Brazilian Grammar

If you're trying to learn the most essential topics about Brazilian you will find some useful resources including a course about adjectives, adverbs, articles, gender (feminine, masculine...), negation, nouns, numbers, phrases, plural, prepositions, pronouns, questions, verbs, vocabulary, excercises... to help you with your Brazilian grammar Enjoy our courses!

Brazilian Lessons

Learning Brazilian can help you communicate with other people who speak Brazilian. The following courses will provide you with some help based on the lessons you choose. Here is a list of what we offer:

1-    Plural Lesson

While in English, the plural is formed by adding (s) to the singular. In Brazilian, to form the plural of nouns and adjectives we add (-s) to words ending in a vowel and (-es) to words ending in a consonant. Here are some examples:

Um amigo (a friend) becomes: Uns amigos (some friends)

Uma mulher (one woman) becomes: Umas mulheres (some women)

Este é o meu carro vermelho (this is my red car) becomes: Estes são os meus carros vermelhos (these are my red cars)

 

2-    Adverbs Lesson

While in English adverbs are usually formed by adding (-ly) to adjectives. In Brazilian many adverbs are formed from adjectives, simply by adding the suffix -mente to the singular feminine form of adjectives. Examples:

Lento (slow) becomes lentamente (slowly)

Perfeito (perfect) becomes perfeitamente (perfectly)

However that’s not always the case. Some words are adverbs by nature. For example:

Agora (now), verdade (really), and breve (soon) are all Brazilian adverbs.

 

3-    Adjectives Lesson

While in English an adjective doesn’t change when the noun changes, in Brazilian an adjective should agree in gender and number with the noun. For example:

a)    Masculine to feminine example:

Este é o meu filho pequeno (this is my little son) becomes: Esta é minha filha pequena (this is my little daughter)

As you can see from the example above, the adjective comes after the noun and also takes the feminine form.

b)    Singular to plural example:

Este é meu gato branco (this is my white cat) becomes: Estes são meus gatos brancos (these are my white cats).

As you can see from the example above, the adjective comes after the noun and also takes the plural form.

 

4-    Numbers Lesson

In Brazilian numbers from 1 to 20 are unique and therefore need to be memorized individually. Numbers from 21 and upwards are formed by using the following pattern: for example 21 can be formed by using 20 + 1 while connecting them. 22 = vinte e dois. 45 can be formed by using 40 + e + 5 while connecting them: 45 = Quarenta e cinco.

 

5-    Articles Lesson

Definite Article:

Unlike English, which has only one definite article “the", Brazilian has 4 definite articles:

Ele (masculine singular), O livro (the book)

A (feminine singular) A casa (the house)

Os (masculine plural) Os livros (the books)

As (feminine plural) As casas (the houses)

Indefinite Article:

While we have (a / an / some) in English as indefinite articles, we also have Um/ Uma. Uns/ Umas in Brazilian .

In general, whenever (a, an) are used in English you, you need to use (um) or (uma) to say the equivalent in Brazilian.

Um (masculine singular), Um livro (a book)

Uma (masculine singular) Uma casa (a house)

Uns (masculine plural) Uns livros (some books)

Umas (feminine plural) Umas casas (some houses)

Example: Os livros que tenho estão na casa de um amigo (The books I have are in a house of a friend)

 

6-    Asking a Question Lesson

In Brazilian there are 4 ways of asking a question to get a yes or no answer, and they are the following:

-Verb + pronoun: Unlike English, the auxiliaries do and does are not used. Ela tem tempo livre?  (Does she have free time?)

-Pronoun + verb: Only the intonation makes the sentence interrogative: Ela tem tempo livre? (Does she have free time?)

-Verb +...+ pronoun. The pronoun goes last Ela tem tempo livre? (Does she have free time?)

-Finally you can also make a question by adding a tag question to the end of a statement. Ela tem tempo livre, não?

Ela tem tempo livre, não é? (She has free time, doesn’t she)

 

7-    Negation Lesson

 

In Brazilian, negation can be made simply by placing "Não" before the main verb. But sometimes a double negative is required. "Não" is the most common negative.

“Eu não posso fazer isso”  or “Não posso fazer isso.” (I can't do this). 

Eles não tem nada para fazer. (they don't have anything to do – Double Negative). 

Não gosto disso. (I don't like it)

 

8-    Feminine Lesson

To form a feminine word from the masculine in Brazilian, you simply add (-a) if the word ends in a consonant. But if a word ends in a vowel then you need to remove the vowel before adding the “a”. Here are some examples:

Filho (son, singular) becomes Filha (daughter, singular), aluno (student masc., singular) becomes aluna (student fem.)

Note that some words cannot change into feminine; instead a whole new word should be used, example: Homem (man,singular), Mulher (woman,singular).

 

9-    Pronouns Lesson

In English personal pronouns are (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they), and (me, you, him, her, it, us, you, them), In Brazilian, the personal pronouns are:

Eu… (I), tú… (you), ele… (he), ela… (she), 

Nós… (we), eles… (they masc.), elas… (they fem.)

Examples: eu aprendo (I learn), tú aprendes (you learn), ele aprende (he learns), ela aprende (she learns), O senhor aprende (you learn “masculine” [polite]), A senhora aprende (you learn “feminine” [polite]), nós aprendemos (we learn), voces aprendem (you learn [plural, friendly]), eles aprenden (they learn, masculine), elas aprenden (they learn,feminine), os senhores aprenden (you learn [plural, polite]).

Indirect Object Pronouns:

Indirect object pronouns are words that replace the indirect object, which is usually a person.

Eu (me), voce (you), ele (him, her, you (formal), nós (us), vós (you), eles (them):

Examples: Dê-me o livro (give me the book). Eu lhe amo (I love you).

Possessive Pronouns:

Meu (mine masc.), minha (mine fem.), meus (mine, plural masc.), minhas (mine, plural fem.), seu / sua (yours), dele / dela (his, hers), nosso / nossa (ours), vosso / vossa (yours), deles / delas (theirs).

We hope the lessons above helped you learn Brazilian. To learn other topics please check our homepage here: Learn Brazilian. Don't forget to bookmark this page.