PORTUGUESE
General
As a general guide, stress the penultimate (last-but-one) syllable except where there is an accent, or the word ends with a diphthong (that i s, 2 vowels which are pronounced as a single syllable – explained in full later on), or if it ends with any of the following letters i! l! r! "! im! um! ins! uns – in which case, the stress is on the last syllable# $he text under the %ortuguese words that follow is a pronunciation guide, and represents an approximate phonetic e&uivalent of the word in 'nglish such as you might nd in a phrase boo (we decided not to use *phonemes+ – lie a dictionary uses – because that ust means you have even more stu to learn# $he pronunciation guide is based on a neutral .ondon accent, but is also designed to be generally usable by a wide range of 'nglish and American accents)# /&uare bracets indicate an approximation approximation of a sound – i#e# w here it is not possible to spell the actual sound phonetically# phonetically# 0here you encounter these, try to merge the sound of the previous syllable with the sound given in bracets, and you should be close to the real sound# $he letters *"h+ in the pronunciation guides indicate a soft *+, which sounds lie the *s+ in * measure+# %ractise saying the following words out loud, remembering to emphasise the penultimate (last-but-one) syllable except where there is an accent, or the word ends with i! l! r! "! im! um! ins! or uns – in whi ch case, the emphasis is on the last syllable# $he syllable represented in italics is the one that should be stressed# 1ont worry about what the words mean yet – ust practise pronouncing them#
uma um a
animal ani mal
$im $i móteo
Garrafa
fa zer
settenta se
Abril Ab ril
oom ooma
animal
$imot $imot eoo
garrahf rahfa
fa"air
seten setentta
Abreel
olá
ohl ohla
1iacritics
dedo de
você vo cê
dedoo
vosseh
sinto si
aqui
algum al gum
sintoo
aee
algoom algoom
1iacritical mars are extra symbols that are placed above or below a letter to modify the pronunciation or clarify the meaning of a word# $heir usage i n %ortuguese will be described in more detail as we come across them later, but to give you an overview, here is a li st of all of the diacritical mars that are used in written %ortuguese
Portuguese diacritical marks 3
$ilde $ilde (or (or *s&uigg *s&uiggle+ le+)# )# 4sed 4sed to deno denote te a nasal nasal soun sound# d#
5
Acute# Acute# /tress /tress is placed placed on this syllable syllable,, and the vowel vowel sound sound is open (more (more about about this in a minute6)# minute6)#
7
:
8ircum9ex (or caret, or *little hat+)# /tress is placed on this syllable and the vowel sound is close (also explained below)# Grave (pronounced *grahve+ - rhymes with *halve+)# 4sually denotes 2 words s&uashed into ; with the loss of a letter (typically a < as = >s), but does not really aect pronunciation# 1iaeresis (or *two little dots+)# Also nown as an umlaut, although technically that is wrong in this case (but the symbol is the same)# Appears over a *u+ to denote that the preceding *&+ should be pronounced *w+ instead of *+, or that the preceding *g+ should be pronounced *gw+ instead of *g+ (see
?
consonant pronunciation section)# @ever used in %ortugal, and now ocially removed from the language in Bra"il (since the orthographic agreement went into eect in 2CCD), except for personal names and imported words and their derivations - still, is still sometimes used by Bra"ilians, so you need to be aware of it#
E
8edilla (or *little F+)# nly appears on the letter *c+ to denote soft pronunciation – lie an *s+ rather than a *+#
Acutes and circum9exes circum9exes indicate that the syllable on which they appear should be stressed (grave, diaeresis and cedilla do not indicate stress, tilde only indicates stress (as well as nasal pronunciation) in words ending with H)#
Iowels
$here are J dened *&ualities+ of %ortuguese %ortuguese vowels, nown as open, closed, reduced, reduced, and nasal# $hese are not really hard-and-fast rules of pronunciation, more a categorisation of the ranges of sound that the vowels can represent# Kt is important to recognise these distinctions, because certain words rely on them to mae their meaning clear# clear# Lor example, the word *ogo+ can mean either *game+ or *K play+,
depending on whether the pronunciation of the rst *o+ is open or closed# $he basic ranges of sounds for these vowel &ualities are set out in the following table
Portuguese vowel qualities Vow
Open
el
Pronunciation
Closed Pronunciation
Reduced Pronunciation
Nasal Pronunciation
$he range of sounds
a
between the *a+ in *father+ to the *a+ in
$he range from the *a+ in *cat+ to the *a+ in *postman+#
$he range from the *a+ in
%ronounced through the nose,
*postman+ to
similar to *an+ in *angry+#
virtually silent#
*cat+#
Manging from
e
the *e+ in *chalet+ to the *e+ in *net+#
Manging from the *e+
/imilar to *an+ in *angel+, although
in *net+ to the rst *e+
eeping a hint of the open *e+
in *people+ (often
Lrom the rst *e+ in sound, and pronounced through
pronounced as a sort
*people+ to the *e+
the nose# 8an also be pronounced
of cross between the
in *payment+
lie *en+ in *engine+ if there is a
*ea+ of *ear+ and the
through to
circum9ex ( ^) over the *e+# @ote
*ai+ of *air+ – re&uires
virtually silent#
the letters *en+
careful listening
are never pronounced pronounced lie the
practice6)#
*en+ in *rende"-vous+#
.ie *i+ in *simple+, but with a very slightly longer sound
i
(tending towards the *ee+ of *free+)# @o distinction is made between open, closed, and reduced# @ote the letter *i+ is
/imilar to *'n+ in *'ngland+#
never pronounced lie the *i+ in *lie+#
o
lie lie *o+ in in *hot+# *hot+# Lrom rom the *oa+ *oa+ in in *coal+ *coal+ lie *o+ in *who+, to the *o+ in *loo+#
but a very wea sound, almost lie the *u+ in *rightful+# As with other reduced vowels, it can range to
similar to *on+ in *long+#
virtually silent#
u
.ie the last *u+ in *ung fu+# @o distinction is made
/imilar to *un+ in *l ung+, but more
between open, closed, and reduced#
of an *oo+ than an *uh+#
Nnowing when to use what type of vowel is to a large extent dependent on practice, but there are some rules that can help you# Kf a vowel has a circum9ex over it (O), it must be pronounced using the close &uality# &uality# Kf it has an acute accent (slanting upw ards lie this 5 ), you must use the open &uality – usually the acute P is pronounced as more of an *ay+# A tilde (Q) over a vowel indicates a nasal pronunciation, as does the letter m or n following the vowel (note that an *n+ or *m+ can follow a vowel which has an acute or circum9ex accent over it – in which case both the nasal and open or close &ualities should be evid ent in the way you pronounce it)# 0hen a word ends with a vowel, or starts w ith an *e+, you would normally use the reduced &uality unless there is an accent to indicate otherwise – however, an *e+ at the end of a word, followed by a vowel at the start of the next word, normally re&uires the *e+ to become more close – lie the *e+ in *people+ (this is for ease of articulation)# /o bearing in mind these prin ciples, the following is a rather rough guide to get you started on pronouncing %ortuguese vowels# 0ith listening practice, you will be able to hone your pronunciation sills and will hopefully improve naturally as time goes by# by#
a
lie *a+ in *cat+ except when on the stressed syllable, when it is more lie the *a+ in *father+#
â
lie *a+ in *cat+
á
sometimes lie the *a+ in *cat+, sometimes lie the *a+ in *father+
ã
similar to *an+ in *angry+
lie *e+ in *net+ except when used as a word on its own w ithout an accent or at the end of a word
e
which is followed by a word that starts with a vowel, when it is pronounced lie *e+ in *people+, or if it is followed by another vowel (in the same word), when it is more lie the *e+ in *chalet+ (more of an *ay+ than an *e+)#
ê
lie *e+ in *net+, or a cross between the *ea+ of * ear+ and the *ai+ of *air+#
ê m
é
é m
e m
i
lie a more nasal version of the *en+ in *engine+
lie *e+ in *net+, or lie the *e+ in *chalet+#
lie *an+ in *angel+
lie *an+ in *angel+
lie *i+ in simple, but with a very slightly longer sound (tending towards the *ee+ of *free+)#
usually lie *o+ in *hot+ when stressed, but when on its own or at the end of a word, it is lie a
o
wea version of the *o+ in *who+# 4se of the close pronunciation pronunciation (lie the *oa+ in *coal+) is often impossible to determine except by careful listening practice – unless of course the circum9ex (O) is used#
ó
lie *o+ in *hot+
ô
lie *oa+ in *coal+
u
lie the last *u+ in *ung fu+#
A wea sound, such as produced when pronouncing reduced %ortuguese vowels *a+ and *e+ is indicated in the pronunciation guides below by using superscript type (ie# small and high lie
this
)# Meduced *o+ is
represented by the letter *u+ (or sometimes * oo+), because the 'nglish pronunciation of a *u+ is very similar to the %ortuguese reduced *o+, but remember to weaen the sound of the vowel slightly# 0hen a word starts or ends with an unstressed *e+, the vowel is usually dropped almost completely, and this is indicated below by the vowel being crossed out# 0here letters are enclosed in s&uare bracets Rlie thisS, the sound of those letters should be merged with the sound of the previous letter or syll able# $his is in an eort to try to represent sounds that dont exist in normal 'nglish usage#
Iowels that are followed by m or n, or have a tilde (Q) over them are pronounced nasally, and this is represented in the pronunciation guides by *RngS+# 'uropean %ortuguese tend to slur a lot, maing the language sound *slushy+ – almost drunen6 Bra"ilians are a lot crisper and clearer, and they never drop reduced vowels completely#
falo
livro
o
tenho
gostamos
liee!v ru vendedor
oo
tea"!ny ea"!nyu
goshtamoosh tamoosh
open *a+,
reduced close *e+, closed
reduced open and nasal
reduced *o+, open (and
reduced *o+
*o+
*o+
slightly nasal) *a+, reduced *o+
fahlu fahlu
vendedor
*e+, open *o+
*e+, reduced *o+
guerra
lha
casa
avT
avU
vocV
gair ra
#ly #lya
$ah" $ah"a
a
a
vosseh vosseh
reduced
reduced
open *a+, reduced
reduced a, open
reduced a, closed
open *o+, closed
*a+
*a+
*a+
*o+
*o+
*e+
voh
voah!
1iphthongs
Any pair of vowels that is pronounced as a single syllable is a diphthong# @ot all diphthongs have accents on them – so dont be fooled into thining that accents have anything to do with whether a vowel is part of a diphthong# 0here two vowels have one sound, they form a diphthong# $hats it# @ote Kn all the following examples, *ow+ should be pronounced as in *cow+, not as in *throw+
ã o
a u
owRngS
ow
a o
õ e
oi
ã e
ow (there is no discernable dierence between the pronunciation of *au+ and *ao+)
oiRngS
oi
ayeRngS
aye (note, *ai+ is not always a diphthong# Kt is not a diphthong if it appears before a *"+ at the end of a
ai
word, before an *nh+ anywhere in a word, or before *l+, *r+, *m+ or *n+ if the consonant does not start a new syllable – dont worry too much about that though, Km ust being pedantic6)
o
*o+ lie in *hot+, but a little bit more drawn out (tending towards the *o+ in *9ow+)# @ote $his is very often
u
mispronounced by the 'nglish6 $he temptation is to pronounce it lie *oo+ in *food+, but this is wrong6
ei
*a+ lie in *hay+
$he following two diphthongs are only used to aect the pronunciation of a preceding consonant *g+! or *&+# 0here a dierent consonant precedes the vowel pair, or a diaeresis (2 little dots) is used over the *u+, they are not diphthongs – both vowels must be pronounced#
ui
ue
same as the pronunciation of the %ortuguese vowel *i+ (only a diphthong when used straight after a *g+, or *&+)
same as the pronunciation of the %ortuguese vowel *e+ (only a diphthong when used straight after a *g+, or *&+)
@ote $echnically *eu+ and *iu+ are regarded as diphthongs, but personally K prefer to thin of them as 2 separate vowels because they sound more lie 2 separate syllables to me – albeit they are slurred together (e#g# *eu+ is pronounced almost lie *ayu+)# $he following words include some vowel pairs which are not diphthongs – to give you practice in both#
entHo
foi
mHe
mau
mHo
%aulo
pai
entowng!
foy
myRngS
mow
mowRngS
Powlu
pie
falei
outro
pois
apoio
cHes
religiHo
fala"
ohtru
poysh
a po" u
aiRngSsh
reli"hiowng!
ruim
rainha
rai"
confusWes
pouco
ruimng!
rainya
raeez%
confu zo"ng!sh
pohu
$he words *rainha+ and *rai"+ use the *ai+ pairing, but are not diphthongs (were you paying attentionX)# $here are not many words lie that, so K+m being a bit mean really by throwing those two in6 Yost of the time that you come across *ai+, it will be pronounced lie the *ie+ in *pie+# $he %ortuguese language also contains a few triphthongs – three vowels pronounced as a single syllable# 4sually this is in the form of *uei+ following a *g+ or *&+ (eg# *&ueio+), where the sound is the same as the diphthong *ei+#
8onsonants
Yostly the same as 'nglish, butZ
/oft (lie in *lace+) if followed by an *e+ or *i+, otherwise hard (as in *cold+)# $he only exception is
c where a cedilla is used (*[+) – which f orces it to be pronounced softly even though the letter following is not *e+ or *i+ (note, the cedilla must not be used if the following letter is *e+ or *i+)# causar
aceit\vel
acabar
na[Ho
crian[a
cuidar
alcan[a
ow zar
asaytahvel
aa&ar
nassowng!
riansa
widar
al$ansa
/oft if followed by an *e+ or an *i+ (the same as a soft *+ – li e the *s+ in *measure+), otherwise hard (as in *gold+)# Kf the *g+ is followed by the letters *ui+ or * ue+, the *u+ is only there to *harden+ what would otherwise be a soft *g+ – the *u+ is therefore silent (or rather, it oins with the *e+ or *i+ to form
g a diphthong)# ccasionally (in Bra"ilian %ortuguese), you might still nd a *u+ with a diaeresis (]) following a *g+ (or a *&+)# $his signies that the *u+ is not silent# A natural conse&uence of placing a vowel after a pronounced *u+ is that the *gu+ sounds lie *gw+# %lease note, however, that under the new %ortuguese spelling agreement the diaeresis (]) must not be used anymore# ganhar
guiando
gan "ar
gee "andu gwardar
h
guardar
agir
\gua
ling]^stica
guerra
a zhir
ahgwa
lingwishtica gair ra
fugir
gato
foo zhir
gahtu
/ilent if at the start of a word! pronounced lie a *y+ if it comes after an *l+ or *n+# 8an be used with *c+ to form *ch+ which is pronounced *sh+# @ever pronounced lie the typical 'nglish usage6
tenho
honesto
tea"!nyu
oneshtu
chuva
h\
houve
falha
shoov a
a
ohve
fal-ya
Always soft – lie the *s+ in *measure+#
j ogar
antar
"hogar
loas
"hantar
ulgar
lozhash
&ueio
"hoolgar
$a"-"hoo)
0hen at the end of a word, *m+ is pronounced nasally, almost lie *ng+ or *ny+# Mather than close
m/n
the lips (lie you would in 'ngli sh), try to ind of swallow the ending# 0hen words that end with *m+ are made plural, the *m+ is replaced with an *n+ (eg# *ovem+ becomes *ovens+) – but still with the same nasal &uality#
sim
tem
fa"em
bom
ovens
bens
alguns
simRngS
taymRngS
faz aymRngS
bomRngS
zhov aynRgSsh
baynRgSsh
algung!sh
uns
trabalham
vantagem
m
matar
mora
viagens
unRgSsh
tra&alyamRngS
vantazhaymRngS
mRngS
matar
mora
vee "ah"henRgSsh
.ie in 'nglish, *&+ is always followed by *u+ in %ortuguese# Kf an unaccented *e+ or *i+ follows the *u+ (which is &uite common), pronounce lie *+, otherwise *w+# Kf the *u+ has a diaeresis accent (]),
q the *&+ should be pronounced *w+ despite the following *e+ or *i+# $his rule is not always followed by 'uropean %ortuguese (as they never use a diaeresis, whereas Bra"ilians sometimes do, even though it is no longer ocially part of the language)# &uer
&ual
por&ue
&ue
conse&]Vncias (br)
&uem
air
wal
por e
eh or e
onse$wensiash
aymRngS
*Molled+, or 9iced o the tongue(except at the end of a word) – more vigorously for a double *r+# $his is particularly dicult to achieve when in full 9ow, but for most people will come with practice#
r Bra"ilians tend to pronounce it lie a guttural *h+, which is a lot easier and an acceptable alternative if you really can+t manage to rrrrrrrrrrr# 0hen a word ends with *r+, some 'uropean %ortuguese speaers add an *e+ sound to the end# respeito
rresh pa" tu
terra
terr rrrrra
grupo
parar
engarrafamento
grroopu
parrar
engarrrrrrafamentu
s %ronounced *sh+ or lie a soft *+ if it immediately precedes a consonant (even if the consonant is the start of the next word) or if used at the very end of a sentence (Bra"ilian pronunciation
however, is ust lie an 'nglish *s+ in these circumstances)# 0hen situated between 2 vowels (even if the following vowel i s at the start of the next word), it is pronounced lie a *"+# At all other times, it is a simple *s+ sound# casa
8ascais
senhor
desde
espera
resmungar
$ah"a
Nash$aish
sen "or
dezhde
esh per ra
rrre"hmungar
meus
esposa
lembrar-se
as outras pessoas
reveses
ma" oosh
esh poz a
laymRngSbrar se
a" ohtrash pess'oh'ash
revese"h
/hould be pronounced lie in 'nglish, but often mutates to a *b+ especially by the northern
v %ortuguese# $his is due to la"y articulation – much the same as many 'nglish will mutate *th+ to *f+ or *v+#
$here aren+t really any rules governing the pronunciation of *x+6 /ome of its forms ! sh! s! s! "# Kf
x
in doubt, pronounce it lie a slushy mixture of a soft *+ and *sh+# Lor the most part, you ust have to learn by exposure# Kt normally taes the form that is easiest to articulate for the given word, so you can usually tae a fairly good guess#
t\xi
baixo
excelente
exemplo
conexHo
prTximo
ta( i
&" -shu
eshelente
e zemplu
onesowng!
prossimu
z
Kf at the end of a word (with no vowel following at the start of the next word), pronounce lie a soft *+# therwise, lie the 'nglish *"+#
tra"er
fa"
eca"
limpe"a
tra zair
fa"h
ecaz%
lim pea"!z a
%eople from certain parts of Bra"il have a habit of pronouncing the letters *de+ and *di+as a hard *+ (lie the 'nglish *+), so they say things lie *Bom _ia+# /imilarly, they often pronounce the letters *te+ and *ti+ lie the *ch+ in *chair+#
Basic Greetings
English
`ello
Portugues e
l\
8omo est\X
(formal)
you are speaing formally or informally# /pea formally to people you meet for the rst time, people older than you, or as a general sign of respect#
`ow are youX
lah – $his is &uite an i nformal greeting#
)omu eshtaX – ou often say things dierently depending on w hether
`ow are youX
Pronunciation/Notes
)omu eshtazhX – $his is the informal variation, which is only used with 8omo est\sX
(informal)
people you now well, family members, children, or people signicantly younger than yourself#
'shtoh baymRngS, brigahdua – lit# *K am well, than you#+ $his is K+m N,
'stou bem,
perhaps the most common response to the above &uestion# Lor *than
than you#
obrigadoa
you+, men say *obrigado+, women say *obrigada+ (regardless of whether the person they are taling to is male or female)# Yore on this later#
K am ne
'stou TRpStimoa
'shtoh ohtimua – note that the *p+ in *optimo+ (ne) is virtually silent (the Bra"ilian spelling, without a *p+, was adopted in the %ortuguese
orthographic agreement, so technically it should be omitted when writing)# Again, whether to use * optimo+ or *optima+ depends on your own gender#
*oodu baymRngSX – lit# *everything wellX+ @ote $his is probably the
Ks everything
$udo bemX
NX
$udo RbemS
is o)
@ot too bad
%leased to meet you
than *como est\X+ (this is true in %ortugal, despite it being a Bra"ilian expression)#
es (everything
most common greeting in %ortuguese - it is used much more fre&uently
*oodu – lit# *everything RwellS#+ $he *bem+ is optional when replying to the above &uestion#
Yais ou
+"z e oh menush – lit# *more or less#+ 4se this response if you want to
menos
indicate that you are a little *under the weather+#
%ra"er
%ra zair – lit# *pleasure#+
Iery pleased Yuito pra"er
YRngSweeRngStu %ra zair – lit# *much pleasure#+ $he word *muito+ has a
to meet you
very nasal sound, which ind of breas the rules of pronunciation6 /ometimes it can sound more lie *moitu+, depending on the accent of
the speaer#
Good Yorning
Good Afternoon
Good 'vening
Good @ight
Bom dia
Boa tarde
Boa noite
Boa noite
BomRngS deeya – lit# *Good day+ – a slightly more formal greeting than l\ – generally used up until about noon#
,oa tar de (after about midday)
,oa noit e – note that the same word, noite, is used f or both evening and night# /witch from saying *boa tarde+ to *boa noite+ around sunset#
,oa noit e
@ote ou can mix l\ with bom dia, boa tarde, boa noite to mae another fairly informal greeting (e#g# l\, bom dia)
Goodbye
Adeus
Ada" ush – lit# *$o God+# @ote that you can use bom dia, boa tarde, and boa noite to say goodbye as well#
8how – this is a Bra"ilian expression (an orthographical adaptation of */eeya+
$chau8hau
the Ktalian word *ciao+, probably introduced to Bra"il by Ktalian immigrants), but is widely used by %ortuguese as well (apparently some people also spell it *au+)#
/ee you later (same
AtP logo
Ata" logu – lit# *until straight away+#
day)
/ee you later (another
AtP amanhH
Ata" amanRngS "ah – lit# *until tomorrow+ – used even if you won+t actually see the person for a few days#
day)
/ee you soon
AtP \
/ee you
AtP a
next time
prTxima
es
/im
Ata" "hah – lit# *until already+ – you get the idea6
Ata" a prossima
/imRngS
@o
@Ho
@owRngS – can also mean *not+ or *dont+#
%lease
/e fa" favor
/e fa"h favor – often shortened to *fa" favor+
%or favor
%or favor - another alternative
brigado
brigahdu – only said by males
brigada
brigahda – only said by females
$han you
$han you very much
Yuito obrigadoa
YRngSweeRngStu brigahdua
$o say *youre welcome+ (as a response to *than you+) in %ortuguese is *de nada+ (literally, *of nothing+ - which doesn+t seem to mae sense, but there you go)# Kn other circumstances (eg# when someone arrives at your home), *welcome+ would be *bem vindoa+ (or more formally to a large group *boas vindas+)# $he verb *to welcome+ is *acolher+#
Kntroductions
English
Portuguese
Pronunciation/Notes
Yy name isZ
8hamo meZ -hamu-meZ – lit# *K call myselfZ+
meu nome
oo
PZ
8omo se 0hat is your nameX
chamaX
ual P o seu nomeX
ma" u nome eh – lit# *the my name isZ+
)omu se-shamaX – lit# *`ow do you call yourselfX+
Nwal eh
oo
sa" u nomeX – lit# *0hat is the your nameX+
'ste PZ
.shte ehZ (when introducing a male)
'sta PZ
.shta ehZ (when introducing a female)
$his isZ
my husband
o meu marido
a minha esposa my wife a minha mulher
my boyfriend
oo
o meu namorado
ma" u mareedu – lit# *the my husband+
a minya esh poz a – lit# *the my spouse+
a minya mul "air – lit# *the my woman+ – *mulher+ is usually used to refer to your own wife, whereas *esposa+ can be used for your own, or someone elses wife#
oo
ma" u namorahdu – lit# *the my boyfriend+
a minha
a minya namorahda – lit# *the my girlfriend+ – when used by a
namorada
male referring to his female partner
a minha
a minya ameega – lit# *the my friend+ – when used by a female
amiga
referring to a female friend
um amigo
oomRngS ameegu – a male friend
uma amiga
oomRngSa ameega – a female friend
my girlfriend
a friend
/ahla Knglea!"shX – Although the *V+ sometimes sounds more 1o you spea 'nglishX
open (*ay+), the circum9ex still denotes that it should be a closed Lala KnglVsX
pronunciation# .isten carefully to a native speaer – the sound is lie a cross between the *ea+ of *ear+ and the *ai+ of *air+# $he same is true of the words *Knglesa+! *%ortuguVs+! and *%ortuguesa+#
K am learning %ortuguese
'u estou a aprender
0" oo eshtoh a aprender %ortoogea!"sh
%ortuguVs
/ou KnglVs
/oh Knglea!"sh – only said by males
/ou Knglesa
/oh Knglea!"z a – only said by females
K am 'nglish
/ou %ortuguVs
/oh %ortoogea!"sh – only said by males
K am %ortuguese /ou %ortuguesa
K am from 'ngland
/ou da Knglaterra
/oh %ortoogea!"z a – only said by females
/oh da Knglaterr rra – lit# *K am from the 'ngland+
/oh de %ortugal– they don+t say *from the %ortugal+ (lie they do K am from %ortugal
/ou de
with 'ngland), ust *from %ortugal+ (lie we do)# Yost other
%ortugal
countries of the world re&uire *from the+ (*do+ or *da+ depending on the gender of the country – see section on nouns below)
0here are you
1e onde PX
1i- "ondi-yehX
in 'ngland
na Knglaterra
na Knglaterr rra – lit# *in the 'ngland+
in %ortugal
em %ortugal
aymRngS %ortugal
fromX
K am from .ondon
/ou de .ondres
/oh de 1ondresh
/orry6
1esculpe6
.amento
1eshculpe6
.amentu – lit# *K lament+ (use thi s to sympathise with someone who has had some bad news)#
K am sorry %e[o desculpas
'xcuse me
8om licen[a
Pessu 1eshculpash – lit# *K as for excuses+#
8omRngS lissensa – lit# *with permission+#
nHo K dont understand entendonHo
nowRngS entendu nowRngS persse&u – lit# *not K understand+#
percebo
so then
you (singular)
entHo
vocV
entowng! – lit# *then+, but used fre&uently in places where 'nglish would say *so+, or *right then+#
vosseh – A formal way of addressing someone (in Bra"il they use vocV informally as well)#
o senhor
oo
a senhora
a sen "or a – lit# *the lady+
sen "or – lit# *the gentleman+
@ote, the %ortuguese generally spea more formally than the 'nglish, so although referring to someone as *the lady+ or *the gentleman+ would sound rather pompous to us, it is &ui te common in %ortuguese# /enhor/enhora can also mean sirmadam, YrYrs (*Yiss+ would be *a menina+, or */enhorita+), or .ord.ady#
K
eu
a" u
ele - the rst *e+ is very closed, almost lie an 'nglish *i+, whereas he
ele
the second *e+ is barely audible (so it sounds almost lie you are saying *ill+)#
she
ela
ela
@ouns and Articles
A noun is an identier, so ust chec whether the word identies what something or someone is# $he thing identied by a noun can be tangible – lie *chair+, *door+, *car+, *boo+! or it can be abstract – lie *thought+, *desire+, *mystery+, *eort+# /ometimes, an identier can consist of more than one word (eg# *beer bottle+, *car door+), in which case the group of words that mae up the identier is nown as a *noun phrase+# @ouns can always be preceded by the denite or indenite article (i#e# the word *the+ or *a(n)+ or *some+), so if it does not mae sense to use *the+ or *a+ before the word, it is liely not a noun# Lor example, tae the word *went+ – it does not mae sense to say *the went+, so *went+ is not a noun# 0hereas, *the concept+ does mae sense, so *concept+ is a noun#
%roper nouns are similar in that they act as identiers, its ust that they dene a particular instance of a noun – i#e# names (e#g#, Lred, 'mily, $uesday, .ondon)# %roper nouns always start w ith a capital letter in 'nglish so they are usually easy to identify# Kn %ortuguese, nouns are either masculine or feminine# 4nless you have studied another language before, this may seem a little odd because in 'nglish w e only apply gender to people or animals unless speaing rhetorically# $he distinction as to which nouns are masculine and which are feminine is fairly arbitrary, but as a general rule, if the word ends w ith *a+ or *[Ho+ (e&uivalent to the 'nglish ending *tion+) or *ade+ or *gem+, it is usually feminine, and if it ends with an *o+, or *l+, or *r+ or *\+ (a-acute), it is usually masculine# ther endings can be masculine or feminine, and you ust have to learn them as you come across them# /o whatX 0ell, denite and indenite articles, as well as adectives have to * agree+ with the noun to which they relate – both in terms of gender, and plurality# 0hat does this mean in practiceX $here are J (count em6) %ortuguese words for *the+# $he one you use depends on whether the noun is masculine or feminine, and whether you are referring to one or more than one item#
The Portuguese defnite article Portuguese
.nglish
o
the (masculine singular)
os
the (masculine plural)
a
the (feminine singular)
as
the (feminine plural)
A similar rule applies to the indenite article
The Portuguese indefnite article Portuguese
.nglish
um
a or an (masculine)
uns
some (masculine plural)
uma
a or an (feminine)
umas
some (feminine)
$ae for example, the word *livro+ which means *boo+# $his is a masculine noun, so when referring to one particular boo (*the boo+), you would say *o livro+, whereas to refer to a few boos (*some boos+), you would say *uns livros+# $o say *the houses+, w hich is feminine, w ould be *as casas+# $he best way to learn which nouns are masculine and which are feminine is to learn the word along with the denite or indenite article# $heres no time lie the present, so here are some nouns for you to learn
Eam!les o" Portuguese nouns Portuguese
.nglish
o amor
love
a
árvore
tree
o banho
bath
a bebida
drin
a caneta
pen
o carro
car
a casa
house
a comida
food
o computador
computer
a cortina
curtain
o escritório
oce
a explica[Ho
explanation
o m
end
a 9or
9ower
o gato
cat
a idPia
idea
o in^cio
beginning
o livro
boo
o pa^s
country
o pensamento
thought
os sentimentos
feelings
a televisHo
television
Ierbs
Ierbs are often described as *doing words+, in that they signify some f orm of action# Although this is true, there are some verbs that do not relate to obvious actions – in particular, auxil iary verbs such as *would+ and *can+ which are explained in a littl e more detail later# A good starting point though is to as yourself which word denotes an action or process being carried out# ne way to identify a word as a verb, is to as yourself whether you can precede it w ith *K+, *we+, *you+, *he+, *she+, *it+, and *they+ to denote somebody performing the action# Lor example, with the word *went+, try saying *K went, w e went, you went, he went, she went, it went, they went+ – it all sounds N, so *went+ is a verb# `owever, if you try to do the same thing with a word lie *concept+, you end up with nonsense *K concept, we concept, you concept, he concepts, she concepts, it concepts, they concept+ – it ust doesn+t wor# 8oncept therefore is not a verb# By the way, this prexing with *K+, *we+, * you+ etc# is called *conugating+ the verb# 1epending on the *tense+ of the verb (explained later), you might nd that you have to modify the word slightly before you can conugate it# Kf you come across a word that you thin is a verb, but you can+t conugate it, try to modify it in such a way as to denote that you were in the habit of performing the action yourself# Lor example, tae the word *doing+# *K doing, we doing, you doing, they doing+ does not mae sense# `owever, to denote that K am accustomed to *doing+ something, K would say *K do+#
0e can see then, that all we have to do in this example, is modify the word slightly by dropping the *ing+, which gives us *K do, we do, you do, they do#+ Basically, we are checing whether the w ord belongs to a *family+ of words that can be conugated – if so, it is probably a verb# As you become more familiar with dierent verb forms, you will nd that you recognise the dierent words that belong to a particular verbs *family+# Iery occasionally, you might nd that a verb cannot be fully conugated – f or example *rain+# Kt does not really mae sense to say *K rain, you rain, we rain+ etc, but *rain+ is still a verb, and it can be conugated as *it rains+# $he reason the full conugation does not mae sense is that the verb has a very specic application, ie# to the weather (so *it Rthe weatherS rains+ is the only conugation that ts)# Lull conugation of a word lie this could be used as a literary mechanism, but it is not used in every day speech# /ometimes, the same word can be classied as a noun or a verb, depending on the context# Lor example, in the sentence *he wanted to photograph me+, the word *photograph+ is acting as a verb# `owever, saying *he wanted to tae my photograph+, changes the word *photograph+ into a noun# Lor this reason, be careful when identifying verbs that the meaning of the word when conugated is consistent with the meaning of the word in the sentence in which you nd it# Kt might be best to rst try to identify whether the word is a noun, and only if it isnt, try conugation to see if i t is a verb# `ere are some more examples of words that can be nouns or verbs depending on the context paint! love! telephone! record (note the shift in stress when pronouncing the noun form and the verb form of *record+)! boo! being! lling! helping! and lots of other words that end with *ing+# $here is a lot more to be said about verbs and we will delve deeply into them a little later#
Eam!les o" Portuguese ver#s Portuguese
.nglish
amar
to love
caminhar
to wal
garantir
to guarantee
ir
to go
nevar
to snow
perder
to lose
saber
to now
ter
to have
$o identify an adective, ust chec whether the word gives you more information about a noun# Adectives always relate to nouns (sometimes indirectly – via a pronoun), and usually describe them in some way – e#g# to denote si"ecolourtexture&ualityetc# /ome examples of adectives brown! soft! musical! large! expensive! happy# Kn 'nglish, adectives normally appear before the noun they describe (e#g#, * the black shoes+, *a small table+)# Kn %ortuguese however, (as with other .atin-based languages) the adective appears after the noun (e#g#, *os sapatos preos+, *uma mesa pequena+)# $his taes a bit of getting used to, but is actually more logical, especially when using several adectives i n a row, because you now what noun is being described up-front, whereas in 'nglish you have to wait for the sentence to nish before you now what is being spoen about# Adectives usually have a gender, and this must *agree+ with the gender of the noun being described# /o a small house is *uma casa pequena + but a small boo is *um l ivro pequeno+#
Eam!les o" Portuguese ad$ectives
Portuguese
.nglish
%asculine
&eminine
barulhento
barulhenta
noisy
cansado
cansada
tired
amarelo
amarela
yellow
congelado
congelada
fro"en
morto
morta
dead
f\cil
f\cil
easy
chato
chata
boring
r\pido
r\pida
fast
assustador
assustadora
scary
Adverbs
$he concept of adverbs is very similar to that of adectives – i#e# they are words that give more information about another word# As the term implies, adverbs are generally used to give extra information about a verb – usually to describe the action – e#g# to denote speedsoundstrengthetc#
Iirtually all words that end with *ly+ in 'nglish are adverbs (the e&uivalent ending in %ortuguese is *mente+ – e#g# profundamente)#
`owever, although generally used to describe a verb, adverbs can also be used to describe other word types such as adectives (although they are never used to describe a noun directly)# Lor example *$he physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted girl arrived home#+ – the adverbs in this sentence are *physically+, *mentally+, and *emotionally+, which in this case are being used to describe the adective *exhausted+ (which in turn describes the noun *girl+)# Basically then, to identify a word as an adverb, chec whether the word describes something# Kf it does, but does not relate directly to a noun, it is probably an adverb# /ome words can be either an adective or an adverb depending on the context (e#g# the word *fast+ when used in the context of *a fast car+ is an adective, but when you say *the car was going fast+ it is an adverb)#
Eam!les o" Portuguese adver#s
Portuguese
.nglish
bastante
enough&uite
bem
well
cuidadosamente
carefully
lentamente
slowly
raramente
seldom
untos
together
profundamente
deeply
provavelmente
probably
%repositions
%repositions are small words or phrases that usually follow a verb, relate to a noun and indicate the position of the noun in space or time# %repositions can consist of a single word, in which case they are *simple+, or more than one word, in which case they are *complex+# `ere are some examples
Portuguese !re!ositions
Portuguese
.nglish
apara
to
acima de
above
antes deperante
before
apTsdepois de
after
atP
until
com
with
como
as
dedesde
from
diante deperante
in front of
em
in
emsobre
on
entre
between
parapor
for
perto de
near
por
by
sob
under
sobre
about
8orrect use of prepositions is ust one of those things you have to learn through experience# $here are places where prepositions are re&uired in %ortuguese where they wouldn+t be in 'nglish, and viceversa# As you begin to become familiar with whole phrases, you will get a feel for how prepositions wor in %ortuguese, and wi ll begin to use them correctly almost sub-consciously# $o get you started though, here are some examples of phrases which re&uire a preposition in %ortuguese that is dierent to that used (if any) in 'nglish
Eam!les o" !re!ositions in English and Portuguese
Portuguese
.nglish
1iteral *ranslation
'les estHo em casa
$hey are a home
$hey are in house
%recisamos !e auda
0e need help
0e need o" help
'la voltou para casa
/he returned home
/he returned o house
'u gosto !e vinho
K lie wine
K lie o" wine
$enho !e suportar isso
K have o" support this K have o put up #ih this
$enho que suportar isso
K have ha support this
%uritans of 'nglish grammar often say that a sentence should not end with a preposition, because this was the case with .atin# $hese days though, it i s generally accepted that this rule does not apply to 'nglish, because to follow it re&uires some verbal gymnastics – for example, whereas we nd it &uite natural to say *he new what K was taling about+ (which ends with a preposition), if you wanted to phrase that without ending with a preposition, you end up with *he new about what K was taling+# /ir 0inston 8hurchill is often credited with saying *to say that a sentence should not end with a preposition is blatant pedantry, up with which K shall not put6+ – as an ironic example of how ridi culous this rule is when applied to 'nglish# `owever, as %ortuguese is much more closely related to .atin than 'nglish, Km afraid this rule does apply to %ortuguese# $his means learning the gymnastics of rewording your sentences so that they do not end with a preposition# /orry about that# Although incorrect use of prepositions will mae you sound *foreign+ to a %ortuguese speaer, you will still generally be understood, so dont worry about them too much
Ierb 8onugation
Ierbs form the bacbone of any language, as they are the means by which we can describe things that have happened, are happening, would happen, or will happen# As such, they are also the most complicated type of word, and can tae on many dierent forms for dierent purposes# By modifying the innitive form of a verb, we derive further words that retain the basic meaning of the innitive, but identify ;#
the person or thing performing the action, and
2#
the time or conditions under which it is performed#
Ierb conugation is concerned with the rst of these aspects – i#e# who or what performs the action (the second aspect is the *tense+ of the verb, which i s addressed later – for now, we will stic with the present tense)# $he word *conugation+ ust means *oining together+, and in this context refers to the construction of verb forms by oining dierent endings to the * stem+ of a verb# $his will become clearer as you start to loo at the sample conugations below# Kn 'nglish, we tend to use nouns and pronouns to explicitly identify who or what performs an action – for example, *$ read+! *%ou go+! *&ohndoes+ etc# ur verb forms do not change as much as those in %ortuguese, where the verb form itself implies who or what is performing the action (thus sometimes eliminating the need for nouns and pronouns where they would be used in 'nglish)# $he vast maority of verbs in any language will follow a set of rules regarding the form used in any given situation# $hese are referred to as regular or *wea+ verbs# Krregular (or *strong+) verbs are those that do not follow the usual rul es, and these have to be learned individually# 4nfortunately, the most commonly used verbs in any language are usually also the irregular ones – so it does re&uire a bit of eort in learning irregulars before you can construct meaningful sentences# $he following is a sample conugation of the 'nglish regular verb *to wor+#
English' to work
K wor
we wor
you wor
you wor
hesheit wors
they wor
@ote that the only time the word *wor+ i s changed, is when we say *he+, *she+, or *it+ wors – where we add an *s+ on the end# Also, in the above conugations, the words are presented in 2 columns# $he rst represents singular forms, and the second is for plural forms# /o, the plural of *K wor+ is *we wor+, the plural of *he+, *she+
or *it wors+ is *they wor+, and the plural of *you w or+ remains the same (in 'nglish we no longer dierentiate between *you+ singular and *you+ plural – in old 'nglish, the plural pronoun was *ye+)# $he *K+ and *we+ forms are referred to as the *rst person+ (because they refer to the speaer), *you+ is the *second person+ (because it refers to the person being spoen to), and *hesheitthey+ are the *third person+ (because they relate to a third-party who is not being addressed)# /o, *we wor+ can be referred to as *the rst person plural form from the verb to wor+# Kn %ortuguese, we nd that every form of the verb is di erent# $he %ortuguese e&uivalent of *to wor+ is *trabalhar+, and it is conugated lie this
Portuguese' tra#alhar
trabalho
trabalhamos
trabalhas
trabalhais
trabalha
trabalham
'ven though in %ortuguese the verb form changes for each *person+, and in 'nglish it changes for the third person singular only, there are some letters which are always there – for example, in %ortuguese, all of the forms of *trabalhar+ start with the letters *rabalh+# $his portion of the word is nown as the *stem+ – and for regular verbs, it remains the same regardless of the conugation or tense# 0ith irregular verbs however, the stem can change (in which case they are referred to as *radical-changing+ or *stem-changing+ verbs)# Almost all innitives in %ortuguese end with either *ar+, *er+, or *ir+ – even for irregular verbs# $he most common ending is *ar+, and the least common is *ir+# $hese dierent types of ver b are categorised *ar+ verbs are referred to as *the rst conugation+, *er+ verbs are *the second conugation+, and *ir+ verbs are the *third conugation+#
A handful of verbs have an innitive ending with *or+ (eg# pUr, compor), but these are so rare that they do not &ualify for a category of their own# $hey have evolved from 2 nd conugation verbs (*pUr+ used to be *pUer+) so they are still classed as belonging to the 2nd conugation#
K will explain more about the personal pronouns that can accompany these verbs later, but here are the basic pronouns that you might need to use with verb conugations
English
Portuguese
K
eu
we
nTs
you
tu
you (plural)
vTs (now obsolete)
heshe
eleela
they
eleselas
/o to put them in context
Portuguese' tra#alhar
eu trabalho
nTs trabalhamos
tu trabalhas
vTs trabalhais
ele trabalha
eles trabalham
Lirst 8onugation Ierbs
$o help you consolidate this, here is another conugation of a verb – given in both 'nglish and %ortuguese# $he %ortuguese verb *pensar+ means *to thin+, and because it ends with *ar+, it is a rst conugation verb#
English' to think
K thin
we thin
you thin
you thin
hesheitthins
they thin
Portuguese' !ensar
penso
pensamos
pensas
pensais
pensa
pensam
@ote that the endings of the conugations are the same as the previous example# $he %ortuguese verbs trabalhar and pensar are both regular verbs of the rst conugation (ie# they are regular, and end in *ar+), so the endings attached to the stem (in the case of pensar, the stem is *pens+) are the same# All regular verbs that end in *ar+ wi ll follow exactly the same pattern# $he stem is always the innitive minus the last 2 letters (well, nearly always – Kll explain the exceptions later), and the endings wil l always be as above#
/econd and $hird 8onugation Ierbs
@ow we are going to loo at the second and third conugations (ie# verbs that end in *er+ and *ir+)# $he principle is the same as for rst conugation (*ar+) verbs – the pattern for each is the same for all regular verbs of the same conugation# $ae a few minutes (or hours6) trying to memorise the endings for each type of verb#
The second con$ugation regular ver#' comer (to eat)*
como
comemos
comes
comeis
come
comem
The second con$ugation regular ver#' escrever (to write)*
escrevo
escrevemos
escreves
escreveis
escreve
escrevem
The third con$ugation regular ver#' garantir (to guarantee)*
garanto
garantimos
garantes
garantis
garante
garantem
The third con$ugation regular ver#' assistir (to attend)
assisto
assistimos
assistes
assistis
assiste
assistem
Krregular Ierbs
ou can+t run away from them forever Km afraid# $hose horrible words that refuse to conform to any rules ust have to be learned the hard way# K am going to introduce you to a few irregular verbs – the most common ones – as this will greatly increase your ability to express yourself with a limited vocabulary# $here are more examples of irregular verbs (fully conugated in all the tenses) in the reference section at the bac of the boo#
To +e Or , To +e _ust to mae a dicult situation worse, one of the most common verbs *to be+ is not only irregular in %ortuguese (and in 'nglish for that matter), it is also translated i nto 2 dierent %ortuguese verbs, depending on the context# $he slightly more common version is *ser+# $his is used with reference to dening characteristics, or permanent states# Lor example, to be male or female is a dening characteristic, so you would use the appropriate conugation of the verb *ser+ to say *K am male+ or *they are female+# Lor non-dening characteristics, or temporary states, you use the word *estar+# /o you would have to use this word to say something lie *K am tired+, or *she is late+# $he most important &uestion to remember when trying to decide whether to use ser or estar is this *Ks what K am taling about a dening characteristic (ser) or not (estar)X+ Kt is best not ust to as yourself *is what K am taling about temporary or permanentX+ – because although often used as a rule of thumb, this does not always wor6 Lor example, when taling about your occupation, you might want to say something l ie *K am a secretary+# Being a secretary, whilst not necessarily a permanent state, is a dening characteristic – something that could be used to identify you as a par ticular individual# /o in thi s case, you would use *ser+# .iewise, to say *K will be the chairman of the meeting+ – you are not going to be the chairman of that meeting for the rest of your life, but being the chairman is something that will identify you, so again, ser would be used# ou will get some practice on this soonZ `ere is the full conugation in the present tense of both ser and estar
The second con$ugation irregular ver#' ser (to #e . characteristic)
sou
somos
Ps
sois
P
sHo
The frst con$ugation irregular ver#' estar (to #e . noncharacteristic)
estou
estamos
est\s
estais
est\
estHo
And ust for comparison, the same irregular verb in the present tense in 'nglish (to be)
K am
we are
you are
you are
hesheit is
they are
`ere are a few more examples###
*%ortuguese is &uite an easy language to learn#+ – in this case, *easy+ is a word that denes
•
%ortuguese (ha ha), so you would use ser# *`e is asleep#+ – you could not really say that a person can be identied by whether or not they
•
are asleep6 /o in this case, you would use esar# •
*K am going o be honest#+ – A dening characteristic, so you would use ser(
A very useful verb i s *to go+# ou will nd out why this verb is particularly useful shortly# `ere is the %ortuguese conugation of this verb in the present tense#
The third con$ugation irregular ver#' ir (to go)
vou
vamos
vais
ides
vai
vHo
`ere is another common irregular *to have+#
The second con$ugation irregular ver#' ter (to have)
tenho
temos
tens
tendes
tem
tVm
$his verb, *ter+, can also be used to mean *must+ – in a similar way to the 'nglish verb *to have+# Lor example, we might say something lie *K have to eat+, meaning *K must eat+# Kn %ortuguese, you would use *ter+ lie this *'u tenho de comer+# @ote that the verb *eat+ is given in the in nitive, and the word *de+ is used between the two verbs (so lit erally, it is *K have of to eat+)# Knstead of *de+, the word *&ue+ is sometimes used, so *eu tenho &ue comer+ means exactly the same thing# Another very useful irregular verb is * to do+ – which in %ortuguese (and other 'uropean languages) is actually the same as *to mae+ – so %ortuguese speaers learning 'nglish have the same trouble with our two verbs *to mae+ and *to do+ as we have wi th their *ser+ and *estar+6
The second con$ugation irregular ver#' "a0er (to do1 to make)
fa[o
fa"emos
fa"es
fa"eis
fa"
fa"em
_ust one more6 A bit of an odd one, this – *haver+# h, and, er, before K explain what it means, K have a bit of a confession to mae# K lied# ou remember earlier on K mentioned that there were 2 dierent %ortuguese words for *to be+X 0ell, that+s not entirely true# $here are (well, maybe J if you include *car+, but don+t worry about that)#
The second con$ugation irregular ver#' haver (to #e 2im!ersonal31 to have 2auiliar43)
hei
havemos
h\s
haveis
h\
hHo
*Kmpersonal+ means that it does not relate to any grammatical *person+# 0hen *haver+ is used with a grammatical person, it means *to have+ (and is a posh version of the verb *ter+, used mainly in writing rather than in speech, and it is only used as an auxiliary verb – i#e# when saying one has to do something)# $he third person singular form (*h\+) can be translated as *there is+ or *there are+# *`\+ is a useful word to now, although i t seems a little awward to use because it sounds similar to *a+ meaning *the+ (feminine singular), and the same as *a+ meaning *to+! and *>+ meaning *to the+ (feminine singular) – not to mention *a+ meaning *her+ or *it+ (feminine) (which we haven+t di scussed yet)# 1on+t let that put you o though – whenever you want to say *there is+ or *there are+, use *h\+ – it will usually be clear what you mean from the context anyway (note Bra"ilians sometimes use the word *tem+ (*one has+) instead of *h\+)# All right, that+s enough for now6 Before you start practising these new verbs, let me tell you why ir (to go) is such a useful one to remember# /o far, we have been concentrating on verbs in the present tense, to tal about things that are happening now# 0e will soon be looing at how to express verbs to indicate actions in the past or future, but a ni ce little short-cut to be able to tal about the future is to prex the verb you want to use with the appropriate conugation of ir# .ets say for example, that you wanted to construct a sentence lie this *K will w or here#+ $his is the future tense, which in 'nglish is &uite simple – ust prex the verb with *will+ – but in %ortuguese re&uires learning a whole new set of conugations# Knstead of learning the future tense, you can ust rephrase your sentence lie this *K am going to wor here#+ $he only two exceptions are when the innitive is also *to go+ (*ir+) or *to come+ (*vir+) – in which case, the innitive must be omitted to avoid redundancy# Lor example, *K am going to go to the shops+ is *vou >s loas+, no *vou ir >s loas+, and *they are going to come home now+ is *eles vêm para casa agora+, no *eles vHo vir para casa agora+#
%resent Kndicative and %resent 8ontinuous
0e have been using verbs in the present tense so far# `owever, as there is more than one present tense, to be more accurate, we should use the correct technical term, which is the present indicative#
ther present tenses include the present continuous and the present subunctive – we will come onto subunctive tenses later# $he present indicative is the basic present tense that we are already familiar with – it usually denotes that the action is something that the subect is in the habit of doing (we wal, they eat, K wor, etc#), although occasionally it can be used to describe a more immediate action (eg# K understand)# $he conugations we have already looed at are all in the present indicative# Lor more literal explanations of what is happening at the present moment, we usually employ what i s nown as a continuous (or progressive) tense, maing use of a compound verb form# Lor example, to say *K wor here+ implies that the person speaing i s in the habit of woring here# Kf we wanted to refer to what is happening at this very moment, we would say *K am #orking here+# A literal translation of *K am woring here+ would be *eu estou a trabalhar a&ui+ in 'uropean %ortuguese or the Bra"ilian e&uivalent *eu estou trabalhando a&ui+ - so whi lst we are still referring to the present, these forms are not present indicative, but present continuous (or progressive)#
Present 5ontinuous o" the regular ver# tra#alhar (to work) in Euro!ean Portuguese
estou a trabalhar
estamos a trablahar
estás a trabalhar
estais a trabalhar
está a trabalhar
estHo a trabalhar
Because the present continuous uses *estar+ < *a+ < the innitive, the conugations are the same for all verbs (regular and irregular)# Bra"ilians use the present participle instead of *a+ < innitive# Yore on participles later#
Present 5ontinuous o" the regular ver# tra#alhar (to work) in +ra0ilian Portuguese
estou trabalhando
estamos trabalhando
estás trabalhando
estais trabalhando
está trabalhando
estHo trabalhando
%reterite Kndicative
@ow we will tae a loo into the past# ou might thin that the past tense i s called *the past tense+ – but K+m afraid you would be wrong# Lor some reason, grammarians (that+s what you call the nutters who mae this stu up) have decided to call it *the preterite+ or *preterite indicative+, or if theyre feeling ind, ust *the simple past+# By the way, Americans sometimes spell this as *preterit+ without a nal *e+ – this American spelling re9ects the correct pronunciation it should be pronounced *pret-er-rit+ not *pret-er-right+# $he word preterite is derived from the .atin *praeteritum+ meaning *past+ (grammarians ust luuurv e .atin)# $he concept is very similar to using the present tense – you ust have to learn the new conugations# $here are actually several ways to refer to something that happened in the past, each with varying shades of meaning, and the preterite represents ust one of these ways# $o give you an example of what K mean, tae a loo at the following sentences K waled home# K was waling home# K have waled home# K had waled home# K would have waled home#
'ach of these sentences describes something involving the past, but they carry dierent shades of meaning by employing dierent tenses# $he preterite is the simplest of these, that i s, the rst example above *K waled home+# Kt refers to someone or something directly having done something (he ran, they ate, we went, etc#)# Lor regular verbs, this means using a dierent set of endings on the stem of the innitive# $he following examples of regular %ortuguese verbs illustrate the full conugation of the preterite tense#
Preterite indicative tense o" the frst con$ugation regular ver#' tra#alhar (to work)
trabalhei
trabalh\mos (the acute \ sounds a little more open than its present indicative e&uivalent)
trabalhaste
trabalhastes
trabalhou
trabalharam
Preterite indicative tense o" the frst con$ugation regular ver#' !ensar (to think)
pensei
pens\mos
pensaste
pensastes
pensou
pensaram
Preterite indicative tense o" the second con$ugation regular ver#' comer (to eat)
comi
comemos (note ;st person plural is exactly the same as in the present
indicative)
comeste
comestes
comeu
comeram
Preterite indicative tense o" the second con$ugation regular ver#' escrever (to write)
escrevi
escrevemos
escreveste
escrevestes
escreveu
escreveram
Preterite indicative tense o" the third con$ugation regular ver#' garantir (to guarantee)
garanti
garantimos (again, no change from the present indicative)
garantiste
garantistes
garantiu
garantiram
Preterite indicative tense o" the third con$ugation regular ver#' assistir (to attend)
assisti
assistimos
assististe
assististes
assistiu
assistiram
`ere are some examples of irregular preterites
Preterite indicative tense o" the irregular frst con$ugation ver#' estar (to #e)
estive
estivemos
estiveste
estivestes
esteve
estiveram
Preterite indicative tense o" the irregular second con$ugation ver#' ser (to #e)
fui
fomos
foste
fostes
foi
foram
Preterite indicative tense o" the irregular third con$ugation ver#' ir (to go)
fui
fomos
foste
fostes
foi
foram
@o, its not a misprint# $he preterite forms of the verbs *ser+ and *ir+ are identical# /o to say *K was+ (*eu fui+), is exactly the same as to say *K went+ (*eu f ui+)# /trange, but true# Knterestingly, the preterite is used even for negative statements in %ortuguese – we don+t do this in 'nglish# Lor example, to put *K thought+ into the negative, we would say *K did not thin+# Because we use *did+ (an auxiliary verb), we have to change *thought+ to *thin+ (the innitive)# %ortuguese is a lot simpler# *K did not thin+ would be translated *nHo pensei+ (lit# *not K thought+), which is much more logical, and does not re&uire you to change the verb form or use any auxiliary verbs# $hat+s why you sometimes hear %ortuguese people who are learning 'nglish say things lie *K didn+t thought+#
Kmperfect Kndicative
@ot too dicult ehX All right then, lets start to mae things a little more complicated# Another tense that has to do with the past is th e *imperfect indicative+# Basically, this refers to an action that too place in the past, but was ongoing for a period of time and where the time of completion of the action is not specied# Kt is precisely because of this lac of a specied time that the tense is called *imperfect+# 0e dont really have a direct e&uivalent in 'nglish - we use the preterite, past continuous, or conditional instead (more on those later)# `ere are some 'nglish e&uivalents of the imperfect indicative K was woring here in those days (past continuous)#
K wored here in those days (preterite)# Kn those days, K would wor here then go home (conditional)# Kn 'nglish, it is typically the context that places the use of the verb in the imperfect – in the above examples, the use of *in those days+ indicates an ongoing action with no specic start or end# 0ithout that context, we would not now that it was imperfect (relating to an ongoing past action without a specied completion event)# Kn %ortuguese, the verb ending directly implies the imperfect aspect, so you don+t need the extra contextual information to now that the timing of the action the verb relates to is not specic# $his tense is also used when you want to refer to something that used to happen# ou can either use the appropriate conugation of the verb in the imperfect indicative tense directly, or use the appropriate conugation of the verb *costumar+ in the imperfect, followed by the innitive of the verb you are referring to (so *'u costumava trabalhar a&ui+ and *'u trabalhava a&ui+ could both be used to mean *K used to wor here+)#
6m!er"ect indicative tense o" the frst con$ugation regular ver#' tra#alhar (to work)
trabalhava
trabalh\vamos
trabalhavas
trabalh\veis
trabalhava
trabalhavam
6m!er"ect indicative tense o" the frst con$ugation regular ver#' !ensar (to think)
pensava
pens\vamos
pensavas
pens\veis
pensava
pensavam
6m!er"ect indicative tense o" the second con$ugation regular ver#' comer (to eat)
comia
com^amos
comias
com^eis
comia
comiam
6m!er"ect indicative tense o" the second con$ugation regular ver#' escrever (to write)*
escrevia
escrev^amos
escrevias
escrev^eis
escrevia
escreviam
6m!er"ect indicative tense o" the third con$ugation regular ver#' garantir (to guarantee)*
garantia
garant^amos
garantias
garant^eis
garantia
garantiam
6m!er"ect indicative tense o" the third con$ugation regular ver#' assistir (to attend1 to watch)
assistia
assist^amos
assistias
assist^eis
assistia
assistiam
Krregular imperfect indicativesZ
6m!er"ect indicative tense o" the irregular frst con$ugation ver#' estar (to #e)
estava
est\vamos
estavas
est\veis
estava
estavam
6m!er"ect indicative tense o" the irregular second con$ugation ver#' ser (to #e)
era
Pramos
eras
Preis
era
eram
6m!er"ect indicative tense o" the irregular third con$ugation ver#' ir (to go)
ia
^amos
ias
^eis
ia
iam
/o when you are taling about something that extended over an i ndenite period of time – as opposed to an event or something that was accomplished – you use the imperfect indicative rather than the preterite#
Loi or 'raX @ote the dierence between the words *foi+ (preterite) and *era+ (imperfect indicative) – and their e&uivalents for the other *persons+ of their respective tenses# $his is often the source of confusion,
because both words are usually translated as *was+ in 'nglish, and both come from the verb *ser+# $he rule is exactly the same as for the other verbs though – *foi+ is used for an event or accomplished action, and *era+ relates to an action or process which occurred over an indenite period of time in the past# /oZ
A exposi[Ho "oi boa
$he exhibition was good (referring to a nown time period)
)ra um homem bom
`e was a good man (over an unspecied period of time)
Luture Kndicative
.ets switch to the future now# Again, there are various shades of future (K will go, K will have been, K might go, K am going to go etc#), so there are various tenses that relate to the future# $he simplest of these tenses is simply nown as *future+ or *future indicative+ which is a fairly logical name really (the grammarians must have been having an *o+ day)# Kn 'nglish, we achieve this tense by using the auxiliary verb *will+, or sometimes *shall+ (strictly speaing, in 'nglish, you are supposed to use *shall+ for the rst person, and *will+ for the second and third person – unless you are trying to add emphasis, in which case you use them the opposite way round)# Kn %ortuguese, the future tense is not used very often – they tend to use the appropriate conugation of *ir+, followed by the innitive of the verb (eg# * vou comer+ instead of *comerei+)# ou are more liely to come across the future indicative in writing than in speech# $he true f uture indicative is a simple form, and is conugated as follows
&uture indicative tense o" the frst con$ugation regular ver#' tra#alhar (to work)
trabalharei
trabalharemos
trabalhar\s
trabalhareis
trabalhar\
trabalharHo
&uture indicative tense o" the frst con$ugation regular ver#' !ensar (to think)
pensarei
pensaremos
pensar\s
pensareis
pensar\
pensarHo
&uture indicative tense o" the second con$ugation regular ver#' comer (to eat)
comerei
comeremos
comer\s
comereis
comer\
comerHo
&uture indicative tense o" the second con$ugation regular ver#' escrever (to write)
escreverei
escreveremos
escrever\s
escrevereis
escrever\
escreverHo
&uture indicative tense o" the third con$ugation regular ver#' garantir (to guarantee)
garantirei
garantiremos
garantir\s
garantireis
garantir\
garantirHo
&uture indicative tense o" the third con$ugation regular ver#' assistir (to attend)
assistirei
assistiremos
assistir\s
assistireis
assistir\
assistirHo
Krregular verbs and the future indicativeZ
&uture indicative tense o" the irregular frst con$ugation ver#' estar (to #e)
estarei
estaremos
estar\s
estareis
estar\
estarHo
&uture indicative tense o" the irregular second con$ugation ver#' ser (to #e)
serei
seremos
ser\s
sereis
ser\
serHo
&uture indicative tense o" the irregular third con$ugation ver#' ir (to go)
irei
iremos
ir\s
ireis
ir\
irHo
A helpful hint for remembering the future indicative forms, is that they all start with the full innitive – not ust the stem of it (although not all irregular verbs do so)# Be careful though not to confuse the
third person plural form of the future indicative wi th the preterite third person plural, as they both start with the full innitive#
8onditional
$his is &uite an easy one# 0herever you prex an 'nglish verb with the word *would+, but without using the auxiliary verb *have+, you are using the conditional tense# %rexing an 'nglish verb with the words *would have+ (*K would have waled home+) is dierent – this would be the *conditional perfect+ tense (still in the conditional mood, but a dierent tense), so it is only if the v erb concerned is immediately prexed by *would+ in 'nglish# f course, the verb *have+ in itself could be prexed with the word *would+ (*$hey would have a pet cat, ifZ+), and this is conditional – its only if *have+ is being used as an auxiliary verb that the tense would become the conditional perfect# 'xamples of the conditional tense *K would go, but Km busy+! *`e would wal home+! *$hey would not believe me+! *K would have a burger if K wasnt on a diet#+
5onditional tense o" the frst con$ugation regular ver#' tra#alhar (to work)
trabalharia
trabalhar^amos
trabalharias
trabalhar^eis
trabalharia
trabalhariam
5onditional tense o" the frst con$ugation regular ver#' !ensar (to think)
pensaria
pensar^amos
pensarias
pensar^eis
pensaria
pensariam
5onditional tense o" the second con$ugation regular ver#' comer (to eat)
comeria
comer^amos
comerias
comer^eis
comeria
comeriam
5onditional tense o" the second con$ugation regular ver#' escrever (to write)
escreveria
escrever^amos
escreverias
escrever^eis
escreveria
escreveriam
5onditional tense o" the third con$ugation regular ver#' garantir (to
guarantee)
garantiria
garantir^amos
garantirias
garantir^eis
garantiria
garantiriam
5onditional tense o" the third con$ugation regular ver#' assistir (to attend)
assistiria
assistir^amos
assistirias
assistir^eis
assistiria
assistiriam
Krregular verbs in the conditional tense
5onditional tense o" the irregular frst con$ugation ver#' estar (to #e)
estaria
estar^amos
estar^as
estar^eis
estar^a
estariam
5onditional tense o" the irregular second con$ugation ver#' ser (to #e)
seria
ser^amos
serias
ser^eis
seria
seriam
5onditional tense o" the irregular third con$ugation ver#' ir (to go)
iria
ir^amos
irias
ir^eis
iria
iriam
Me9exive Ierbs
0hen the obect of a verb refers to the same indivi dual as the subect, the verb is said to be re9exive# Kn 'nglish, this means using a pronoun that ends with *self+ or *selves+ (for example, *she cut herself+!
*they behaved themselves+)# %ortuguese also has a set of pronouns that are used to mae verbs re9exive, and we will loo at those in more detail later# $here are a lot more re9exive verbs in %ortuguese than there are in 'nglish, and they often seem a little odd to us at rst# Kt is a common habit for us learners to forget to use the pronoun of a re9exive verb (and therefore not use it re9exively), but this can be dangerous because it can cause the verb to tae on a dierent meaning# A good example of what re9exive verbs are all about is the %ortuguese verb * lembrar-se+# $he *-se+ on the end of the innitive i s a re9exive pronoun, and it is this pronoun which maes the verb re9exive# $he 'nglish translation of *lembrar-se+ is *to remember+# `owever, if you use the verb non-re9exively – ie# *lembrar+ (rather than *lembar-se+), it means *to remind+# /o whereas in 'nglish, we use two completely separate verbs (*to remember+, and *to remind+), the %ortuguese ust use one (*lembrar+) with the option of maing it re9exive (*lembrar-se+)# Although *l embrar-se+ means *to remember+, it might be more helpful to thin of a more literal translation *to remind oneself+# 0hen conugating a re9exive verb, you use the same rules as for other verbs – *lembrar-se+ is still a rst conugation verb (only the ;st person plural conugation changes slightly – see comments section below), but you have to amend the pronoun on the end to re9ect the correct *person+# `ere is the full conugation of a re9exive verb
Present 6ndicative tense o" the irregular frst con$ugation ver#' lem#rarse (to remem#er)
lembro-me
lembramo-nos
lembras-te
lembrais-vos
lembra-se
lembram-se
`ere are some common re9exive verbsZ
Some 5ommon Portuguese Re7eive 8er#s
Portuguese
.nglish
1iteral *ranslation
lembrar-se
to remember
to remind oneself
levantar-se
to get up
to get oneself up
sentar-se
to sit down
to sit oneself down
sentir-se
to feel
to feel oneself (eg# *sinto-me bem+ = *K feel well+)
servir-se
vestir-se
to help oneself
to dress
to help oneself
to dress oneself
$he pronoun can be attached to the start of the verb instead of the end (eg# *nHo me lembro+ = *K don+t remember+ – the hyphen is not used when prexing), and sometimes this i s a re&uirement of the grammar# Bra"ilians usually prex in this way anyway, so if you want to prex it all the time K wont complain# $he %ortuguese however, usually sux the verb with the pronoun (although there are times when they dont, such as when speaing negatively or using an adverb)#
Kmperative
As already mentioned in the section on moods, the imperative mood and its tense refer to commands, instructions, or re&uests for action (there is only one tense in the imperative mood, so the term *imperative tense+ is rarely used – it is usually ust referred to as the *imperative mood+)# $he imperative forms of verbs cannot be conugated in the rst person singular, because you cant really re&uest or command yourself to do something# Kt is also &uite rare for the i mperative to be used in the rst person plural, but it does happen with limited number of verbs (eg# *vamos+ = *lets go+! *veamos+ = *lets see+) – technically, this is really the present subunctive form, but it is used imperatively# 4sually, to say *lets do something or other+, you use *vamos+ < the innitive of the re&uired verb# /o *lets eat+ would be *vamos comer+# $here is no real need for a true imperative form with the third person, since you cant really command someone who is not party to the conversation, but due to %ortuguese using the third person as a polite way of addressing someone, the need for a third person conugation is introduced# As with the second person plural, %ortuguese borrows from the present subunctive f or this# $echnically then, the imperative only relates to the second person singular and plural, and even then, only for armative actions, so some reference wors will only give you 2 words for the imperative# K will give you the f ull conugations though (borrowing from the present subunctive for the other forms), as it is helpful to thin of these additional forms as being imperative# $he rules for creating imperative forms are a bit topsy-turvy# Kts probably FCFC whether it taes more time to learn the rules or ust to memorise the endings as with any other conugation# Kt certainly w on+t do any harm to try studying the rul es though, and it might help you to remember the endings, so here goesZ Lor rst conugation verbs, use the present indicative tense, but swap the *a+ for an *e+ in the ending# Lor second and third conugation verbs, you also use the present indicative, but swap the *e+ or *i+ for an *a+ in the ending# $he exception to this is the second person – where you don+t exchange the vowels, but you do noc of the last *s+# /oZ
trabalhar = innitive (to wor) trabalh = stem (wor) trabalhas = second person singular present indicative (you wor)
rabalha = second person singular imperaive (wor6) trabalham = third person plural present indicative (they wor)
rabalhem = third person plural imperaive (Rall of youS wor6)
escrever = innitive (to write) escrev = stem (write) escrevemos = rst person plural present indicative (we write)
escrevamos = rst person plural imperaive (lets write6) – note this would be a very formal way of saying this# Yore common would be *vamos escrever+# escreve = third person singular present indicative (he writes)
escreva = third person singular imperaive (write6)
assistir = innitive (to attend) assist = stem (attend) assiste = third person singular (she attends)
assisa = third person singular imperaive (attend6) Lor most irregular verbs, the imperative is constructed by taing he *rs person singular from the present indicative (which ends with the letter *o+), dropping the *o+, and appending *eemosem+ or
*aamosam+ depending on which conugation is being dealt with (although not all irregulars follow this pattern, the maority do)# /o, in eeping with the tables supplied for the other tenses, here are the full conugations for the imperative
6m!erative o" the frst con$ugation regular ver#' tra#alhar (to work)
trabalhemos
trabalha
trabalhai
trabalhe
trabalhem
6m!erative o" the frst con$ugation regular ver#' !ensar (to think)
pensemos
pensa
pensai
pense
pensem
6m!erative o" the second con$ugation regular ver#' comer (to eat)
comamos
come
comei
coma
comam
6m!erative o" the second con$ugation regular ver#' escrever (to write)
escrevamos
escreve
escrevei
escreva
escrevam
6m!erative o" the third con$ugation regular ver#' garantir (to guarantee)
garantamos
garante
garanti
garanta
garantam
6m!erative o" the third con$ugation regular ver#' assistir (to attend)
assistamos
assiste
assisti
assista
assistam
Krregular imperatives
6m!erative o" the irregular frst con$ugation ver#' estar (to #e)
esteamos
est\
estai
estea
esteam
6m!erative o" the irregular second con$ugation ver#' ser (to #e)
seamos
sV
sede
sea
seam
6m!erative o" the irregular third con$ugation ver#' ir (to go)
vamos
v\
ide
vai
vHo
As noted above, the imperative is only used for armative actions – e#g# *ca a&ui+ (stay here)# Lor negative commands, you have to use thepresent subunctive (although this rule is not always followed by native speaers, especially in Bra"il) - eg# *nao &ues a&ui+ (dont stay here)#
/ubect %ronouns
%ronouns are usually specic to subects or obects# Lor example, the pronoun *K+ is only used for a subect, whereas *me+ is only used for an obect# .iewise, the word *he+ only relates to subects, and *him+ only relates to obe cts# 8ertain pronouns can therefore be spoen of as *subect pronouns+, or *obect pronouns+# $he pronoun *you+ in modern 'nglish can be used for both subects and obects# Kn /haespeares time though, the words *thou+ and *thee+ w ere used – *thou+ only ever referring to a subect, and *thee+ to an obect# $he following table lists all of the subect pronouns in both 'nglish and %ortuguese#
Su#$ect Pronouns
.nglish
Portuguese
K
eu
we
nTs
Notes
*A gente+ is a collo&uial expression that can mean
*we+, but any verbs following it use the third person a gente
singular form (e#g# *a gente trabalha+ = *we wor+, or more literally *people Rin generalS wor+)#
tu vocV you (singular) o senhor a senhora
vocVs
you (plural)
vTs
*ITs+ is now obsolete, but can still be found in some
os senhores
older literature# *IocVs+ is the most commonly used form#
as senhoras
heit (masculine)
ele
sheit (feminine)
ela
eles they elas
bect %ronouns
A pronoun referring to the obect on which a verb is performed is, l ogically enough, an obect pronoun# `owever, a further distinction needs to be made between types of obect pronoun# bect pronouns can be direct or indirect, and this has an appreciable eect on the %ortuguese language# Kt can be &uite dicult to discern whether a pronoun is direct or indirect, as it depends not only on the verb, but also on how it is being used# $he basic rule is an indirect obect pronoun has something done to or for it# A direct obect pronoun has something performed on it# 0ith indirect obect pronouns, we often use the word *to+ or *for+ in 'nglish between the verb and the ob ect whereas direct obect pronouns usually appear immediately after the verb# Lor example *`e wrote to me every day+ – the writing w as done to or for *me+, so *me+ is an i ndirect obect pronoun# n the other hand, to say *`e iced it+ – involves an action being directly performed on *it+, so *it+ is a direct obect pronoun# $he confusion arises when the word *to+ or *for+ is omitted even though the obect pronoun is indirect# $his is done &uite often in 'nglish# Lor example, in the sentence *`e wrote me a letter every day#+ – the writing is still being done to or for *me+, so *me+ is still an indirect obect pronoun# `owever, there is no word *to+ in the sentence lie there was in the previous example, so it could be dicult to spot that the obect pronoun is indirect# $he thing to remember, is that for indirect obect pronouns, the word *to+ or *for+, even if it is omitted, is still implied# As yourself if you could restructure the sentence with a *to+ or *for+ in there (eg# *`e wrote a letter to me every day+), and if you can, the obect pronoun is most liely indirect# $here is some more bad news here though# 0ith some verbs the obect pronoun is direct in 'nglish, but indirect in %ortuguese, and vice-versa (for example, in %ortuguese, you *as to+ someone, which is indirect, whereas in 'nglish we use a direct obect)# K+m afraid theres no easy way to learn which ones are which – you ust have to be patient, and hopefully with the passage of time, you will learn them#
9irect O#$ect Pronouns
.nglish
Portuguese
Notes
Memember to pronounce the %ortuguese version me
me
dierently to the 'nglish6 (/ort of a wea * muh+, rather than a *mee+)#
@ote that the subect pronoun (we) has an acute accent us
nos
(*nTs+) whereas the direct obect pronoun (us) does not (*nos+)#
te o
*te+ is used inf ormally# *o+ and *a+ are used formally, for male and female obects respectively# *lo+ and *la+ are
you (singular)
a
also used formally, but only if the obect is placed immediately after the innitive form of a verb (in which
lo la
os los nos you (plural) as las nas
o himit (masculine) lo no
case, the spelling of the verb is alt ered – see below)#
a herit (feminine) la na
os los nos them as las nas
$he direct obect pronouns *lo+, *la+, *los+, and *las+ are used after an innitve verb form# $he addition of the *l+ serves to mae the articulation easier# 0hen this happens though, the spelling of the verb is aected as shown below •
Fi r s tc onj ugat i onv er bs :dr opt hefi nal ‘ r ’ ,andputanac ut eac centont he‘ a ’ .
•
Sec ondc onj ug at i onv er b s:d r o pt hefi na l‘ r ’ ,andputac i r c umfl exont he‘ e ’ .
•
Thi r dc onj ugat i onv er bs :j us tdr opt hefi nal ‘ r ’ .
`aving changed the innitive, the pronoun is attached to it with a hyphen# Lor example
levar < os = lev\-los
to tae them
fa"er < a = fa"V-la
to mae her
destruir < o = destrui-lo
to destroy it
Kf the pronoun is put before the verb, this restructuring is not necessary (e#g# *os levar+ means the same as *lev\-los+)# Kf the verb ends with a nasal sound (lie it does with the third person plural), the *l+ is replaced with an *n+ for easier articulation (e#g# *levaram-nos+ = *they tae them+)#
6ndirect O#$ect Pronouns
.nglish
Portuguese
Notes
All of these indirect pronouns have an alternative using the word *para+ (*to+)# Kn speech, Bra"ilians RtoforS me
me
often shorten the word *para+ to ust *pra+#
para mim
%articularly when writing, the *para+ can be replaced with the word *a+, which means the same thing#
RtoforS us
nos
@ote the acute accent on *nTs+ when using the
para nTs
*para+ variation#
te RtoforS you (singular)
para ti lhe para vocV
RtoforS you (plural)
RtoforS himit
lhes para vocVs
lhe
*te+ and *para ti+ are informal# *lhe+ and *para vocV+ are formal#
para ele (masculine) para o senhor
RtoforS herit (feminine)
lhe para ela para a senhora
lhes RtoforS them
para eles para elas
%repositional %ronouns
0here a preposition is followed immediately by a pronoun, the pronoun follows a similar pattern to the indirect obect pronouns listed previously# At times though, the preposition and the pronoun are contracted into a single word# Lor example, *with us+ would be translated literally as *com nTs+, but i t is often contracted into a single word *connosco+ (which is spelt with a single *n+ by Bra"ilians)# /imilarly, *from him+, which would be *de ele+ can be contracted to *dele+# $hese contractions are optional, and some are used more commonly than others# /o, rst of all, K+ll giv e you another table with the regular prepositional pronouns, following which we will tae a loo at the most common contractions#
Pre!ositional Pronouns
.nglish
Portuguese
me
us
mim
nTs a gente
ti si you (singular)
vocV o senhor a senhora
you (plural)
vocVs
him
ele
her
ela
them
eles elas
5ontraction o" Pre!osition :with; and Pre!ositional Pronouns
.nglish
Portuguese
with me
comigo
with us
connosco
with you (singular)
with you (plural)
contigo consigo
Notes
/pelt *conosco+ in Bra"il#
*contigo+ is informal, *consigo+ is formal! *com o senhor+ *com a senhora+ *com vocV+ are more common than *consigo+#
convosco
5ontraction o" Pre!osition :o"/"rom; and Pre!ositional Pronouns
.nglish
Portuguese
Notes
offrom us
da gente
Yore often, *de nTs+#
do senhor offrom you (singular)
Alternatively *de vocV+# da senhora
offrom him
dele
offrom her
dela
deles offrom them delas
5ontraction o" Pre!osition :#4/"or; and Pre!ositional Pronouns
.nglish
Portuguese
Notes
byfor us
pela gente
*por nTs+ is more common#
byfor you (singular)
pelo senhor pela senhora
r *por vocV+#
5ontraction o" Pre!osition :in/on; and Pre!ositional Pronouns
.nglish
Portuguese
Notes
inon us
na gente
r *em nTs+#
no senhor inon you (singular)
r *em vocV+# na senhora
inon him
nele
inon her
nela
neles inon them nelas
%ossessive %ronouns
0e use possessive pronouns when identifying a person or thing as being the owner of a noun# Lor example, my! his! your! its! their# Kn %ortuguese, things are complicated a bit by the fact that both the possessor and the thing possessed have a gender# /ome possessive pronouns re9ect the gender and &uantity of the possessor, and others relate to the thing possessed#
Possessive Pronouns which re7ect the gender and quantit4 o" the thing !ossessed
.nglish
Portuguese
Notes
mymine (singular
o meu
$he denite article (*o+! *a+! *os+! *as+) is not
possession)
re&uired for *mine+ and is not always re&uired for
a minha
mymine (plural possession)
ourours (singular possession)
ourours (plural possession)
*my+ (especially in Bra"il) – the same prin ciple applies to all of these possessive pronouns#
os meus as minhas
o nosso a nossa
os nossos as nossas
o teu a tua
*seu+ and *sua+ are sometimes avoided in speech because they can easily be confused between the
o vosso youryours (singular possession)
second and third person (the same form is used for both) – *dele+ and *dela+ are not so ambiguous
a vossa
(see below)# Kn the written language, it is usually more obvious who is being spoen about, so they
o seu
can be used without a problem# *Iosso+ and *vossa+ refer to multiple possessors of a single possession#
a sua
youryours (plural
os teus
possession)
as tuas os vossos as vossas
os seus as suas
theirtheirs (singular possession)
o seu a sua
theirtheirs (plural
os seus
possession)
as suas
Possessive Pronouns which re7ect the gender o" the !ossessor
.nglish
our (of usours)
Portugues e
da gente
Notes
*nosso+ is more common#
do senhor your (of youyours)
da
literally *of the gentleman+ or *of th e lady+#
senhora
his (of him)
dele
literally *of him+, but e&uivalent of the 'nglish word *his+#
herhers (of her)
dela
deles their (of them) delas
$here are some occasions where we use possessive pronouns in 'nglish but the %ortuguese don+t# Lor example, when referring to parts of the body 0hereas we would say *my arm+, or *my head+ the %ortuguese would say *the arm+ (*o bra[o+), or *the head+ (*a cabe[a+)# $he same is true of items of clothing (*my coat+ becomes *the coat+)# $he possessive pronoun could still be used if you wanted to emphasi"e whose item you were referring to (eg# *m" arm, not yours+)# $he possessive pronouns that re9ect the gender of the possessor (*dele+, *dela+, *deles+, *delas+) are often used to avoid confusion over who is being referred to because using the words *seu+! *sua+! *seus+! or *suas+ (*your+, *his+, *her+, or *their+) can be ambiguous if the identity of the possessor is not obvious from the context#
Me9exive %ronouns
Me9exive pronouns are the ones that are used with re9exive verbs# $hey are used when the subect and obect both refer to the same individual, and in 'nglish are usually words that end in *self+ or *selves+ (eg# *he behaved himsel" +! *they amused hemselves+)# $he same pronouns are used for reciprocal actions – that is, where subect and obect act on each other (e#g#, *he% hated each oher+, *#erespect each oher+)# $he same group of pronouns are also nown as *pronominal+ – which basically means that they are there for no particular reason6 /ome verbs tae pronominal pronouns in the same way as re9exive verbs tae re9exive pronouns – its ust that the pronouns do not actually serve any particular purpose# /ince the pronouns for all groups (re9exive, reciprocal, and pronominal) are identical, it is easier ust to thin of pronominal and reciprocal pronouns as being re9exive# $he distinction is only made for the purposes of eeping pedantic grammarians happy#
N, here they are
Re7eive< Reci!rocal< and Pronominal Pronouns
.nglish
Portuguese
myself
me
ourselves
nos
yourself
yourselves
Notes
te
As you can probably guess by now, *te+ is informal, and *se+ is
se
formal#
se vos
himself
se
herself
se
themselves
se
*vos+ is pretty much obsolete nowadays#
@egatives
Yaing negative statements and asing &uestions is fairly easy in %ortuguese (at last, something easy6)# $o mae a sentence negative, you can ust prex the verb with the word *nHo+# $hats it# $here are of course, other ways of maing things negative, but using *nHo+ is by far the most common, and easiest# `ere are some examples of maing negative statements using *nHo+
'u nHo como Z
K do not eat Z
'les nHo me escrevem
$hey do not write to me
@Ho trabalhamos a&ui
0e do not wor here
$here are a few more things you should now about negatives# ne thing you may come across is the negative usage of a strange little word *algum+# $his word literally means *some+ (as in *some day+) or *one+ (*one day+)# $he feminine form of the word is *alguma+, and the plurals are *alguns+ and *algumas+ respectively# $he e&uivalent of the 'nglish word *something+ is *alguma coisa+# 0hy am K telling you thisX 0ell, *algum+ can sometimes be used to form a negative, whi ch seems (to me at least) a little odd# Lor example
de modo algum
by no means (lit# *of means some RnoneS+)
de forma alguma
in no way (lit# *of way some RnoneS+)
coisa alguma
nothing (lit# *thing some RnoneS+)
/trange ehX 'specially how swapping the words *alguma+ and *coisa+ yields completely the opposite result# K+m glad you agree# /orry, K dont have an explanation for it - you ust have to get used to i t6 `ere are a few more negative words that you should be aware of
nada
nenhumnenhuma
nothing! anything (Another weird one – Kll explain in a minute6)
no! not one! not any (always followed by a noun – e#g# *nenhum l ugar+ means *nowher place+)
nem
neither! nor
ninguPm
nobody! no one
nunca
never! ever
amais
never! ever
proibido
forbidden! prohibited
proibido fumar
no smoing (lit# *prohibited to smoe+)
sem
without
sem dvida
no doubt
indubit\vel
undoubted (formal – only used when writing)
contra
against
incapa"
unable
/ome explanation is in order6 .ets tae the word *nada+# A literal translation of this would be *nothing+# As a one-word answer to a &uestion, this would be acceptable (e#g# – * &ue comesX+ – *@ada+# = *0hat are you eatingX+ – *@othing#+)# `owever, *nada+ is often used i n conunction with *nHo+ – which might seem to us lie a double negative, but is normal practice in %ortuguese# Lor example *@Ho comemos nada+ (0e are not eating anything)# Kn fact, in this type of sentence, the w ord *nHo+ is essential to mae sense in %ortuguese# 'ectively then, the word *nada+ is being used in a way that we might use the w ord *anything+ – *we are not eating anything+ maes a little more sense (grammatically) than *we are not eating nothing+# @ote though, that *nada+ is only used to mean *anything+ when the sentence is negative# Kf a positive statement is being made (e#g# *K eat anything+), the words *&ual&uer coisa+ are used rather than *nada+ (*'u como &ual&uer coisa+), although often, the %ortuguese will use *something+ (alguma coisa) in places where the 'nglish would use *anything+ (&ual&uer coisa)# %erhaps a few more examples will helpZ
'le nHo bebe na!a
`e does not drin an%hing
@Ho escrevo na!a
K do not write an%hing
'le bebe qualquer coisa
`e drins an%hing
'st\ a ver alguma coisaX
Are you watching an%hing X (more on &uestions in a minuteZ)
/imilarly, the words *nunca+ and *amais+ can mean *never+ or *ever+
+unca mais
+ever again
Yais &ue nunca
Yore than ever
@inguPm jamais pensa
@obody ever thins
By the way, *nunca *is used more often than *amais+ – *amais+ being rather more emphatic than *nunca+# @ote that the word *nem+ can be used in place of both *neither+ and *nor+ – so when we say *neither x nor y+ in 'nglish, the %ortuguese translation could be *nem x nem y+ (an alternative translation would be *nHo x nem y+)# As noted in the section on imperatives, when giving negative commands in the 2nd person (you or you all, informal), instead of using the true i mperative form, you switch to the present subunctive (the same as for other *persons+)#
uestions
Lorming basic &uestions is easy enough# _ust phrase what you want to say in the same way as you would a statement, but mae it obvious that it is a &uestion by the in9ection in your voice (or by a &uestion mar if writing)# Lor exampleZ
IocV trabalha a&uiX
1o you wor hereX
@Ho comemos agoraX
1on+t we eat nowX
'asy ehX ou also need to be aware of other ways of asing &uestions in %ortuguese# Yerely turning a statement into a &uestion, whilst useful, does not provide a mechanism for every type of &uestion that you might want to as# Lor example *why do you wal homeX+! *what are you eatingX+ – these types of &uestion mae use of interrogative pronouns and adverbs why! what! where! when! which! who! how# `ere are their e&uivalents in %ortuguese
por&uVX
whyX (lit# *for whatX+ Kf used as part of a longer &uestion Reg# *por &ue estamos > esper separate words with no circum9ex on the *e+)
&ue###X
what###X (if used on its own, a circum9ex is added to the *e+)
o &ue (P)X
what (is it)X
ondeX
whereX
&uandoX
whenX
&uanto&uantaX
how muchX
&ualX
whichwhatX (singular)
&uaisX
whichwhatX (plural)
&uemX
whoX
comoX
howX
&uHoZX
howZX (only used as an adverb – eg# *how tall are youX+ or, *how tall you are6+)
ne more that you need to now is *ser\ &ueZ+, which can be used to start a &uestion re&uiring a yes or no answer# .iterally, this means *it w ill be thatZ+, but a better translation might be *is it true thatZX+# Kt can also be translated as *K wonder ifZ X+# 0e don+t really have a direct e&uivalent in 'nglish, but virtually any &uestion that has a yes or no answer could probably be phrased using *ser\ &ueZ+# Lor example
/er\ &ue eles vHo a pP para casaX
1o they wal homeX (is it so that they wal homeX)
/er\ &ue comemos agoraX
K wonder if we eat nowX
8olours
red
vermelhoa (vermelho = masculine vermelha = feminine)
blue
a"ula"uis (a"ul = singular, a"uis = plural)
yellow
amareloa
green
verde
orange
cor-de-larana! larana (lit# colour of orange Rthat is, the fruitS)
purple
roxoa! prpura!
pin
cor-de-rosa! rosa (lit# colour of rose)
brown
castanhoa (*marrom+ in Bra"il)
blac
pretoa
white
brancoa
grey
cin"entoa (lit# ashen - *cin"a+ (ash) in Bra"il)
beige
bege
crimson
carmesim! purpreoa
light
claroa
dar
escuroa
light blue
a"ul-claroa
dar green
verde-escuroa
@umbers
$here is some variation in the spelling of numbers between 'uropean and Bra"ilian %ortuguese# $he numbers given below should be sucient to enable you to wor out all of the numbers in-between# @umbers that are not in bold-type are given as examples of how you would combine the bold-type components# Knstead of using a full stop to i ndicate a decimal point, the %ortuguese language re&uires a comma (or *v^rgula+ in %ortuguese)# /o a number containing a decimal fraction (tae for example, *2#J+), is writt en and spoen with a comma li e this 2,J = dois v^rgula trVs &uatro# Kn a similar vein, whereas in 'nglish w e use a comma to separate our thousands from our millions, etc#, the %ortuguese use a full stop (or *ponto+)# /o one million and three is written lie this *;#CCC#CC+# Kn order to help you get used to this, K have written the numerals below using the %ortuguese style#
5ardinal Num#ers (N=meros 5ardinais)
,
zero
-
um/uma
.
!ois/!uas
rês
0
quaro
1
cinco
2
seis
3
see
4
oio
5
nove
-,
!ez
--
onze
-.
!oze
-
reze
-0
caorze 67razilians someimes use quaorze8
-1
quinze
-2
!ezasseis 67razilian9 !ezesseis8
-3
!ezassee 67razilian9 !ezessee8
-4
!ezoio
-5
!ezanove 67razilian9 !ezenove8
.,
vine
2;
vinte e umuma
22
vinte e doisduas
2
vinte e trVs
,
rina
;
trinta e umuma
0,
quarena
1,
cinquena 67razilians migh sill use a !iaeresis9 cinq:ena8
2,
sessena
3,
seena
4,
oiena
5,
novena
-,,
cem 6noe9 ;cem< is onl% use! i" he nex . !igis are zeros = oher#ise> use ;ceno<8
;C;
cento e umuma
;C2
cento e doisduas
;2C
cento e vinte
;2;
cento e vinte e umuma
;22
cento e vinte e doisduas
.,,
!uzenos/!uzenas
2C;
du"entosdu"entas e umuma
,,
rezenos/rezenas
0,,
quarocenos/quarocenas
1,,
quinhenos/quinhenas
2,,
seiscenos/seiscenas
3,,
seecenos/seecenas
4,,
oiocenos/oiocenas
5,,
novecenos/novecenas
-(,,,
mil
;#CC;
mil e umuma
;#DF
mil novecentos e oitenta e cinco (the rst *e+ is dropped)
2#CCC
dois milduas mil
#CCC
trVs mil
;C#CCC
de" mil
;CC#CCC
cem mil
;CC#CC;
cem mil e umuma
;C;#CCC
cento e umuma mil
;2F#CCC
cento e vinte e cinco mil
FCC#CCC
&uinhentos mil
F#Jj
setecentos e trinta e cinco mil tre"entos e &uarenta e seis
-(,,,(,,,
;#F#JjD
;#CCC#CCC#CCC
um milhão 6unlike ;mil<> he precee!ing number ?in his case> um@ is require! #ih milhão an! bilião8
um milhHo &uinhentos e trinta e sete mil &uatrocentos e sessenta e nove
mil milhHo 6um bilhão in 7razil8
-(,,,(,,,(,,,(,,,
um bilião 6um rilhão in 7razil8
$he word *e+ (meaning *and+), as used when speaing or writing numbers in full, appears more fre&uently in %ortuguese than in 'nglish# Kt is generally used between all maor components (the boldtype numbers), but for every group of numbers (thousand, million, billion, etc#), the *e+ is dropped unless the last 2 digits of the group are both "ero# `enceZ
;#2CC#CC
um milhHo e du"entos mil e tre"entos
;#2;J#D
um milhHo, du"entos e cator"e mil, tre"entos e setenta e nove
;#2CC#D
um milhHo e du"entos mil, tre"entos e setenta e nove
;#2;J#CC
um milhHo, du"entos e cator"e mil e tre"entos
Ordinal Num#ers (N=meros Ordinais)
.nglish
Portuguese
Notation
Notation
;st
;k;
primeiroprimeira
2nd
2k2
segundosegunda
rd
k
terceiroterceira (*ter[a+ is occasionally used as a short-cut
Portuguese 2ords
in compound words – eg# *ter[a-feira+)
Jth
JkJ
&uarto&uarta
Fth
FkF
&uinto&uinta
jth
jkj
sextosexta
th
k
sPtimosPtima
th
k
oitavooitava
Dth
DkD
nononona
;Cth
;Ck;C
dPcimodPcima
;;th
;;k;;
dPcimo primeirodPcima primeira
;2th
;2k;2
dPcimo segundodPcima segunda
2Cth
2Ck2C
vigPsimovigPsima
2;st
2;k2;
vigPsimo primeiro
Cth
CkC
trigPsimotrigPsima
JCth
JCkJC
&uadragPsimo&uadragPsima
FCth
FCkFC
jCth
jCkjC
Cth
CkC
Cth
CkC
octagPsimooctagPsima
DCth
DCkDC
nonagPsimononagPsima
;CCth
;CCk;CC
centPsimocentPsima
&uin&uagPsimo&uin&uagPsima (Bra"ilians sometimes use the diaeresis &]in&uagPsimoa)
sexagPsimosexagPsima
septuagPsimoseptuagPsima (the *p+ is virtually silent – Bra"ilian spelling setuagPsimoa)
/o, *one fth+ is *um &uinto+, *one eighth+ i s *um oitavo+, etc# (*one third+ uses the shortened form *um ter[o+)# @ote though, that the %ortuguese use cardinal numbers for dates, not ordinal lie we do in 'nglish (see section on days, dates and times)#
.etters of the Alphabet
4p until recently, there were only 2 letters in the %ortuguese alphabet (not including diacritics)# $he other letters of the 'nglish alphabet were viewed as *foreign+ in %ortuguese, but they were still used for certain *imported+ words such as *whisey+ (they sometimes spell this more phonetically using their
own alphabet *u^s&ue+)# /ince the ;DDC orthographic agreement between Bra"il and %ortugal went into eect though (which was in _anuary 2CCD), the *w+, *+, and *y+ are now ocially i ncluded#
The Portuguese >l!ha#et (O >l"a#eto Portugu?s)
A (ah)
B (beh)
8 (seh)
1 (deh)
'
(eh)
L
(e)
G (geRayS (geRayS – hard hard g as in *gold+! *gold+! sometime sometimes s "heRayS) "heRayS)
` (aga (agah) h) – har hard d g as as in *go *gold ld+! +!
K
_
(ee)
("hota)
.
(el)
Y (em)
@ (en)
(oh) (oh) – as as in in *so *soft ft++
%
(peh)
(eh)
M (err)
/
(ess)
$
(teh)
4 (oo)
I (veh)
(sheesh) (sheesh) – *shees+ *shees+ in Bra"il (hence (hence some some fast-food fast-food places places refer to a *x-burger *x-burger+6) +6)
("eh)
&oreign @etters (@etras Estrangeiras) now !art o" the !ortuguese al!ha#et a"ter the Portuguese S!elling >greement*
N
(appa (appa)) – somet sometime imes s ust ust *a+ *a+ (esp# (esp# in in Bra"i Bra"il) l)
0 (doo (dooplu pluve veh h or or dab dably lyu) u)
(^psilon) – also nown as *i grego+ (Gree *i+)
1ays, 1ates, and $imes
The 9a4s o" the Aeek (Os 9ias da Semana)
segunda-feira
Yonday (lit# *second maret day+)
ter[a-feira
$uesday (*third maret day+ etc#)
&uarta-feira
0ednesday
&uinta-feira
$hursday
sexta-feira
Lriday
s\bado
/aturday (lit# *sabbath+)
domingo
/unday
The %onths o" the Bear (Os %eses do >no)
aneiro
_anuary
fevereiro
Lebruary
mar[o
Yarch
abril
April
maio
Yay
unho
_une
ulho
_uly
agosto
August
setembro
/eptember
outubro
ctober
novembro
@ovember
de"embro
1ecember
@either days of the wee, nor months of the year start with a capital letter in %ortuguese# $he year is given as a complete number in %ortuguese# /o for example, ;DDD is given as *one thousand nine hundred and ninety nine+ rather than *nineteen ninety nine+# $he day of the year is given as the cardinal number rather than ordinal, (for example, they say the e&uivalent of *day J+ rather than *the fourth+) – although Bra"ilians mae an exception for the rst, which is ordinal (*primeiro+)#
2;st Lebruary ;j
;Dth _uly ;DJ
;st Yay 2CC2
2; de fevereiro de ;j (1ia vinte e um de fevereiro, de mil setecentos e sessenta e trVs)
;D de ulho de ;DJ (1ia de"anove de ulho, de mil novecentos e setenta e &uatro)
; de maio de 2CC2 (%rimeiro de maio, de dois mil e dois)
Going bac further into history, y ou may need to refer to dates as *A8+ (Antes RdeS 8risto) which means *B8+ or *Before 8hrist+, and *18+ (1epois RdeS 8risto) – which means *A1+ (Anno 1omini – *the year of our lord+)#
.nglish
Portuguese
;j B8
;j A8 (Yil tre"entos e trinta eseis antes RdeS 8risto)
CF A1
CF 18 ($re"entos e cinco depois RdeS 8risto)
The Seasons (>s EstaCDes)
/pring
A %rimavera
/ummer
IerHo
Autumn
utono
0inter
Knverno
The Time (> ora)
; +8loc
uma hora
2 +8loc
duas horas
+8loc
trVs horas
midday
meio-dia
midnight
meia-noite
half past one
uma e meia
half past two
duas e meia
&uarter past one
uma e um &uarto (&uarters are not used in Bra"il)
&uarter past two
duas e um &uarto
&uarter to one
uma menos um &uarto
&uarter to two
duas menos um &uarto
ve past one
uma e cinco
ve past two
duas e cinco
ten to one
de" para uma
ZorZ
uma menos de" (not used in Bra"il)
