Language/Portuguese/Grammar/Adjectives

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How to use Adjectives in Portuguese
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What is an Adjective?[edit | edit source]

An adjective is a word that attributes a quality or characteristic for a noun modifying it.

Compare:

With Adjective Without Adjective
O carro pequeno – the small car. (Observe that the word “pequeno” – small – modifies the noun “carro” – car. Being “pequeno” is a characteristic of the car.) O carro – the car
A casa suja – the dirty house. (Observe that the word “suja” – dirty – modifies the noun “casa” – house. Being “suja” is a quality of the house.) A casa – the house

The adjective may attribute a concrete or abstract quality to the noun, it may qualify the noun or indicate quantity.

Compare:

  • A lição fácil – The easy lesson. (Observe that the word “fácil” – easy – modifies the noun “lição” – lesson. Being “fácil” is an abstract quality of the lesson)
  • A casa branca– the white house. (Observe that the word “branca” – white – modifies the noun “casa” – house. Being “white” is a concrete quality of the house.)
  • Poucas canetas – few pens. (Observe that the word “poucas” – few – quantifies the noun “canetas” – pens)

The adjective may have the same termination when it refers to masculine and feminine words. Observe in the examples below that the adjective remains unchanged even when it refers to a feminine word.

Examples:

  • O homem forte – The strong man
  • A mulher forte – The strong woman

Usually adjectives ending in “e” and “ista” have just one termination for both genders.

More examples:

  • O menino inteligente – The intelligent boy
  • A menina inteligente – The intelligent girl
  • O professor idealista – The idealist teacher
  • A professora idealista – The idealist teacher.

The adjective may have different terminations according to each gender. Adjectives ending in “o” can be either masculine or neutral. To compose the feminine form of adjectives ending in “o” just change the “o” for the letter “a”

Examples:

  • O menino alto – The tall boy
  • A menina alta – The tall girl

The adjective agrees in number with the noun. See the examples below:

Compare:

Plural Singluar
Os meninos inteligentes – the intelligent boys. (plural) O menino inteligente – the intelligent boy. (singular)
As mesas grandes – the big tables.(plura) A mesa grande – The big table. (singular)

Usually in Portuguese the adjective follows the noun.

Examples:

  • A mulher bonita – The beautiful woman
  • O carro pequeno – The small car

But in some cases the adjective may precede the noun. For these cases the adjective is more emphatic and may attribute a metaphoric quality to the noun.

Compare:

  • Uma velha amiga – a longtime friend.
  • Una amiga velha – an old friend.

Examples[edit | edit source]

English Portuguese
Low Baixo(a)
Tall Alto(a)
Good Bom / Boa
Tired Cansado(a)
Hot Quente
Short Curto(a)
Weak Fraco(a)
Thin Magro (a)
Ugly Feio(a)
Easy Fácil
Cold Frio(a)
Strong Forte
Big Grande
Beautiful Bonito (a)
Honest Honesto (a)
Intelligent Inteligente
Long Longo(a)

Other Lessons[edit | edit source]

Contributors

Vincent, Mayank96Q, Maintenance script and Douglasdaniloo


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