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(An introduction to adjectives in Portuguese)
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Os adjetivos > Adjectives
<div class="pg_page_title">How to use Adjectives in Portuguese</div>
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Em português, os adjetivos têm géneros > In Portuguese, adjectives have genders.
==What is an Adjective?==


Adjetivos que acabam com 'o' são masculino e otros que acabam com 'a' são feminino > Adjectives ending with 'o' are masculin and those ending with 'a' are feminine.
An adjective is a word that attributes a quality or characteristic for a noun modifying it.


    Ocupado/ocupada > Busy
Compare:
    Longo/ longa > Large or long
    Caro/ cara > Expensive
    Barato/barata > Cheap
    Cheio/cheia > Full
    Vazio/vazia > Empty
    Bonito/bonita > Beautiful
    Maravilhoso/maravilhosa > Wonderful
    Branco/branca > White
    Poderoso/poderosa > Powerful


Os adjetivos que acabam com outras letras não tem géneros. Podem ser masculinos o femininos > Adjectives ending with other letters don't have any gender. They can be both masculin and feminine.
{| class="wikitable"
!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
|}


      Possível > Possible
The adjective may attribute a concrete or abstract quality to the noun, it may qualify the noun or indicate quantity.
      Importante > Important
      Quente > Hot, warm
      Diferente > Different
      Terrível > Terrible
      Amigável > Friendly
      Interessante > Interesting
      Disponível > Available
      Sensível > Sensitive
      Fácil > Easy


Usamos os adjetivos com nomes como modificadores e depois alguns verbos como predicados > We use adjectives with nouns as modifiers and with(after) some verbs as predicates.
Compare:


    A sala é vazia > The room is empty
* 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)
    Uma sala vazia > An empty room
* 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)


    Esse homem é ocupado > That man is busy.
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.
    Um homem ocupado > A busy man
   
    Esta garota é inteligente > This girl is clever
    Uma garota inteligente > A clever girl


    O português é fácil > Portuguese is easy.
Examples:
    Uma lingua fácil > An easy language
 
   
* O homem forte – The strong man
    Esse livro era caro > That book used to be expensive
* A mulher forte – The strong woman
    Um livro caro > An expensive book.
 
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:
 
{| class="wikitable"
!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 ==
{| class="wikitable"
!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==
* [[Language/Portuguese/Grammar/Plurals|Plurals]]
* [[Language/Portuguese/Grammar/Plural|Plural]]
* [[Language/Portuguese/Grammar/Articles|Articles]]
* [[Language/Portuguese/Grammar/Conditional-Mood|Conditional Mood]]
* [[Language/Portuguese/Grammar/Nouns|Nouns]]
* [[Language/Portuguese/Grammar/Porquê-VS-Porque|Porquê VS Porque]]
* [[Language/Portuguese/Grammar/Time|Time]]
* [[Language/Portuguese/Grammar/Prepositions|Prepositions]]
* [[Language/Portuguese/Grammar/Questions|Questions]]
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Latest revision as of 23:27, 26 March 2023

How to use Adjectives in Portuguese
Imagbz.jpg

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]

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