writes clearly.)


Adverbial Clauses

An adverbial clause is a dependent clause that qualifies a verb, indicating when, why or under what conditions an action or situation occurs.

MAIN  CLAUSE	ADVERBIAL CLAUSE
Não tinha dinheiro	quando era jovem.
(I didn't have money	when I was young.)


Appositive Phrases

An appositive phrase renames the noun or pronoun to which it is in apposition.  Appositive phrases are set off by commas.

Articles are not used in an appositive phrase unless it involves a superlative or is qualified by a following adjective or adjective clause.

Luis de Camões, poeta de Portugal

(Luis de Camoes, the Portuguese poet)


Auxiliary Verbs

The verbs used to form compound tenses are called auxiliary verbs.  They indicate the person and tense while the main verb keeps a fixed form. The auxiliary verbs are ter/haver (to have), estar (to be) and ser (to be).

Ter/haver is used to form the perfect tenses.

Estar is used to form the progressive (continuous) tenses.

Ser is used to form the passive voice.


Basic Verb Forms

The basic verb forms are:

Infinitive:	falar (to speak)
past participle:	falado (spoken)
gerund:	falando (speaking)


Cardinal Adjectives

Cardinal numbers are used for counting.

	0  zero	10 dez
	1  um/uma	11 onze
	2  dois/duas	12 doze
	3  três	13 treze
	4  quatro	14 catorze
	5  cinco	15 quinze
	6  seis	16 dezesseis
	7  sete	17 dezessete
	8  oito	18 dezoito
	9  nove	19 dezenove


Comma

Commas (,) are the most commonly used punctuation marks.

Commas separate words in a series.

Julio Dinis, José Ramos, Alice Coelho, Carlos Fontes e Manuel Paiva.

Commas are also used after an introductory phrase, an appositive phrase, or parenthetical expression.


Command

An imperative sentence expresses a command.  The subject noun or pronoun is often omitted.

2nd person positive commands use the imperative mood.

Vai-te. (Go away!)

2nd person negative commands (prohibitions) use the subjunctive, as do all commands in the 1st or 3rd persons.

Não te vás. (Don't go away!)


Common Nouns

All nouns other than proper nouns are called common.

casa (house)

amizade (friendship).

Common nouns are subdivided into count and noncount nouns.


Comparative

There are three degrees of comparison for an adjective.

POSITIVE:	alto (tall)	alto (tall)
COMPARATIVE:	mais alto (taller)	menos alto (less tall)
SUPERLATIVE:	o... mais alto (the tallest)	o... menos alto (the least tall)

The absolute superlative indicates a high degree of some quality, rather than a comparison.  It is formed by adding the suffix -ísimo (feminine -ísima) to the adjective.

uma mulher linda (a pretty woman)

uma mulher lindissima (an very pretty woman)


Compounds

Compound words consist of two word elements that combine to form a single word.

girasol (sunflower), matamoscas (flyswatter).


Coordinate Conjunctions

Coordinate conjunctions join two sentence elements of equal value (one is not dependent on the other).  Those elements can be words, phrases or entire clauses.  The most common coordinate conjunctions are e (and), ou (or) and mas (but).

relatos sombríos e inquietantes

(gloomy and disturbing tales)


Declarative

In a declarative sentence, the subject and the predicate follow the normal word order, with the subject coming first and the predicate following.

SUBJECT	PREDICATE
João	não fala português.
(John	doesnt speak Portuguese.


Definite Articles

	DEFINITE	ARTICLES	INDEFINITE	ARTICLES
	Singular	Plural	Singular	Plural
Masc	o (the)	os  (the)	um (a)	uns (some)
Fem.	a (the)	as (the)	uma (a)	umas (some)

Articles always agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.

o homem (the man -- masculine sg.)

a mulher (the woman -- feminine sg.)

os homens (the men -- masculine pl.)

as mulheres (the women -- feminine pl.)


Direct Speech

Direct speech gives the words actually spoken by a person.  Reported speech puts them into a clause introduced by que (that) for statements and se (if) for questions.

DIRECT SPEECH	REPORTED SPEECH
«És professor?» perguntou.	Perguntou se sou professor.
"Are you a teacher?" he asked.	He asked if I'm a teacher.


Estar

Ser and estar both mean 'to be.'  Ser is used to express permanent being or a permanent characteristic, while estar expresses temporary being.  For instance, ser would be used to describe a buildings location and estar would be used to describe a persons position at a particular time.

Ser is also used for the passive voice, while estar indicates the result of an earlier action.

Estar is used with the gerund (= English present participle) to form the progressive tenses, present and past.


Exclamations

Exclamations often begin with an exclamatory que…! (what a...!). If an adjective follows, it is preceded by mais or tão.

Que pena! (What a pity!)

Que dia tão lindo! (What a lovely day!)

Quanto…! (how...!) and  Viva…! (Cheers! Long live...!) are also used for exclamations.

Quanto me alegro! (How glad I am about it!)

Viva Portugal! (Cheers to Portugal!)


Expressions of Quantity

Expression of Quantity	Count Noun (Sing.)	Count Noun (Plural)	Noncount Noun (Singular)
um	livro
a	book
dois		livros
two		books
muita			chuva
a lot of			rain


Future Indicative

The future tense of regular verbs is formed by adding personal endings to the entire infinitive form (rather than to the verb stem).

1st Conjugation: falar (to talk)

falar-ei (I will talk)	falar-emos (we will talk)
falar-ás (you will talk)	falar-eis (you all will talk)
falar-á (he, she, it will talk)	falar-ão (they will talk)
2nd Conjugation: comer (to eat)

comer-ei (I will eat)	comer-emos (we will eat)
comer-ás (you will eat)	comer-eis (you all will eat)
comer-á (he, she, it will eat)	comer-ão (they will eat)
3rd Conjugation: partir (to depart)

partir-ei (I will depart)	partir-emos (we will depart)
partir-ás (you will depart)	partir-eis (you all will depart)
partir-á (he, she, it will depart)	partir-ão (they will depart)


Future Perfect

The future perfect uses the future tense (indicative and subjunctive) of the auxiliary verb ter or haver.

terei	falado, comido, partido (I will have spoken, eaten, departed)
terás	falado, comido, partido (you will have spoken...)
terá	falado, comido, partido (he, she, it will have spoken...)
teremos	falado, comido, partido (we will have spoken...)
tereis	falado, comido, partido (you will have spoken...)
terão	falado, comido, partido (you will have spoken...)
haverei	falado, comido, partido (I will have spoken...)
haverás	falado, comido, partido (you will have spoken...)
haverá	falado, comido, partido (he, she, it will have spoken...)
haveremos	falado, comido, partido (we will have spoken...
havereis	falado, comido, partido (you will have spoken...)
haverão	falado, comido, partido(they will have spoken...)


Gender

Nouns and adjectives have two genders in Portuguese: masculine and feminine.

The ending of a noun often indicates its gender.  Nouns and adjectives ending in -o are usually masculine, while nouns ending in -a are usually feminine:

o touro (the bull)  a vaca (the cow)

o médico (male physician)  a médica (female physician)


Imperative Mood

Familiar commands, when positive, are expressed by means of the imperative mood.  The second person singular imperative forms are identical to the third person singular of the present tense.

O menino dorme. (The child is sleeping.)

Dorme.  (Go to sleep!)

The second person plural vós forms are based on the second person plural of the present tense without the final -s.

dormis (you sleep)

Dormi. (Go to sleep! - plural)


Indefinite Pronouns

Indefinite pronouns and adjectives refer to people or things that are not specific.

algum (some), certo (a certain), demasiado (too much, too many), muito (much, many), nenhum (not any), outro (another), pouco (a little, few), tanto (much, many), todo (all), qualquer (any), PLURAL  quaisquer, tal (such), PLURAL   tais.


Infinitive Phrases

An infinitive phrase may function in the following ways.

As an adverb.

Ao casar-se com Maria Todd,  Abraão Lincoln começou a sua carreira política.

(Upon marrying Mary Todd, Abraham Lincoln began his political career.)

As the object of a verb.

Quero ver os quadros de Malhôa. (I want to see the paintings of Malhôa.)

As the subject of a sentence.

É difícil aprender português. (Learning Portuguese is hard.)


Infinitives

The infinitive is the basic form of a verb.  Portuguese/English dictionaries always identify a verb by its infinitive.

falar (to speak), comer (to eat), partir (to leave)

A complementary infinitive completes the meaning of a preceding conjugated verb.

Ela quere viver com eles. (She wants to live with them.)

Infinitives can be used as verbal nouns, in which case they are considered to be masculine singular and are sometimes preceded by the definite article o.

(O) escrever bem é uma arte. (Writing well is an art.)

After a preposition, the infinitive form of a verb must always be used.

(Eu) gosto de ler antes de dormir.

(I like to read before going to sleep.)


Interjections

Interjections are words or expressions stuck in at random to express the speaker's emotions.  They are usually set off from the rest of the sentence by an exclamation mark or a comma.

Ah! (oh! Ouch!)	Admiration, pain, happiness
ai! ui!	Pain , surprise
Bem! Bravo!	Cheers
oh!	Surprise, happiness, pain, aversion


Interrogative Adverbs

Interrogative adverbs ask a question.

Quando chegará? (When will he arrive?)

Aonde está ele? (Where is he?)

Como está ela? (How is she?)

Porque fizeste estas perguntas? (Why did you ask these questions?)


Interrogative Pronouns

Interrogatives ask a question, and are distinguished by their written accents.  The most common interrogatives are:

Quem? De quem?	(Who?) (Whose?)
Que? Quê?	(What? Which?) (What?)
Qual?	(Which?)
Para quê?	(What for?)


Interrogative-Word Question

Many questions begin with either interrogative pronouns or interrogative adverbs

The most common interrogative pronoun is que? (what).  It is also used as an adjective.

Que é isto?

(What is this?) (Pronominal)

Interrogative adverbs include the following:

como? (how?), quando? (when?), quanto? (how much?), cujo? (whose?, aonde? (whereto?), donde? (wherefrom?), porque? por que? (why?)


Linking Verbs

A linking verb connects a subject with a predicate adjective or noun.  The most usual linking verb is ser (to be).

Daniela é muito inteligente.

(Daniella is very intelligent.)


Mass Nouns

Mass nouns refer to things that cannot be counted.  In English, they do not usually take a definite article, but in Portuguese they often do:

o leite (milk)

a farinha (flour)

o aço (steel)


Modal Verbs

Modal verbs express ability, obligation or possibility.  They are followed by a complementary infinitive (another verb that completes their meaning).  Commonly used modals include poder (to be able to), dever (to be obligated to), querer (to want to) and saber (to know how to).


Mood

There are four moods (or modes) that a verb can take:

Indicative (expressing an objective factuality)

Subjunctive (expressing a subjective attitude)

Conditional (expressing a contingent possibility)

Imperative (expressing a command)


Morphology

Morphology is the study of the rules governing word formation in a language.


Noun Clauses

Noun clauses are dependent clauses used as the objects of verbs of saying or thinking.  They are usually introduced by the conjunction que (that).

The verb in the noun clause is indicative mood when the main verb expresses what someone says.

MAIN CLAUSE	NOUN CLAUSE
Diz	que não vêm.
(He says	that they aren't coming.)
When the main verb expresses what someone feels (a wish, an emotion, a doubt), then the verb in the noun clause takes the subjunctive mood.

MAIN CLAUSE	NOUN CLAUSE
Queremos	que venham.
(We want	them to come.)


Noun Formation

A special feature of Portuguese nouns is that their meaning may be modified by addition of prefixes and suffixes, thus forming new nouns. The noun homem (man) can become homenzinho (little man)  or homenzarrão (big man). Mullher (woman) can easily become mulherinha (little woman), mulherão (big woman). Conceito (concept) gives birth to a new noun preconceito (prejudice) by attaching the prefix pre- to the front of the noun.


Noun Phrases

Nouns are qualified by articles and adjectives.  A noun phrase consists of a noun and the words that serve to qualify it.

NOUN: livro (book)

NOUN PHRASE: um livro interessante (an interesting book)


Nouns

A noun is a word that names a person, place, thing or idea.

João (John)

Portugal (Portugal)

casa (house)

amizade (friendship).


Number

There are two grammatical forms to show number: singular and plural.  The singular for count nouns indicates that there is one, the plural that there are two or more. The plural of nouns and adjectives is regularly formed by adding -s to a words ending.

a casa (the house) -- as casas (the houses)

a lei (the law) -- as leis (the laws)


Indirect Object Pronouns

Indirect object pronouns stand for persons or things indirectly affected by the action of the verb.

The forms of the indirect object pronouns are as follows.

	SINGULAR	PLURAL
1st person	me (to me)	nos (to us)
2nd   familiar	te  (to you)	vos (to you)
2nd (polite)	lhe (to you)	lhes (to you)
3rd (polite)	ao senhor (to him)	aos senhores (to you - m.)
3rd (polite)	à senhora (to her)	às senhoras (to you - f.)
3rd (familiar)	a você (to you)	a vocês  (to you)


Ordinal Adjectives

Ordinal numbers identify the position a noun occupies in a sequence.

a página primeira (the first page)

o segundo casamento (the second marriage)

The definite article is not used with the ordinal numbers after the names of royalty.

D. Afonso Quarto (King Alphonse the Fourth)


Participial Phrases

Phrases with a gerund (which is equivalent to the English present participle) function adverbially.  They indicate an action simultaneous with the action of the main verb.

Andando pelo Vale da Morte, é possível ouvir-se a voz de Deus.

(Walking through the Valley of Death, it is possible to hear the voice of God.)

Phrases with a past participle function adjectivally.

Luís Váz de Camões, nacido em 1524, é o imorredouro poeta de Portugal.

(Luís Váz de Camões, born in 1524, is the immortal poet of Portugal.)


Perfect Tenses

The perfect tenses are compound tenses formed with the auxiliary verb haver (to have) and the past participle of the main verb.  The past participle in perfect tenses is invariable in form.

The present perfect uses the present tense of ter.

tenho falado (I have spoken)

The future perfect uses the future tense of ter or haver.

haverei falado / terei falado (I will have spoken)

The pluperfect or past perfect  uses the imperfect tense of ter or haver.

tinha falado / havia falado (I had spoken)


Period

Periods (.) are used at the end of a complete sentence.

Os pessimistas dizen que é impossível.

(Pessimists say it's impossible.)

Periods are also used in abbreviations.

Sr. (Senhor) (Sir)


Personal Pronouns

Subject	Direct Object	Indirect Object	Prepositional	Reflexive
eu (I)	me	me	mim	me
tu (you)	te	te	ti	te
ele (he)	o	lhe	ele, si	se
ela (she)	a	lhe	ela, si	se
o senhor (you, pol)	o (senhor)	lhe	ele, si	se
a senhora (you)	a (senhora)	lhe	ela, si	se
você (you, fam. )	você	lhe	ele/ela, si, você	se
nós (we)	nos	nos	nós	nos
vós (you)	vos	vos	vós	vos
eles (they m)	os	lhes	eles, si	se
elas (they f)	as	lhes	elas, si	se
os senhores (you)	os	lhes	eles, si	se
as senhoras (you)	as	lhes	elas, si	se
vocês (you)	vocês,	lhes	eles/elas, si, vocês	se


Phonology

Phonology describes the sound system of a language: consonants, vowels, word stress and intonation.


Phrases with De

English can use one noun to qualify another, in the function of an adjective.

music book

country house

In Portuguese, a construction must be used with de and the qualifying noun.

um livro de música (a music book)

uma casa de campo (a country house)


 Possessive Adjectives

Possessive adjectives answer the question 'Whose?'

meu coração (my heart)

tua casa (your home)

sua amizade (his/her/their friendship)

They agree in gender and number with the thing possessed, NOT with the possessor.

meus livros (my books)

sua classe (their class)


Possessive Pronouns

The possessive pronouns are formed by adding the appropriate definite article to the long forms of possessive adjectives.

ADJECTIVE	PRONOUN
umas coisas minhas (some things of mine)	as minhas (mine)
um carro teu (a car of yours)	o teu (yours)
uns amigos seus (some friends of hers)	os seus (hers)
um amigo nosso (a friend of ours)	o nosso (ours)
uma amiga vossa (a girlfriend of yours)	a vossa (yours)
uma casa sua (a house of theirs)	a sua (theirs)


Predicate

The predicate of the sentence states something about the subject.  The predicate always contains a verb. The most basic forms of the predicate are:

1) a verb with or without a direct or indirect object following it.

SUBJECT	PREDICATE
Ana	está enferma.
(Ann	is sick.)
2) a linking verb followed by a predicate adjective or noun.

SUBJECT	PREDICATE
Ana	é médica.
(Ann	is a doctor.)


Prefixes and Suffixes

Prefixes are added at the beginning of the word:

Ante-	(before)	anteontem (the day before yesterday)
contra-	(against)	contrapeso (counterweight)
Suffixes are added at the end of the word:

-ancia	abundância (abundance)
-ção	operação (operation)


Prepositions

Prepositions are placed before pronouns and nouns (or infinitives used as nouns) in order to form a prepositional phrase qualifying another word in the sentence.  The noun or pronoun in the phrase is called the object of the preposition.

As ilhas dos Açores,  no Atlântico, são relativamente inacessíveis.

(The Açores Islands, in the Atlantic, are relatively inaccessible.)


Present Perfect

The present perfect is a compound tense formed with the present tense (indicative and subjunctive) of the auxiliary verb ter (or sometimes haver) and the past participle of the main verb.  The past participle is invariable; it does not agree in gender and number with the subject.

tenho	falado, comido, partido (I have spoken, eaten, departed)
tens	falado, comido, partido (you have spoken, eaten, departed)
tem	falado, comido, partido (he,she, it has spoken, eaten, departed)
temos	falado, comido, partido (we have spoken, eaten, departed)
tendes	falado, comido, partido (you all have spoken, eaten, departed)
têm	falado, comido, partido (they have spoken, eaten, departed)


Proper Nouns

A proper noun is the name of a particular person, place or entity.

Afonso I

Luís Váz de Camões

o Rio Amazonas (the Amazon River)

a Páscoa (Easter)


Real Conditions

Statements with real conditions express possibilities which may be realized.

Such conditions are expressed by a present-tense conditional clause and a future-tense main clause.

Main Clause	Conditional Clause
(FUTURE)	(PRESENT)
Comprá-lo-ei	se tenho bastante dinheiro.
(I'll buy it	if I have enough money -- and I may.)


Reflexive Pronouns

	SINGULAR	PLURAL
1st person	me (myself)	nos (ourselves)
2nd (familiar)	te (yourself)	vos (yourselves)
2nd (polite)	se (yourself)	se (yourselves)
3rd	se (him/her/itself)	se (themselves)


Reported and Direct Speech

Direct speech gives the words actually spoken by a person.  Reported speech puts them into a clause introduced by que (that) for statements and se (if) for questions.

DIRECT SPEECH	REPORTED SPEECH
«És professor?» perguntou.	Perguntou se sou professor.
"Are you a teacher?" he asked.	He asked if I'm a teacher.


Semantics

Semantics is the study of the relationship between signs (such as the words in a language) and their meaning.


Sequence of Adjectives

Descriptive adjectives usually follow the nouns they modify.

cabelo branco (white hair)

Limiting adjectives usually precede the nouns they modify.

muito pelo (a lot of hair)

Some descriptive adjectives have a different meaning when they precede the noun they modify.

um pobre homem (an unfortunate fellow)

várias pessoas (several people)


Sequence of Tenses

Noun clauses requiring the subjunctive follow a special set of rules. A main verb in the present or future requires a dependent verb in the present or perfect subjunctive.

MAIN CLAUSE	NOUN CLAUSE
Duvidamos	que venham hoje.
	(Present Subjunctive)
(We doubt	that they'll come today.)


Ser
Ser and Estar

Ser and estar both mean 'to be.'  Ser is used to express permanent being or a permanent characteristic, while estar expresses temporary being.  For instance, ser would be used to describe a buildings location and estar would be used to describe a persons position at a particular time.

Ser is also used for the passive voice, while estar indicates the result of an earlier action.

Estar is used with the gerund (= English present participle) to form the progressive tenses, present and past.


Subject-Predicate Agreement

The subject and the predicate must agree.

The verb must agree in number (singular or plural) and person (1st, 2nd or 3rd) with the noun or pronoun that is its subject.  Any predicate nouns or adjectives must agree in gender and number with the subject that they refer to.

SUBJECT	PREDICATE
A estudante	está pronta.
(The student	is ready.)
Os estudantes	estão prontos.
(The students	are ready.)


Subject Pronouns

1st person:	eu (I)	nós (we)
2nd (familiar)	tu (you)	vós (you)
3nd	ele (he)	eles (they - m)
3nd	ela (she)	elas (they - f)
3nd (polite)	o senhor (you)	os senhores (you - m)
3nd (polite)	a senhora (you)	as sehoras (you - f)
3nd (familiar)	você (you)	vocês (you)


Subject

The subject is the topic of the sentence.  The predicate is what is said about the subject.

SUBJECT	PREDICATE
As vielas	serpenteiam.
(The back alleys	twist and turn.)
The most common subject forms are nouns and pronouns.

SUBJECT	PREDICATE
Não todos	eram aristócratas.
(Not all of them	were aristocrats.)
Infinitives may also function as the subjects of sentences.

Trabalhar juntos	é mais eficaz.
(Working together	is more efficient.)


Subjunctive Mood

The subjunctive mood is used in dependent clauses introduced by que (that) when the main clause expresses a wish, a strong emotional attitude, or an uncertainty.

Te rogo que escrevas em português.

(I beg you to write in Portuguese.)

The subjunctive is also used for formal commands, for the negative (only) of informal commands, and after impersonal expressions like é necessário (it is necessary).

Tome isto, senhor.

(Here, take this, sir.)


Superlative

There are three degrees of comparison for an adjective.

POSITIVE:	alto (tall)
COMPARATIVE:	mais alto (taller) menos alto (less tall)
SUPERLATIVE:	o... mais alto (the tallest)
	o... menos alto (the least tall)


Syntax

Syntax denotes the way words are combined to form phrases, clauses and sentences.


Tag Questions

Tag questions consist of a short phrase added to the end of a statement.  They are separated from the statement by a comma ( , ).

És tradutor,  não é verdade?

(You're a translator, aren't you?)

Gostas disso, não?

(You like that, don't you?)


Transitive Verbs

Transitive verbs can take a direct object.

Escrevi um livro.

(He wrote a book.)

Intransitive verbs cannot take an object, although they are often conjugated with reflexive pronouns.

Retirou-se do serviço diplomático.

(He retired from diplomatic service.)


Unreal Conditions

Unreal conditions express an impossibility.  Such 'unreal' or 'contrary-to-fact' conditions are expressed by a subjunctive verb in the conditional clause.

A contrary-to-fact condition in the present has a conditional verb in the main clause and an imperfect subjunctive verb in the conditional clause.

MAIN CLAUSE	CONDITIONAL CLAUSE
O faria	se tivesse tempo.
(I would do it	if I had time -- but I don't.)
A contrary-to-fact condition in the past has a pluperfect subjunctive verb in both clauses.

MAIN CLAUSE	CONDITIONAL CLAUSE
O teria feito	se tivesse tido tempo.
(I would have done it	if I had had time -- but I didn't.)


Verb Formation

Prefixes are used to form verbs from 'root' verbs.

pôr (to put)

expôr (to put forth)

interpôr (to put between)

pospôr (to put behind)

propôr (to put forward)

sobrepôr (to put on top)