Portuguese Grammar

Welcome to the 8th lesson about Portuguese grammar. We will first learn about prepositions, negation, questions, adverbs, and pronouns including: personal, object and possessive pronouns.

We will start with prepositions. In general, they are used to link words to other words. For example: I speak Portuguese and English the preposition is [and] because it connects both words Portuguese and English. The following is a list of the most used prepositions in Portuguese.

Prepositions - Portuguese
and e
above acima
under abaixo
before antes
after depois
in front of em frente de
behind atrás
far from distante, longe de
near perto
in em
inside dentro de
outside fora de
with com
without sem
about sobre
between entre
but mas
for para
from de
to para

Preposition Grammar Rules

The following examples use prepositions in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Prepositions + Rules - Portuguese
I eat without a knife [preposition + noun] eu como sem faca
she lives near the church [verb + preposition] ela mora perto da igreja
he is taller than her [adjective + preposition] ele é mais alto do que ela
he came with his small dog [preposition + pronoun] ele veio com o seu cão pequeno
can you come with me? [preposition + pronoun] pode vir comigo?podes vir comigo?

Negation in Portuguese

Now let's learn how to make a negative sentence (negation). For example: Saying no, I can't, I don't ... The following examples use negation in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence.

Negation + Rules - Portuguese
I understand you [affirmative form] eu compreendo-o/eu compreendo-te
I don't understand you [negation + verb] eu não o compreendo/eu não te compreendo
this is not the correct word [negation + adjective] esta não é a palavra correta
don't leave me [imperative negation] não me deixe/não me deixes
no problem [negation + noun] sem problema

Negative Sentences - Portuguese
I don't speak French [negation + present tense] eu não falo francês
she didn't visit Germany [negation + past tense] ela não visitou a alemanha
he cannot see us [negative modal verb] ele não pode nos ver
can't she play chess? [interrogative negation] ela não pode jogar xadrez?
we will not come late [negation + future tense] nós não vamos chegar tarde

Questions in Portuguese

Now let's learn how to ask questions (interrogative). Such as: what, why, can you ...? Here are some common examples:

English - Portuguese
how? como?
what? o que?
who? quem?
why? porquê?
where? onde?

More of the interrogative form, now in a sentence:

Questions + Rules - Portuguese
where do you live? [interrogative + verb] onde mora?/onde moras?
does she speak Chinese? [interrogative verb] ela fala chinês?
how much is this? [interrogative preposition] quanto é isso?
can I help you? [interrogative modal verb] posso ajudá-lo?posso ajudar-te?
what is your name? [interrogative preposition] qual é o seu nome?qual é o teu nome?

Adverbs in Portuguese

It's time to learn the adverbs in Portuguese. But what is an adverb? In general, adverbs modify verbs and adjectives. For example: You speak fast. The adverb is [fast] because it describes the verb and answers the question how do you speak?. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Adverbs - Portuguese
now agora
yesterday ontem
today hoje
tonight hoje à noite
tomorrow amanhã
soon em breve
quickly rapidamente
slowly lentamente
together juntos
very muito
almost quase
always sempre
usually geralmente
sometimes às vezes
rarely raramente
never nunca

The following examples use the adverbs in different ways and places to demonstrate how it behaves in a sentence.

Adverbs + Rules - Portuguese
do you understand me now? [pronoun + adverb] entende-me agora?entendes-me agora?
I need help immediately [noun + adverb] preciso de ajuda imediatamente
she is very intelligent [adverb + adjective] ela é muito inteligente
I will always love you [verb + adverb] vou amar-te sempre
can we learn German together? [adverb in a question] podemos aprender alemão juntos?

Pronouns in Portuguese

We're almost done! This time we will learn the pronouns in Portuguese. In general, a pronoun can be used instead of a noun. For example instead of saying my teacher speaks 3 languages, you can use the pronoun he, and say he speaks 3 languages. Here is a list of the most common ones:

Personal Pronouns - Portuguese
I eu
you tu
he ele
she ela
we nós
they eles, elas

Object Pronouns - Portuguese
me me
you te/vós
him o; lhe
her a; lhe
us nós
them os/as; lhes

Possessive Pronouns - Portuguese
my meu
your teu/seu
his seu (dele)
her sua (dela)
our nosso
their seus, suas

I think it's better to put the above example in a sentence to better assist you. The following examples use pronouns in different ways and places to demonstrate how they behave in a sentence. We will start with the personal pronouns.

Personal Pronouns - Portuguese
I am your friend [1st pronoun + verb] eu sou seu amigo/eu sou teu amigo
you speak very fast [2nd pronoun + adverb] fala muito rápido/falas muito rapido
he has three dogs [3rd pronoun + verb] ele tem três cães
she can speak German [3rd pronoun + verb] ela fala alemão
we will not come late [1st plural pronoun] nós não vamos chegar tarde
they bought milk and bread [3rd plural pronoun] eles compraram leite e pão

The object pronoun is used as a target by a verb, and usually come after that verb. For example: I gave him my book. The object pronoun here is him. Here are more examples:

Object Pronouns - Portuguese
can you tell me your name? [1st object pronoun] pode dizer- me o nome?podes dizer-me o teu nome?
I will give you money [2nd object pronoun] vou dar-lhe dinheiro/vou dar-te dinheiro
she wrote him a letter [3rd object pronoun] ela escreveu-lhe uma carta
they visited her yesterday [3rd object pronoun] eles visitaram-na ontem
can she help us? [1st pl. object pronoun] ela pode nos ajudar?
he gave them food [3rd pl. object pronoun] ele deu-lhes comida

Possessive Pronouns - Portuguese
my name is Maya [1st possessive pronoun] o meu nome é maya
your brother lives here [2nd possessive pronoun] o seu irmão mora aqui/o teu irmão mora aqui
her mother cooks for us [3rd possessive pronoun] a sua mãe cozinha para nós
his hobby is reading books [3rd possessive pronoun] o seu hobby é a leitura de livros
our dream is to visit Paris [1st pl. possessive pronoun] o nosso sonho é visitar paris
their house is not far [3rd pl. possessive pronoun] a casa deles não é longe

One more thing you need to know is the demonstrative pronouns. They're very easy to learn.

Demonstrative Pronouns - Portuguese
this is my house esta é minha casa
that restaurant is far aquele restaurante é longe
these apples are delicious estas maçãs são deliciosas
those stars are shiny aquelas estrelas são brilhantes

I hope you learned a lot about the Portuguese grammar in this lesson. Please check out our main menu here for more lessons: homepage. The next lesson is below, have fun!