Definite articles are the equivalent to the English word the , however, in Portuguese they can vary depending on gender and number .
Every single object, idea or person in Portuguese is either masculine or feminine, except for very particular cases. The definite article helps you then to determine if the noun is:
Examples:
They also have genders, matching the English words "a" and "an":
Examples:
Note: Portuguese doesn't have different words depending on the next word's beginning, so both "a" and "an" translate to the same word (um or uma depending only on gender).
Do you feel like getting advanced?
The indefinite articles also have plural forms: uns and umas (masculine and feminine). Their meaning, however, is "some":
Persons and verb conjugations
Verbs in Portuguese change depending on who is doing the action. This happens in English when, for instance, "to write" gets conjugated to "he write s ."
In Portuguese, however, verbs have a different conjugation for each grammatical person.
Let's take verb "to be", for instance. "To be" can translate to "ser" or "estar", but let's keep just "ser" for the basic lessons.
.
Plural you??
Portuguese has differences between the singular and the plural forms of "you". If you address one person only, use the singular form. If you address two or more people, use the plural form. See table below.
.
Simple present conjugations:
| Eng. Person | To be | Port. Person | Ser | * | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| I | am | Eu | sou | ||
| You (sing.) | are | Tu | és | (1) | |
| He/she/it | is | Ele/Ela | é | (2) | |
| We | are | Nós | somos | ||
| You (pl.) | are | Vós | sois | (1) | |
| They | are | Eles/Elas | são | (2) |
(1) The good news is that you don't have to memorize all of them. The "tu" and "vós" versions can be left aside.
"Vós" is mostly obsolete and is hardly ever used except in very formal or old texts. "Tu" is quite common in some places (including Portugal,Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa and Asia and the south of Brazil), but it can be replaced by "você". See (2) below.
(2) Both "tu" and "vós" can be safely replaced by "você" (singular) and "vocês" (plural). Their conjugations match the respective conjugations for "ele/ela" and "eles/elas".
One of the most important things about different languages is that they also have different expressions.
You will notice sometimes that "word by word" translations can result in sentences that simply don't make any sense.
Remember:
different languages think different!
In this skill, you will find some of those differences.
Just a grammar tip before you start:
Portuguese does not invert word order or add auxiliary verbs for asking questions, just add the question mark and you are ready to go!
We don't really translate the "you" in that expression, we see it as a whole thing.
To welcome people, we use "bem-vindo". As an adjective, it inflects according to gender and number.
Translations of "Welcome!":
| Gender | Number | Imperative "to be" (optional) (1) | Welcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Masculine | Singular | Seja | Bem-vindo |
| Feminine | Singular | Seja | Bem-vinda |
| Masculine | Plural | Sejam | Bem-vindos |
| Feminine | Plural | Sejam | Bem-vindas |
(1) Don't worry too much about the imperative conjugations now, there will be lessons for it later :)
Plural or singular?
In many cases, English does not allow countable nouns to be in singular form without articles. That is not the case in Portuguese. Singular countable nouns with no articles in Portuguese will have a general meaning, similar to an English plural or an English singular with an indefinite article, depending on the context.
So, both Portuguese sentences below are just ok:
Their versions with articles or in plural forms are valid as well:
Verb for eating
Aside from idiomatic expressions, the only verb for eating in Portuguese is "comer".
The verb "ter" is translated as "to have", but only in the sense of "possess/own/contain":
Here you can start to know a few exceptions on the usage of articles, as in the example above.
"Lunch" in English is a noun that doesn't need an article, even in singular. (That is not the normal behavior of most singular countable nouns in English)
In these cases, the Portuguese translation normally keeps the article for specific meanings.
.
Verbs for drinking
For drinking, there is the verb "beber".
It's possible in less formal contexts to also use "tomar". But tomar only means "to drink" if used with actual drinks. Sentences without the objects will sound strange with "tomar".
.
Amargo or azedo?
.
Ingredients cannot be adjectives in Portuguese
In Portguese, ingredients are not adjectives like in English.
To say "orange juice", for instance, it's necessary to add the preposition "de" and then the ingredient:
Hey everybody!!!
This bonus skill might seem pretty confusing at first. (And it really is :p).
Why is that?? Well....the translations here are definitely not literal. The main purpose of this lesson is not to teach grammar and normal language translations, but to teach how people commonly say things in everyday life.
Since we are talking about idioms and proverbs, each language will have their own way of saying things.
That said, please don't get frustrated if you can't do it right on the first attempts. We hope you have fun!
Portuguese plurals have one thing in common: virtually they all end in -s . Sounds easy, right? Not quite.
With words ending in vowels or a diphthong , you really just need to add -s to the singular :
An important thing about plurals is that all adjectives, articles, possessives and determiners pointing to the noun must be changed by adding the plural ending to them as well, and in accordance to the rules stated here.
One example with adjectives, articles and possessives:
When a word ends with a consonant, there are a few different rules for changing its ending in plural:
1) If the word ends in -m, replace it with -ns :
2) If the word ends in -al, -el, -ol and -ul, replace the -l with -is (in a few cases, you may need to add an acute accent - to the right - to the preceding vowel):
3) If the word ends in -il, replace the -l with -s (if the word is monosyllabic or has its stress on the last syllable) or -eis (if the word has its stress somewhere else):
4) If the word ends in -s, -z, or -r, form the plural by adding -es to the singular (if the word ends with -s and has an accent in the last syllable, it will lose the accent in the plural):
4.1. Some nouns ending in -s (and all words ending in -x) have the same form in the singular and plural - the change can be inferred by the articles/adjectives/possessives that accompany them:
5) The trickiest part of learning the plurals comes from words ending in -ão . Sometimes they form plurals just by adding -s (-ãos) , but most of them change to -ões and a small minority to -ães . You’ll need to memorize the pairs to make sure you’re using the correct plural (but don’t worry - that’s an issue that troubles many native speakers as well):
ÃO > ÕES (the majority)
ÃO > ÃOS
ÃO > ÃES
Finally, there are also a few words ending in -ão that accept two or three of these endings , with the changes being caused by regional influences or by analogy with other words:
For example, the word “corrimão” (banister, handrail) saw its etymological correct plural form corrimãos (since it’s a compound word that ends in “mão”, hand, and therefore should have a similar ending) mainly replaced in daily usage by corrimões (by analogy with the majority of words ending in -ão, which form the plural with -ões).
P.S. In words like “cidadão” or “capitão” where only one form is established (see above), it’s considered incorrect and in bad taste to use any other plural ending.
Portuguese regular possessive adjectives and pronouns are somewhat similar to English, but there are some differences. In Portuguese, they follow a few rules.
English-like rules:
Their stem/base form gives information about the possessor (the person/thing who owns it).
Adjective possessives
usually show up
before the noun
(while placing them afterwards is not strictly wrong, it’s very rare – usually a style choice in books and poems).
Differences:
The base form needs to be
declined
according to the
gender
and
number
of
the noun it’s qualifying
. (Just like adjectives and articles)
Possessive
adjectives and pronouns
in Portuguese
are exactly the same
. There is no extra "s" like in "your x yours";
the –s endings
you may encounter
are plural markers
.
The regular possessive adjectives
can be preceded by
the corresponding
definite article
("o meu", "a minha"...), but in Brazilian Portuguese using the article is mostly
optional
.
These are the regular pronouns and their inflections:
| Owner | Masc. sing. | Fem. sing. | Masc. plural | Fem. plural |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eu | (o) meu | (a) minha | (os) meus | (as) minhas |
| Tu | (o) teu | (a) tua | (os) teus | (as) tuas |
| Você/Ele/Ela | (o) seu | (a) sua | (os) seus | (as) suas |
| Nós | (o) nosso | (a) nossa | (os) nossos | (as) nossas |
| Vós | (o) vosso | (a) vossa | (os) vossos | (as) vossas |
| Vocês/Eles/Elas | (o) seu | (a) sua | (os) seus | (as) suas |
.
Examples:
As you may have noticed, without context it’s impossible to discern which third person pronoun (você/ele/ela/vocês/eles/elas) the regular possessive is referring to. (Normally in these cases Duolingo accepts all possible translations if they make sense):
In Brazil, using "seu" in simple sentences most of the times means "your(s)", but in sentences with some context, it tends to refer to the previously stated subject:
To avoid that confusion, there are other possessive pronouns whose declinations refer to the owner instead and
do not decline according to the owned noun
:
| Owner | Poss. pronoun | Owner | Poss. pronoun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ele | Dele | Eles | Deles | |
| Ela | Dela | Elas | Delas | |
| - | - | Vocês | De vocês |
*
- The form "de você" (singular) is not seen as a possessive form!
**
- A popular informal one referring to "nós" is "da gente". It's not used in disambiguation, because "nosso(as)" is not ambiguous, but it's common in popular language due to "a gente" meaning "nós".
These are nothing but the personal pronoun preceded by a "de" preposition, creating an effect similar to "of him", "of her", "of them", "of yours". But unlike English, they are very natural in Portuguese.
Examples:
While the possessive adjectives (coming before nouns) can have optional articles, the possessive pronouns (that don't precede nouns) must use the articles consistently.
One way of checking whether the article should be used is inverting the English sentence to the unusual "of him" form.
Then the article should behave in a similar way in both languages. (Please consider that this unusual English form is not commonly accepted as English translations in the system)
Sometimes, the article is optional, but meaning is changed:
Esses carros são meus = These cars are mine (checking: these cars are
cars
of mine)
Result: These cars belong to me
Esses carros são os meus = These cars are mine (checking: these cars are
the cars
of mine)
Result: These cars are the ones that belong to me
Using the article in these cases talks about "extra specific" things, suggesting there are probably other possibilities.
In Portuguese, there are two very common ways to refer to "you (singular)": tu and você
Both words mean you, but only "tu" is truly a second person pronoun according to grammar. (Você is a treatment pronoun that uses third person conjugations)
Is one more formal than the other?
That will depend a lot on what region we are talking about. Some people see "tu" as an informal thing, others don't.
With time, several regions of Brazil chose "você" as the standard way of saying you. Other regions, however, kept "tu" as the most common form.
Examples of places that use "tu" very often are Portugal, Portuguese speaking countries in Asia and Africa and the south of Brazil.
The verb conjugations for each one are different. While "tu" uses true second person conjugations (the ones you see in tables), "você" uses third person conjugations (the ones for "ele/ela"):
| Conjugations | andar | correr | abrir |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tu | andas | corres | abres |
| Você | anda | corre | abre |
In speech, it is very common to see people using "tu" with "você conjugations", but that is not grammatically correct.
The noun "roupa" (clothes) in Portuguese can be either countable or uncountable.
You can say "roupa" as "clothes in general" as well as "roupas".
One "roupa" can be the entire set of clothes:
But "roupa" is not "cloth". For that, there is "pano" or "tecido".
Clothes coming in pairs
For clothes that come in pairs, such as shoes, gloves, boots, it's also possible to use the singular form in Portuguese when referring to the pair:
One interesting feature in Portuguese is the possibility of using definite articles (o/a/os/as) instead of possessives when it's obvious who something's owner is:
This is common with clothes and body parts, and it's also more natural than using actual possessives.
In Portuguese, there are a few different verbs we use for clothes.
So, be careful when you see a sentence with "usar + clothes". Although it might mean "to use", it's much more likely to mean "wear" in English:
Funny thing about clothes in Portuguese .
This leads to a common joke:
....well.... it's only funny in Portuguese, I guess XD.
Questions in Portuguese
In Portuguese, asking questions is quite easy. Simply add a question mark and... that's it! =D
Wait! No change in the word order?
Right! No change in word order!
And no auxiliary verb? (do/does/did...)
Nope! No auxiliary verbs!
Try it:
Questions words
There are two question words that might be confusing at first, but they are distinct: "que" and "qual".
Que - as pronoun
For "que", when a standalone pronoun, use "o que".
This one asks for definitions and explanations. It's used when you want to
understand
what something is, more than simply knowing.
Qual - as a pronoun
This one is used to ask things that you do understand, but you don't know what/which they are. Sometimes it's "what", sometimes it's "which":
You don't ask "o que é o seu nome?", that would mean you don't understand what a name is. That would state something near "please explain what your name is".
Both as determiners - (coming before nouns)
In this case, "que" and "qual" are exactly the same, meaning "what" or "which":
Word order for question words
Question words are usually placed at the beginning of the sentence. But except for the verb "to be", the "subject - verb" order is kept the same as in affirmative sentences:
The three sentences above are also right the other way around, although the first of the following may sound informal:
But could the word order change?
Most of the times it can. But since the inversion is not standard , it may sound weird. The best thing to do is really to keep the same order as in affirmative sentences.
As adjectives, colors also change gender and number to follow the nouns they point to.
But some colors have a different behavior.
Standard behavior
Colors that have their own name are used just like any ordinary adjective:
| Color | Masc. Sing. | Fem. Sing. | Masc. Pl. | Fem. Pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red | Vermelho | Vermelha | Vermelhos | Vermelhas |
| Yellow | Amarelo | Amarela | Amarelos | Amarelas |
| Blue | Azul | Azul | Azuis | Azuis |
| Green | Verde | Verde | Verdes | Verdes |
| Purple | Roxo | Roxa | Roxos | Roxas |
(1) - Some adjectives, especially the ones ending in "e" have their masculine and feminine versions equal. That is normal and will happen to many other adjectives as well.
Invariant colors
But... colors that got their names from other things don't have plural forms:
Examples:
The standard color used for objects and animals is "preto" (black).
The word "negro" is often used with more abstract things, meaning "dark".
When referring to people's skin color, "negro" is the right choice, although many people prefer the term "afrodescendente" (descendent from Africans).
"Moreno" is only used for people. It may refer sometimes to the hair color, and in other cases to skin color. Black or dark hair is considered "moreno".
Skin that is neither white nor black or very dark is also "pele morena"
When you say "ela é morena", you may be talking either about hair or skin, or both.
Present tense: Simple present or "Presente do indicativo"
Let's start looking at the most basic verb tense: the simple present. In Portuguese, this is called "presente do indicativo."
Basically, there are three kinds of verbs in Portuguese:
Each of these follow a conjugation pattern. So all the regular verbs just get a consistent ending in each case:
| Infinitive: | ajudar | beber | abrir | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eu | ajud o | beb o | abr o | |
| Tu | ajud as | beb es | abr es | |
| Ele(a) / Você | ajud a | beb e | abr e | (1) |
| Nós | ajud amos | beb emos | abr imos | |
| Vós | ajud ais | beb eis | abr is | |
| Eles(as) / Vocês | ajud am | beb em | abr em | (1) |
(1) Never forget that although having 3rd person conjugations, "você" and "vocês" refer to the
2nd person
.
Você = you (sing.) / Vocês = you (plural)
Irregular verbs
Irregular verbs are those that don't follow the same conjugation pattern. Their conjugations might or not follow a pattern, and each verb must be learned individually in this case.
Some examples: ser (to be), fazer (to do/make), ir (to go), ouvir (to hear/listen) and others.
Prepositions can be a tough matter for many learners, but don't worry! In every language, prepositions cannot be directly translated.
The most important rule for prepositions is: They always depend on the rest of the expression to make sense!
So, if you intend to memorize preposition translations, remember this:
this will only work for time and space
, other cases must be seen as a whole.
All this might seem very complicated at first, but in time everything gets clearer.
In Portuguese, certain prepositions must be contracted with the following word. It happens to "em", "de", "a" and "por" before articles and pronouns.
The good news is: among so many different words, you will see that in fact they are just a few well known words forming many combinations.
Definite articles
Personal pronouns
Demonstrative pronouns
The same happens to "isso/esse(s)/essa(s)".
Objective pronouns
Indefinite articles (mainly in speech or in European Portuguese)
All the previous contractions are mandatory.
The following however are considered informal in Brazil, but well accepted in European Portuguese:
Prepositions used for time expressions have different translations from those used for places. Nevertheless, they too follow well behaved rules in most cases.
Periods of the day:
This is one of the few exceptional cases, where both English and Portuguese have their particular usage:
Numeric dates and named months:
Use "em" without articles.
Numeric dates and months when using the nouns "dia, mês, ano":
Use "em + article". If the unit is "mês", it's necessary to add a "de" after it.
Week days:
Use "em + article":
These prepositions can be omitted: "... é sexta-feira", "...viaja domingo".
Repeating week days:
If something happens regularly on certain week days, use the preposition "a" or "em" plus the plural article:
Using "a" is more formal and better for written texts.
Terms:
For terms, the preposition used is also "em", without articles:
Another very common option is "dentro de" (within), which has the same meaning.
Clock time:
Clock times will translate "at" as "a" and an article is needed.
If the following time is feminine, add the article "a" making it "à" (a+a)
If masculine, the article is "o", making it "ao" (a+o).
And if plural, add the respective "s".
When telling the day period, use "de" before it:
Nouns that change genders
You are probably getting used to Portuguese genders by now, but here, we will see some interesting distinctions between two kinds of nouns:
Among family nouns, animals and professions, it's very common to find those that change genders according to the person they refer to:
On the other hand, some of them have always the same gender regardless of the person they refer to:
.
Genders and plurals or general statements
Here we are going to see what to do when we don't know the gender of the people or when there is a group with mixed genders.
Portuguese takes the masculine gender as the standard gender for general cases.
This means that for nouns, adjectives and any other thing that can change genders, one chooses the masculine gender to talk about unknown or mixed genders.
Examples of unknown genders:
In these examples, the cat can be either male or female: a strange cat we don't know the gender. And the people we are talking about can be just anyone, men and women.
If we use the feminine genders, both examples get very specific:
In plurals, the same rule applies. If you have a group with mixed genders, the chosen gender is masculine:
One particular spelling exception happens with "avós", which seems to be feminine, but is actually masculine (mixed group):
Note that the unchangeable nouns keep the same in plural:
"Tamanho" is a general word meaning "size".
It can be used either for exact measures or general sizes such as "pequeno (small), médio (mid-size)" and "grande (big)".
Clothes are often labeled with the letters "P, M, G" for their sizes. (PP is smaller than P and GG is bigger than G).
"Medida" is attached to numbers, exact measurements:
In Portuguese, these words are used differently:
Largo
"Largo" is a false cognate, and it is not a synonym of big.
"Largo" is related to "largura" (width), so it's mostly "wide".
Amplo
"Amplo" is used mostly for "rooms", "spaces" and "ranges", when it can mean "wide", but not as an actual width measurement.
Grande
"Grande" means "big" or "large" in the most common senses.
Sometimes both seem to mean the same (tight), but mostly they mean:
It's true their meanings can overlap a little, but "justo" is not used often for things that have a negative connotation.
For machine parts, though, "apertado" and "justo" would mean the same.
Nouns with two genders
As it happens with nouns for people and animals, professions in Portuguese can also change genders depending on the professional's gender.
But here, it's very common to see nouns that do change genders , but without changing forms .
As well as with the other nouns that change genders, in sentences where genders are unknown or mixed, Portuguese adopts the masculine gender, which will only show in articles, adjectives and other determiners for this case.
Nouns changing forms:
Nouns that don't change forms:
Examples:
To be or to have???
In the sizes skill, an interesting difference in how languages view things shows up.
Just like it happens when telling people's ages, when telling things' sizes, Portuguese uses the verb "ter" instead of translating the verb "to be" directly.
So, whenever telling something's measurements, remember that:
Notice also the preposition "de" used when telling which dimension you are talking about.
Measurements without verbs
When measurements appear directly attached to something without a verb, similar to an adjective, Portuguese sentences use the form "de + size", working the same way food flavors do:
PS: Brazil uses mostly the
International System of Units
, being "kilograms", "kilometers", "meters" and "centimeters" the units Brazilians understand.
Gram or grass??
A fun fact about these two words:
As you may have noticed up to now, adjectives in Portuguese must be inflected according to the noun they refer to, even when connected with a linking verb such as "to be" .
Adjectives change in gender and number:
Some of them, especially those ending in "e" or a consonant in singular form, have their masculine and feminine forms the same:
That doesn't mean they ignore the rule that "all should be inflected" though, they just don't have different forms.
Should they come before or after the noun?
This question is not so easy to answer. Mostly, adjectives should come after the nouns, but some can only come before nouns, some can only go after nouns, and some can go anywhere, with a slight change in meaning.
Adjectives that can go anywhere
The adjectives that can be placed either before or after the noun can have a slight change in meaning depending on the position.
Adjectives after nouns get a very literal meaning, while adjectives before nouns can get a more sentimental meaning:
This is not a strict rule though, intonation might have an influence too and many adjectives wouldn't be able to show any difference in meaning.
Adjectives that can't change position
There is nothing special about them, but they just don't fit both positions, such as:
Adverbs are words that modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs.
They are used for adding location, time, intensity, modes and many other things.
Adverbs are not used to change nouns, and because of it, they don't inflect.
It's true they can change inflected adjectives, but even though, they remain uninflected.
Bem and Bom
"Bem" is an adverb, meaning "well" or, if modifying an adjective, "quite".
"Bom" is an adjective, meaning "good":
Muito and pouco:
When these words are adverbs, they have only this form. In this case, they are translated as "very" and "little", except when before comparatives, when "muito" becomes "much".
Beware not to confuse "pouco" with "um pouco":
When they are not adverbs, they define amounts of some noun and have an adjective function:
Onde and Aonde:
These two can confuse a lot of native speakers and are often used in speech without distinction.
"Onde" means "where", being a location. But "aonde" is a contraction of "a + onde", being used for movements and destinations. Something like "where to".
The easiest usage of prepositions is when they are about places. In this case, it's often possible to trust dictionary translations for prepositions.
When talking about places, the general rules for prepositions are:
Examples:
(1) "A" is also used sometimes without "motion to", in expressions like:
Notice the positional words complementing the preposition: beira (edge/margin), lado (side), longo (long)
Other more precise prepositions:
Two verbs for one?
In Portuguese, the verb "to be" can be either "ser" or "estar", depending on each case and what the sentence means.
Here are their present conjugations:
| Ser | Estar | |
|---|---|---|
| Eu | sou | estou |
| Tu | és | estás |
| Ele(a) / Você | é | está |
| Nós | somos | estamos |
| Vós | sois | estais |
| Eles(as) / Vocês | são | estão |
"Ser" and "Estar" can be confusing verbs at first, but they follow some rules. Along with them, often there is "ficar", which adds to the confusion.
So, how do you choose between them?
In general:
Here are the differences:
Examples
Ela fica linda = She becomes beautiful
Ela está linda nesse vestido = She is beautiful in this dress
Identity vs State - Ser vs Estar
Another way of seeing this, specially when referring to people, is the difference between
identity/personality
and
current state
.
That explains why, for instance, only "ser" is used for professions. Professions are attached to identity, it's not really seen as a current state, although you can philosophically see it like that.
.
The choice between "ser" and "ficar" has no rule, and there is no difference.
Examples
Examples
Subject and Object pronouns
In Portuguese, pronouns also change for subjects and objects.
So far you are used to the "pronomes do caso reto" (subjective pronouns), they are used for subjects: "Eu, tu/você, ele, nós, vós/vocês, eles"
But when they are objects, they turn into "pronome oblíquo" (objective pronouns). You can compare them like you can compare "he" with "him" and "she" with "her".
In Portuguese, o, os, as, a , besides being articles, can also be direct object pronouns which are normally used to replace a direct object (a noun, person or thing) in a sentence in order to avoid repetition.
This answers, for instance, why
"Eu os ouço"
is used instead of
"Eu ouço eles"
. (1 - See note at the end).
Direct and indirect objects
In Portuguese, pronouns also change depending on whether the object is direct or indirect, and when there is a preposition.
Here is a table to make it easier:
| Subj. | Dir. Obj. | Ind. Obj | Reflx. | With prep. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eu | Me | Me | Me | Mim |
| Tu | Te | Te | Te | Ti |
| Ele/Ela | O/A | Lhe | Se | Si/Ele/Ela |
| Nós | Nos | Nos | Nos | Nós |
| Vós | Vos | Vos | Vos | Vós |
| Eles/Elas | Os/As | Lhes | Se | Si/Eles/Elas |
Dir. Obj. - Direct objects are used when the verb doesn't need a preposition. (1)
Ind. Obj. - Indirect objects are used when the verb needs a preposition, but this version of the pronoun removes the preposition (Dê-lhe o carro = Give him the car - See below to understand this completely)
Reflx. - Reflexive pronouns are used when the subject performs an action towards him or herself. (Ele se cortou = He cut himself / Eu me vi no espelho = I saw myself in the mirror / Tu te cortaste = you have cut yourself)
With prep. - These are also indirect objects, but the preposition is needed together with the pronoun. (Dê o carro a mim = Give the car to me). In Brazil, the "si" versions are mostly for reflexive cases with prepositions.
(1): The direct object pronoun is normally not used correctly in spoken form, so you would hear a lot more people saying
Eu ouço eles
than
Eu os ouço
. A great number of Brazilian speakers would prefer using "ele/ela/eles/elas" instead.
These pronouns can be placed either before or after the verb, or even in the middle!!
There are some rules that determine whether they should be put in one of these positions. In Brazil, though, these rules are rarely mastered by people, some of them might feel unnatural and even some writers disagree of them. In formal academic writings though, they would be required. In Portugal, they follow these rules more strictly than in Brazil. (Duolingo is not strict about these specific rules)
Pronouns before the verb - próclise
Negative words, some adverbs and pronouns attract the clitic pronoun to be placed just after them, before the verb.
When putting the pronouns before the verb, they are written without additional symbols.
A pronoun that does not use a preposition cannot start a sentence according to the formal rules, but even though, in Brazil this is a very common practice.
Pronouns after the verb - ênclise
If no "attracting" word is present, pronouns will go after the verb, attached with hyphens.
If the pronoun is "o, a, os, as", it changes depending on the verb's ending:
When necessary, the accent is added so the verb keep the last syllable stressed after losing the "r":
Pronouns in the middle of the verb - mesóclise
This is very rare today, but in formal rules, if you cannot use "próclise" for verbs in future conjugations, you add the pronoun in the middle of the verb:
Numbers up to ten
The numbers 1 and 2 have feminine forms if they precede a feminine noun:
Numbers up to nineteen
Up to 15, they have their names based on "#-ze".
After that, they become "dez(e)-#":
Tens - from 10 to 100
From 20 to 90, their names are mostly based on "#-enta".
Hundreds - from 100 to 1000
From 200 to 900, their names are mostly based on "#-centos"
All the hundreds from 200 to 900 have feminine forms: duzentas, trezentas ...
In Portuguese, forming big numbers is similar to English, but adding the conjunction "e" between digits and commas after thousands and bigger:
(1) "Cento" is used instead of "cem" whenever followed by the rest of the number.
(2) There is no need to translate the "one/a" in "one/a hundred/thousand". The words "cem", "cento" and "mil" stand alone and contain "one" implied.
Numbers for showing position, rank, etc. have a different spelling.
The suffixes
All the suffixes "st, nd, rd" and "th" are replaced by º or ª , being the first masculine and the second feminine:
When saying or writing ordinal numbers in Portuguese, remember all of them have feminine forms.
From "first" to "tenth"
From "twentieth" to "100th"
Writing long ordinal numbers
This is actually easier than regular numbers, you just add words together:
Algum, Nenhum or Qualquer??
There's an interesting distinction about the usage of these words between English and Portuguese.
For instance, one cannot say that "algum" is always "some" or that "qualquer" is always "any". In fact they can be just the other way around.
So, how to distinguish them?
The key is in whether the sentence is negative, affirmative or a question! So, in a simple table, it works like this:
| Word | Affirmatives | Questions | Negatives |
|---|---|---|---|
| Algum | Some | Any | - |
| Nenhum | No / None | No / Not any | No / Not any |
| Qualquer | Any | Just any | Just any |
And here go the deails:
Affirmative sentences
Here are what you will probably see as a standard meaning for these words:
It might seem weird to say that a sentence with "nenhum" is affirmative, since nenhum itself is a negative word. But since Portuguese often uses double negation with "nenhum", we are putting the ones that are not double negation here.
Examples:
Questions
But now things change a little. You will notice that in questions they become:
Wait, all of them mean any in questions? Yes, but:
See the examples:
Rarely, the examples above could use "qualquer", but it might seem unusual.
In plural form, "alguns/algumas" can mean "some" too:
For nenhum , in English you have the choice to choose where you are going to put the negation:
And " qualquer " with its standard meaning:
Negative sentences
Again, for nenhum , you can choose where to put the negation:
And "qualquer" can less often replace "nenhum", or keep its standard affirmative meaning.
So, whenever possible, "qualquer" will retain it's "just any" meaning. In order to avoid doubt, prefer "nenhum" when you mean "no".
Infinitive verbs in Portuguese are just the verbs not conjugated.
In Portuguese there is nothing that matches "to" in an infinitive verb.
So both "bare infinitive" and "full infinitive" translate the same:
Although having something called "gerdúndio" with verbs ending in "ndo", which we will see in further skills, Portuguese does not have what English calls a "gerund" (Using a verb ending in "ing" as a noun or noun clause).
Portuguese verbs ending in "ndo" are used only in progressive tenses.
But, if Portuguese doesn't have "gerunds" how are they translated?
Portuguese uses infinitive verbs as translations for the English gerunds.
Examples:
Here too, prepositions can take particular meanings.
But mostly, they are not related to the infinitive verbs, but demanded by the other verb instead.
When they are related to the infinitive verbs, they can mean:
Examples:
The past tense
In Portuguese, there are a few different past tenses. In this lesson, we will see the "pretérito perfeito".
Although the name translates literally to "past perfect", it's not equivalent to this tense. There is a different point of view about tense names.
This tense, the "pretérito perfeito" , matches mainly the "simple past" and sometimes the "present perfect" when it's about a single action concluded in the past.
Important: Portuguese doesn't add auxiliary verbs such as "did". So the conjugated form is used in questions and negative sentences too.
Examples:
Here are the regular conjugations for "pretérito perfeito" with the examples "andar" (to walk), "comer" (to eat) and "ouvir" (to hear/listen)
| Infinitive: | andar | comer | ouvir* |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eu | and ei | com i | ouv i |
| Tu | and aste | com este | ouv iste |
| Ele(a) / Você | and ou | com eu | ouv iu |
| Nós | and amos | com emos | ouv imos |
| Vós | and astes | com estes | ouv istes |
| Eles(as) / Vocês | and aram | com eram | ouv iram |
*
- ouvir is regular in this past tense, but it's irregular for the present "eu ouço".
In addition to having tenses showing "when" an action takes place, languages also have moods , that indicate how the verb is being used. Different moods have different meanings.
Imperative is the verb mood for giving orders .
In Portuguese, moods also change verb conjugations. Just like tenses and other moods, the imperative has its own conjugation forms:
| Infinitive: | jantar | receber | partir |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eu | -------- | -------- | -------- |
| Tu | jant a ....... / não jant es | receb e ....... / não receb as | part e ....... / não part as |
| Ele(a) / Você | jant e | receb a | part a |
| Nós | jant emos | receb amos | part amos |
| Vós | jant ai ........ / não jant eis | receb ei ........ / não receb ais | part i ........ / não part ais |
| Eles(as) / Vocês | jant em | receb am | part am |
(1) - There is no singular first person form (eu), for one cannot give orders to oneself.
(2) - Different from others, imperative has different conjugations for affirmative and negative sentences for "tu" and "vós".
Regarding the second person ("you"), they follow the same idea as other conjugations. You can use either "tu" conjugations (2nd person) or "você" conjugations (3rd person). Depending on where you are, one might sound more formal than the other. In general, "você" conjugations are more formal, but that may vary.
Also, since English has only one form of "you" for both singular and plural, most English imperative sentences could be translated with any of the four conjugation options in Portuguese: "tu/você/vós/vocês". ("Vós" is quite obsolete here too).
Just remember that when you are talking to a single person, you have to use the singular forms (tu/você). And when talking to more than one person, use (vós/vocês).
Ex:
Open the door!
As you may have noticed or read, all negative forms of the imperative mood are identical to the present subjunctive form. Nevertheless, that does not mean they are the same thing. Imperative mood is used when giving orders, while the subjunctive is required when making uncertain statements. They are two different moods with identical conjugations.
Future with verb "ir"
In Portuguese, the future tense has two possible ways of conjugating. One uses the verb "ir" in present as an auxiliary verb and the other doesn't.
Normally, the one with auxiliary verb is closer in meaning to the "going to" future and the other is closer to the "will" future. The simple form is also more formal.
But that difference is not very clear in Portuguese, so they are used interchangeably. The simple form is more formal, though.
Conjugations:
present ir + infinitive = future
So, for this lesson, all you need to know is how to conjugate the verb "ir" (to go) in present tense. And to get started, you can see "ir" as "be going to" or "will", just like the English verb structure:
| Phrasal Future: | Ir + infinitive |
|---|---|
| Eu | vou + infinitive |
| Tu | vais + infinitive |
| Ele(a) / Você | vai + infinitive |
| Nós | vamos + infinitive |
| Vós | ides + infinitive |
| Eles(as) / Vocês | vão + infinitive |
A special case
What to do when the main verb is "ir"?
Can I use "ele vai ir" (he will go)?
No, in this case, just use "ir" in present (it will serve both as present and future):
An informal trend
Many people commonly replace the present conjugation of "ir" for its future conjugation. That is not considered a correct future tense but it's quite accepted.
So when you see "ele irá fazer", it means "ele vai fazer" = he will do (it).
In Portuguese, there are many adjectives for nationalities.
As adjectives, they do decline normally regarding gender and numbers:
Notice that Portuguese does not use capital letters for these, only for country names:
Nouns x Adjectives:
Virtually all of these adjectives can be used as nouns without any change! Just remember these nouns, just like professions, should be inflected as well:
Even when the English language can use uninflected adjectives referring to plural things, Portuguese will keep the inflections:
(1) Most country names in Portuguese will require a definite article, but there are exceptions. Each country behaves in a distinct way.
(2) As usual, the masculine plural form is used for general statements and mixed gender groups.
Série:
"Série" is used in schools meaning "grade" in English.
It's used only for elementary and middle school grades, which are called "ensino fundamental" in Brazil, having eight to nine grades.
Ano:
"Ano" is also used as "grade", mainly in reference to high school grades or years in college.
High school in Brazil is called "ensino médio", having three grades.
Ano and série may be used interchangeably depending on where people live. To avoid confusion, people might use more complete sentences:
Grau:
Nowadays, "grau" is not used in standard Brazilian education anymore. But before changes, "graus" were used referring to major education levels:
"Terceiro grau" became "ensino superior" = college / university
Literal meaning: degree (measure unit and abstract intensity, but not an educational degree)
Diploma:
"Diploma" is a document stating your educational level. In English it translates as "degree".
Teste / Prova:
Both "teste" and "prova" are "exams". Some schools may use "teste" for intermediate exams and "prova" for final exams.
Terms:
In Portuguese, when one talks about "participle", it means mostly "past participle", since the idea of "present participle" is not that famous (other names are used for "present participles" in Portuguese).
Past participles are used mainly for three things:
In this skill, we are going to see the first two cases.
In both of them, the participle must be inflected regarding genders and number. (That is not true for compound tenses though)
Adjectives
:
Not all past participles suit adjective usages, but when they do, it's as simple as using any other adjective:
Passive voice:
Passive voices in Portuguese are pretty much like English passive voices:
But remember: only "ser" can be used for passive voices.
Using "estar" + "past participle" will end up creating an adjective telling one's current state. So:
Passive voice examples:
Regular past participle conjugations follow this pattern:
| Verb | Past participle |
|---|---|
| Combinar | Combin ado |
| Entender | Entend ido |
| Repetir | Repet ido |
All of them will accept the inflections "o/a/os/as".
Irregular verbs
Some verbs follow irregular patterns, such as:
Some have both forms:
When they have both forms, the regular form is used for compound tenses and the irregular forms are the ones inflected and used as adjectives and in passive voices. (This last rule has exceptions where the irregular form is the most popular in every case)
Cities, Countries, Continents and Articles
In English, most country names use no article, with a few exceptions like "the United States of America" (Os Estados Unidos da América). The same is true for cities and continents.
But in Portuguese, they do! And mostly, the articles are mandatory.
Just like the other nouns, each country has its own gender, and some reject the article. Unfortunately, there is no clear rule for that, except when its name contains an ordinary noun as the main part of it, the article will follow that noun:
.
Countries with masculine articles:
.
Countries with feminine articles:
(1) In European Portuguese, these can be used without articles when after a preposition.
.
Countries that use no article:
.
Continents
All continents are feminine :
.
Cities
Most cities use no articles:
But there are a few that use it:
Tráfico x Tráfego:
A very tempting false friend for "traffic" is the word "tráfico", which actually means "trafficking".
Direita x Direito:
When they are nouns, one is about directions, the other is about law:
Remember that "direita/direito" can also be adjectives, in which case they will inflect normally:
Orientação:
Although being used for directions, it is more commonly used for "guidance/instructions".
You can ask someone for guidance with this word:
In Portuguese, some feelings are expressed differently from English.
While English uses "I am ..." and other forms, Portuguese uses some form of possessive sentence.
Except for "certeza", all of them can also accept "sentir":
Hints: - It's natural to use "estar com" as a form of temporary possession in Portuguese. It can be used even with concrete objects: "Estou com seu carro = I have your car (currently, your car is under my possession).
In Portuguese, the verb "sentir" also works a little differently, being a reflexive verb when you feel somehow .
Normally, it takes a direct object just like in English:
But if you feel somehow , you must use the reflexive form of it:
Here is a tricky verb tense.
This tense will resemble a lot the English present perfect, because it also uses the present tense of the verb "to have" plus the past participle of the main verb.
In Portuguese, however, this structure has another name and another meaning !
It's called "pretérito perfeito composto" (translated literally as: compound preterite perfect).
Although using the analogous structure "present ter" + "past participle" of the main verb, its meaning is not the same.
Whenever you see this construction, remember it talks about a recent repetition , things have been repeating * lately . So, in general translations are like:
So, the first question you might be asking yourself is...."how do I translate the English present perfect to Portuguese then"?
Normally, when it's a simple concluded action , you do it with the "pretérito perfeito":
But when it's about something that is true "since" a certain point in the past , then you just use the present tense:
And finally, the verb "to be" and some of the so called "stative verbs" behave differently.

So, how to understand all that simply?
Just remember: Portuguese "ter + past.participle" always means a "recent repetition ". So, if the English sentence means that, you can translate it with the Portuguese "pretérito perfeito composto".
If the English sentence cannot or does not mean a recent repetition, then the Portuguese tense must be changed to fit the true meaning.
The past perfect in Portuguese is called Pretérito mais-que-perfeito .
Here, we are going to see the
Pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto
, meaning it's a compound tense (having an auxiliary verb).
The compound version of the tense is the most popular version and its structure and meaning are identical to that of English. (Except that adverbs don't go in between the verbs).
The auxiliary verb used is "ter" in "imperfect past":
Optionally, some people prefer using the verb "haver", there is no difference in meaning, and it might sound more formal:
Conjugation table for "ter" and "haver" :
| Pretérito Imperfeito | Ter | Haver |
|---|---|---|
| Eu | Tinha | Hav ia |
| Tu | Tinhas | Hav ias |
| Ele(a) / Você | Tinha | Hav ia |
| Nós | Tínhamos | Hav íamos |
| Vós | Tínheis | Hav íeis |
| Eles(as) / Vocês | Tinham | Hav iam |
*
- Notice that conjugations for "eu, ele, ela" and "você" are the same! For that reason, it's highly recommended that the personal pronoun be explicit,
even for the "eu" case
, unless context is very clear! Otherwise, one would not know who is doing the action due to so many possibilities.
(Advanced) Pretérito mais-que-perfeito
For those who like advanced knowledge, let's talk about the simple version of this tense. This is getting almost forgotten in Portuguese, but can still be seen in some books. (These conjugations are not the scope of this unit)
| Infinitive: | Andar | Correr | Sorrir |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eu | And ara | Corr era | Sorr ira |
| Tu | And aras | Corr eras | Sorr iras |
| Ele(a) / Você | And ara | Corr era | Sorr ira |
| Nós | And áramos | Corr êramos | Sorr íramos |
| Vós | And áreis | Corr êreis | Sorr íreis |
| Eles(as) / Vocês | And aram | Corr eram | Sorr iram |
*
- Here you can see that for the third person plural this tense matches the "pretérito perfeito". For this reason you might see some additional accepted translations that will be
exclusive
for this case.
**
- Notice also that this is
different
from
future "eu" and "ele" conjugations
, for those would have an accent on the last syllable, making them the stressed ones.
Discarding the possessive adjectives??
An interesting feature in Portuguese is the fact that one can choose to simply not use the possessive adjective if it's obvious something belongs to someone. One uses the definite article instead.
The most common case where it happens is about body parts:
But remember: only when it's obvious (something in the sentence states who the owner is). The following sentences would keep the possessive:
"Doer" or "machucar"?
The English verb "to hurt" can have two distinct meanings in Portuguese:
Examples:
So far you've seen the phrasal future with "ir + infinitive".
Now we are going to see the true future conjugations of the verbs, which are more formal and preferred in written texts.
Both versions fit either "will + verb" and "be going to + verb".
| Infinitive: | Falar | Ver | Subir |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eu | Fal arei | V erei | Sub irei |
| Tu | Fal arás | V erás | Sub irás |
| Ele(a) / Você | Fal ará | V erá | Sub irá |
| Nós | Fal aremos | V eremos | Sub iremos |
| Vós | Fal areis | V ereis | Sub ireis |
| Eles(as) / Vocês | Fal arão | V erão | Sub irão |
Examples:
In English, gerunds and present participles use the "ing" ending on the verbs.
In Portuguese, the verb ending is "ndo".
The present participle is the continuous action of the verb, the continuous tense. In Portuguese, it's called "gerúndio". The translations are mostly straight and clear, using the verb "estar".
Out of curiosity, "estar a + infinitive" is also a form of progressive tense, being more common in European Portuguese.
Beware of the stative verbs !
In English, some verbs are static, meaning they cannot be used in the progressive form. They are verbs such as "like", "believe", "want" and others. But Portuguese doesn't have those kind of verbs, so you will find some sentences whose translations are not so straight:
Is there a difference in the meaning between "Eu estou gostando" and "Eu gosto"??
Well....a little, when using the progressive form, you really mean you are "enjoying" something that is currently taking place, while the simple present form can be used in general.
Now, Gerunds in English create "nouns" and "noun clauses" using the "ing" verb ending. In Portuguese, a gerund such as this doesn't exist!!! You use the infinitive verb instead:
Pintura x Quadro
The words may overlap their meanings, but:
When the paintings and photos are hanging on the wall, people will mostly refer to them as "quadros".
Also, when talking about paintings from famours painters, "quadro" will be the choice.
In Portuguese, the equivalent tense to "Future Perfect" is called "Futuro do presente composto" (literally "compound future of the present").
This tense is used to say that something will have been or will have happened.
The construction is similar to English, taking future "ter" (will have) and the past participle of the main verb:
So, all you have to do is to understand "ter" future conjugations and pay attention to some irregular past participle endings:
| Infinitive: | falar | ler | agir |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eu | ter ei fal ado | ter ei l ido | ter ei ag ido |
| Tu | ter ás fal ado | ter ás l ido | ter ás ag ido |
| Ele(a) / Você | ter á fal ado | ter á l ido | ter á ag ido |
| Nós | ter emos fal ado | ter emos l ido | ter emos ag ido |
| Vós | ter eis fal ado | ter eis l ido | ter eis ag ido |
| Eles(as) / Vocês | ter ão fal ado | ter ão l ido | ter ão ag ido |
Can one use the phrasal future? (Ex: vai ter + past part.)
In speech, it's common, but many people might consider it wrong in writing. Also, grammar books usually don't even mention this possibility
Often, this skill's tense is associated with the future subjunctive, just as in the previous example: "quando terminarmos".
For that reason, some of the sentences in this skill contain future subjunctive verbs. (1)
Future subjunctive is often used with "se" or "quando", to express the idea that something might not come to be:
Future subjunctive conjugations, for regular verbs, are just like the personal infinitive conjugations:
| Infinitive: | falar | ler | agir |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quando eu | fal ar | l er | ag ir |
| Quando tu | fal ares | ler es | ag ires |
| Quando ele(a) / você | fal ar | l er | ag ir |
| Quando nós | fal armos | l ermos | ag irmos |
| Quando vós | fal ardes | l erdes | ag irdes |
| Quando eles(as) / vocês | fal arem | l erem | ag irem |
(1) In the future, we hope to create a skill just for this tense in the tree, in order to avoid confusion :)
Introduction
In Portuguese, there is a mood dedicated to uncertain statements.
This mood often confuses English speakers because English barely has this feature.
Even though, English contains subjunctive moods, but they are often ignored or have the same form as the indicative mood.
It's more common to see subjunctive in past in English, especially in "if" sentences:
Here, we are going to see the present subjunctive , which can be found in sentences such as:
Portuguese uses the present subjunctive in much more cases than English.
Typical usages of the subjunctive come after certain verbs that express a "possible" result, but not necessarily certain, and also after some conditional keywords.
Mostly, if other keywords are not present, the present subjunctive conjugations will come after "que". You will also notice that conjugation tables for this tense shows conjugations preceded by "que".
.
Some verbs asking for the subjunctive
Examples of verbs expressing "hope/doubt"
Sometimes, the subjunctive mood is also used for commands/suggestions when these commands are given through another verb. In some of these cases, English behaves the same way:
Because of this, and also because conjugations are the same, many people confuse subjunctive and imperative moods.
.
Keywords asking for the subjunctive
In many cases, these keywords are either conditional keywords or words that state something that has effect onto the present, or that talks about an expected result:
In this table there are three regular conjugations (ar, er, ir) and the verbs "ser" and "estar":
| Infinitive: | Amar | Comer | Abrir | Ser | Estar |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| que eu | am e | com a | abr a | seja | esteja |
| que tu | am es | com as | abr as | sejas | estejas |
| que ele(a) / você | am e | com a | abr a | seja | esteja |
| que nós | am emos | com amos | abr amos | sejamos | estejamos |
| que vós | am eis | com ais | abr ais | sejais | estejais |
| que eles(as) / vocês | am em | com am | abr am | sejam | estejam |
*
- The verb "ver", also irregular, is conjugated the same way as "ser" and "estar" regarding the present subjunctive
Futuro do pretérito
This lesson is about a particular tense, known in Portuguese as "Futuro do Pretérito" (future of the past).
It gives the verb a meaning that is in most cases equal to that of the auxiliary verb "would". So it's used in conditionals.
The regular conjugations are quite easy, for they don't change the infinitive part of the verb, they only add an extra ending.
Here they go:
| Navegar | Saber | Partir | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eu | naveg aria | sab eria | part iria |
| Tu | naveg arias | sab erias | part irias |
| Ele(a) / Você | naveg aria | sab eria | part iria |
| Nós | naveg aríamos | sab eríamos | part iríamos |
| Vós | naveg aríeis | sab eríeis | part iríeis |
| Eles(as) / Vocês | naveg ariam | sab eriam | part iriam |
These are the two most common conditionals where this tense applies:
First case
| If clause | Main (would) clause | |
|---|---|---|
| If | Simple Past | Would + Infinitive |
| Se | Past Imp. Subjunctive | Futuro do Pretérito |
Examples:
Don't worry too much about the subjunctive now, this lesson doesn't focus on it.
Second case :
| If clause | Main (would) clause | |
|---|---|---|
| If | Had + Past Participle | Would + Infinitive |
| Se | Ter (P. Imp. Sub.) + Past part. | Future of the Past |
Examples:
Curiosity: there is an informal version of these conditionals using the imperfect past:
But these may not make sense if the phrase does not contain both parts of the conditional. So, it should be avoided in simple sentences like just "eu estava em apuros agora". (It would mean "I was in trouble right now").
Modal verbs in Portuguese work just as they do in English.
They take the conjugations and come before an infinitive verb. The only difference is that they have several conjugations in Portuguese, just like any other verb.
Conjugations in Portuguese should follow their normal meanings, such as:
Poder:
"Poder" can often be translated as "can", but it can also mean "to be able to" and "to have permission to", thus being sometimes "can/could", sometimes "may/might" and "be able to".
Dever:
"Dever" can have many shades of meaning, from an obligation to a probability, thus matching "must", "should", "shall", "need to", depending on context.
*
- When not a modal verb, "dever" means "to owe".
Precisar:
"Precisar" means "to need" or "to have to".
This conditional form uses "ter" in "Futuro do pretérito" tense + the main verb in past participle.
It's for things that "would have been":
Also, this conjugation is often used for a specific kind of conditional, which works like the English counterpart. In the "if" clause, the subjunctive tense is used:
| Lang. | If clause | Main (would have) clause |
|---|---|---|
| (en) | If + Had + Past Participle | Would have + Past Participle |
| (pt) | Se + Ter (Past Subjunctive) + Past participle | Ter (Future of the Past) + Past Participle |
Examples:
*
- Optionally, it's possible to use "haver" instead of "ter".
An informal option:
There is also the possibility of an informal version using imperfect past, but it may not work if the phrase doesn't contain both clauses:
If the sentence is just a plain sentence without the "if clause", listeners will probably assume the standard imperfect past meaning.
In this skill, there are very little examples using the past subjunctive. These will appear later in the past subjunctive skill. Nevertheless, you can see some conjugations below.
| Ter / Haver | Fut. do Pretérito | Pret. Subj. |
|---|---|---|
| Eu | Teria / Havia | Tivesse / Houvesse |
| Tu | Terias / Havias | Tivesses / Houvesses |
| Ele(a) / Você | Teria / Havia | Tivesse / Houvesse |
| Nós | Teríamos / Havíamos | Tivéssemos / Houvéssemos |
| Vós | Teríeis / Havíeis | Tivésseis / Houvésseis |
| Eles(as) / Vocês | Teriam / Haviam | Tivessem / Houvessem |
The past subjunctive talks about actions in the past that are uncertain and also about hypothetical things in general.
In English, you can find past subjunctive in "if clauses":
The conditions for using the past subjunctive are very similar to those for using the present subjunctive. There is just a difference in tenses.
But here, a very important case comes into play: the conditionals!
Conditionals with "if"
One of the most important usages of the past subjunctive is for creating conditionals. You will notice also that the "if" keyword (se) is present in conjugation tables.
Optionally, there is the informal possibility of using the imperfect past in the main clause:
.
Some verbs asking for the subjunctive
Examples of verbs expressing "hope/doubt" in past:
Verbs giving orders:
.
Keywords asking for the subjunctive
Here too, some keywords will ask for the past subjunctive just like they do in present tense. But now, a very important keyword comes into play: "
if
"; allowing us to create the most common conditionals. (Note that "if" is present in the conjugation tables for past subjunctive)
In this table there are three regular conjugations (ar, er, ir) and the verbs "ser" and "estar":
| Infinitive: | Amar | Comer | Abrir | Ser | Estar |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| se eu | am asse | com esse | abr isse | fosse | estivesse |
| se tu | am asses | com esses | abr isses | fosses | estivesses |
| se ele(a) / você | am asse | com esse | abr isse | fosse | estivesse |
| se nós | am ássemos | com êssemos | abr íssemos | fôssemos | estivéssemos |
| se vós | am ásseis | com êsseis | abr ísseis | fôsseis | estivésseis |
| se eles(as) / vocês | am assem | com essem | abr issem | fossem | estivessem |
"Imperfect"? What does it mean?
Originally, the term "perfect" was used for "completed" actions, although today some "perfect" tenses don't really follow this strictly.
On the other hand, "imperfect" isn't about "conclusions".
In Portuguese, the imperfect past talks about something that "was true" or "was happening" during a certain time period in the past.
It's great for continuous actions in the past, habits and steady states creating contexts: things that "were being", if you allow us to use a "non-standard" English.
While the "pretérito perfeito" (the one you've studied so far) is great for "changing" something from an unconcluded to a concluded state.
.
Continuous meanings
In many cases, this tense has a continuous meaning, especially when the "while" idea is present:
.
Old habits
Since old habits are things that used to happen, spread along a time period, the "imperfect" tense is also the right form for this:
But is "used to" really the right translation? Well, it's an adaptation to convey the right meaning, since simple past can often be interpreted differently.
The literal translation of "used to" is "costumava" (and its conjugations for other persons)
When "used to" is a good option, "would" can also be a good one. But never with a standard conditional meaning.
.
Setting the scenery in past
Because scenery is something that is just there, not changing anything, not acting nor completing actions, "imperfect past" is also the best choice to describe it. The scenery "was just being" while the story happened.
.
Comparing
One interesting rule for simple actions is: if you can use English's present
perfect
, then also use Portuguese's "pretérito
perfeito
".
| Ininitive: | Pegar | Mover | Cumprir |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eu | Peg ava | Mov ia | Cumpr ia |
| Tu | Peg avas | Mov ias | Cumpr ias |
| Ele(a) / Você | Peg ava | Mov ia | Cumpr ia |
| Nós | Peg ávamos | Mov íamos | Cumpr íamos |
| Vós | Peg áveis | Mov íeis | Cumpr íeis |
| Eles(as) / Vocês | Peg avam | Mov iam | Cumpr iam |
Interesse:
"Interesse" is a false friend in a business/economic context.
In Portuguese, this word is not used as an amount of money one pays as interest. It means only "something one is interested in".
For money interests, the word used is "juros", used almost always in plural:
Fábrica:
"Fábrica" is another false friend. In Portuguese, it means "factory" (a place that produces goods).
For "fabric (material)", use "tecido" instead.
Following rules similar to the other subjunctive mood tenses, here comes the "pretérito mais-que-perfeito", which is for things that happened before another event in the past. (Or, in the subjunctive case, had the possibility of happening, or was a hypothetical occurrence, etc.)
This tense is formed with the past subjunctive of "ter" plus the main verb in past participle. In many cases, this will match the English form "had happened". (Optionally, "haver" can be used instead)
Conditionals with "if"
The conditionals with this tense can have two types of main clauses:
Examples:
Here, all examples talk about hypothetical situations in the past. The first two, talks about the hypothetical results in the past while the third one talks about the hypothetical result in present.
As the other "futuro do pretérito" conditionals, there is also the informal possibility of using the imperfect past in the main clause:
.
Some verbs asking for the subjunctive
Examples of verbs expressing "hope/doubt/belief" in past:
*
- The use of "queria" is very common meaning "would like" or "wish", although it literally means "wanted".
.
Keywords asking for the subjunctive
Here too, some keywords will ask for the past subjunctive just like they do in present tense. But now, a very important keyword comes into play: "
if
"; allowing us to create the most common conditionals. (Note that "if" is present in the conjugation tables for past subjunctive)
| Infinitive: | Ter | Haver |
|---|---|---|
| se eu | tivesse | houvesse |
| se tu | tivesses | houvesses |
| se ele(a) / você | tivesse | houvesse |
| se nós | tivéssemos | houvéssemos |
| se vós | tivésseis | houvésseis |
| se eles(as) / vocês | tivessem | houvessem |


Any problem with jQuery in the above browsers should be considered and reported as a bug in jQuery.
While jQuery might run without major issues in older browser versions, we do not actively test jQuery in them and generally do not fix bugs that may appear in them.
The following browsers are known to have significant problems running jQuery:
Regardless of a browser's support of CSS selectors, all selectors listed at api.jquery.com/category/selectors/ will return the correct set of elements when passed as an argument of the jQuery
function.
CSS styles applied with jQuery's .css()
method are dependent on the browser's level of support. In general, jQuery does not attempt to overcome the limitations of a browser's style rendering (one exception is opacity, which jQuery "shims" for older Internet Explorer's alternative implementation). Furthermore, prior to version 1.8, jQuery does not normalize vendor-prefixed properties.


|
CRTS
Version 0.3
Cognitive Radio Test System
|
#include <Filter.hpp>
Public Member Functions | |
| uint64_t | totalBytesIn (uint32_t inChannelNum=CRTSFilter::ALL_CHANNELS) const |
| uint64_t | totalBytesOut (uint32_t outChannelNum=CRTSFilter::ALL_CHANNELS) const |
| std::string | getNextParameterName (bool start=false, bool *hasSet=0, bool *hasGet=0) |
| void | getParameter (const std::string pname, std::function< void(double)> callback) |
| double | getParameter (const std::string pname) |
| bool | setParameter (const std::string pname, const double &val) const |
| void | addController (CRTSController *controller) |
| uint32_t | getId (void) const |
The CRTSControls should be accessed in the CRTSFilter thread that it is associated with or in the main thread in a constructor.
CRTSControls is a factory of any number of Parameters.
|
inline |
Add a controller to a filter control callback list.
This will cause the CRTSController::execute() to be called before every CRTSFilter::input().
/param controller a pointer to the CRTSController object.
|
inline |
/return unique ID that can be quickly used to distinguish this CRTSControl from other CRTSControls in this CRTSFilter.
|
inline |
Get information about parameters in this CRTSControl
Iterates through all the parameters in this control getting the name and optionally whither there is a setter and a getter function for this parameter.
| start | if set this will start at the beginning of the list of parameters in this CRTSControl. The first time this is called by a CRTSController start should be true. |
| hasSet | if set the value that this points to will get set to true if there is a setter function for this parameter, or it will get set to false otherwise. |
| hasGet | if set the value that this points to will get set to true if there is a getter function for this parameter, or it will get set to false otherwise. |
|
inline |
Set a callback that gets a parameter value from the CRTSFilter that this CRTSControl is associated with.
The callback will be called when the stream is flowing. The callback will be called in the in the filter's thread, before or during the filter's input() is called. So this callback is associated with a particular filter that owns this CRTSControl.
/param callback function that is called any time that the parameter changes.
|
inline |
Get a parameter value from the CRTSFilter that this CRTSControl is associated with.
/param pname the name of the parameter that we seek.
/return the value of the parameter as a double. If the parameter with the name pname
was not found, NAN is returned.
|
inline |
Set a parameter value from the CRTSFilter that this CRTSControl is associated with.
/todo make a object set(pname) with method that uses operator '='. Like set["freq"]
This should only be called in the excute() function which is passed this CRTSControl. This will run filters input() thread before input() is called.
/param pname the name of the parameter that we seek to set.
/param val the value we wish to set the parameter to.
/return true is this call affected the parameter.
|
inline |
/param inChannelNum the channel number that the CRTSFilter is referring to.
/return the total number of bytes that the associated input channel have been consumed by the associated CRTSFilter since the last start.
|
inline |
/param outChannelNum the channel number that the CRTSFilter is referring to.
/return the total number of bytes that the associated output channel have been pushed to the associated CRTSFilter that is connected since the last start.
This may not be the same as the number of bytes consumed, totalBytesIn(), by the connected CRTSFilter, because there may be data queued up and the connected CRTSFilter may be waiting for a certain amount or type of data before it marks the data as consumed.


Reports classes which are located in the default package. OSGi does not handle these classes very well, so it is strongly recommended putting classes into a package when working with OSGi.


Together with my best friend I ordered 1 g of Salvia 12x extract. We planned to smoke it in a bong while my parents were away over a weekend in April 2003. It should be our first experiment with psychedelics.
I had a slight imagination of what I might experience because I had already read much about the effects. Through Salvia I hoped I could learn something about myself and our universe. Many philosophical questions whizzed through my head and I was searching for some spiritistic enlightenment.
Each of us smoked three bowls during the evening. Between our experiences we smoked each time some cannabis. We thought of ourselves as well informed about dosage, effects and dangers. Unfortunately we had no scales and could only measure the approximate quantity by dividing the extract into more or less same-sized amounts.
EXPERIENCE #1:
I was first to test Salvia. We chose the bathroom for our first experiment to avoid the danger of the carpet being inflamed, etc. My friend heated the Salvia while I inhalated the smoke and kept it in my lungs for about 20 seconds. The dosage of approximately 50 mg 12x extract was good for the first time.
After exhaling the smoke I was waiting for the effects, wondering why everything was as normal as ever until I realized after a short time that I had already forgotten of having smoked Salvia before, although the bong stood in front of my nose. Then I thought of being some strange kind of pet which is unable to do anything and with which everyone can talk and play. I asked my friend to give me my glass from the window sill to drink something. I could easily have reached it with my own hands but the wall seemed to be incredibly high while I felt like a small tiny pet.
Then another interesting effect came up: The room seemed more deep than normal. It was as if I were in a computer game because the room seemed more three-dimensional and plastic. The objects in the room somehow stood out and were movable which I tried out with my slippers lying on the floor. Startled, I said to my friend: 'Wow, you can move them!' That, of course, arose his loud laughter with me joining in after realizing my 'incredible discovery'. With that my first experience was nearly over. For a few minutes I somehow stood beside of me and was a bit confused. We went on the terrace before my friend smoked his bowl of Salvia.
EXPERIENCE #2:
For our second experience we increased the dose to about 100 mg and changed the setting to my room after we had seen that the danger of putting something on fire is very low with a tripsitter. This time the trip would be much stronger. Unfortunately I can hardly remember it. After exhaling the smoke everything immediately disappeared in a whirl and I was somehow turning around, feeling like a cell in my brain. Then I looked around a corner to another corner where my friend stood. We both looked around the corners at the same time with me everytime saying 'What?', then the scene repeated. I hung in that loop for probably two minutes until I came back to our reality. I got a feeling for the strange experiences one can have with Salvia.
EXPERIENCE #3:
Setting and dose stayed the same for our third experience which should become a decisive event in my life. After exhaling the smoke once again everything began to disappear in a whirl and a new reality opened. It was the reality of the 'Rollladenschaft' which I was now. My old life had completely disappeared and I panicked to get it back but there wasn't anymore than a slight memory that I have some time been someone else. Everything had completely vanished and had been replaced by the Rolladenschaft. I was rolling in a huge band, in front and beside of me were other bands rolling continuously. These bands were full with thousands of my faces staring at me in panic. I was one of these faces.
 The word Rolladenschaft isn't really translatable because it doesn't even exist in German, it is somehow a new word creation. But Rollladen means shutter, so I translate Rollladenschaft with shuttership. Interestingly the sequence of numbers in the song stopped with 7 but I somehow knew that it was infinite.
I thought of that Rollladenschaft being the reality and my former life only having been a nice dream. Everytime the song started again I was somehow pushed from behind by a big stamp into the Rolladenschaft as if I was an atom in a conveyor belt in a factory. Sometimes I could even taste the Rollladenschaft. The Rollladenschaft constantly kept on rolling. I was in a loop once again. The same song and melody over and over again. Everything seemed absolutely hopeless and terrible.
I tried to get me out of this but I succeeded only after about 3 minutes to come back to our reality for the first time. But to my horror the Rollladenschaft came back after a few seconds. For the next 20 minutes I stayed switching between our reality and the reality of the Rollladenschaft. I panicked that I might keep hanging on my trip. Luckily after some time the Rollladenschaft didn't come back.
AFTEREFFECTS:
After this deep horror experience I was in a bad mood and stood beside me for at least a week. Everything seemed unreal. The leafs, the flowers, just everything. Thus I at first regretted of having done the Salvia experiment but with the time I could overcome the horror more and more. The experience has changed my entire life. I've become even more interested in the great questions of life. I learned that there exist other realities behind the one we know and that everything is possible, things that our limited human brains can never think of.
Experience Reports are the writings and opinions of the individual authors who submit them.
Some of the activities described are dangerous and/or illegal and none are recommended by Erowid.


Autumn, also known as fall in American English and sometimes in Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March (Southern Hemisphere), when the duration of daylight becomes noticeably shorter and the temperature cools considerably.
Popular culture in the United States associates Labor Day, the first Monday in September, as the end of summer and the start of autumn; certain summer traditions, such as wearing white, are discouraged after that date. As daytime and nighttime temperatures decrease, trees shed their leaves. The temperature cools.
Usually fall sports are volleyball, football, cross country, and soccer.


House Intel GOP Calls for Hearing to Counter Democrats' Impeachment Inquiry
House Intelligence Committee Republican members on Thursday called for their own hearing to counter the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry after Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) denied Republicans to “fully and fairly” examine issues relating to the inquiry.
by Sean MoranHouse Republican members of the Intelligence Committee have called for their own hearing after Schiff denied them the ability to fully investigate matters relating to the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry.
The Republicans said in the letter to Schiff:
Although Speaker Pelosi promised that Democrats would “treat the President with fairness,” you have repeatedly prevented Republicans from fully and fairly examining issues central to the Democrats’ “impeachment inquiry.” Therefore … we the undersigned Republican Members of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, exercise our right to convene a hearing with witnesses selected by the Minority [Republicans] to testify in the Democrats’ “impeachment inquiry.”
The Republican members who have signed on to the letter include:
- Ranking Member Devin Nunes (R-CA)
- Michael Conaway (R-TX)
- Michael Turner (R-OH)
- Brad Wenstrup (R-OH)
- Chris Stewart (R-UT)
- Elise Stefanik (R-NY)
- Jim Jordan (R-OH)
- John Ratcliffe (R-TX)
- Will Hurd (R-TX)
The Republicans continued in their letter to Schiff:
As the Committee continues to conduct the Democrats’ partisan and one-sided “impeachment inquiry,” there are still important perspectives and serious issues that you have prevented the Committee from examining. We will inform you of the witnesses we intend to call once you have provided a hearing date and time to which we agree.
House Republican leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said in a tweet Thursday, “Chairman Adam Schiff has repeatedly denied fundamental fairness and due process throughout the course of this sham impeachment.”
Sean Moran is a congressional reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.


Located in Boulder, CO, I love teaching and performing equally.
I enjoy talking about the cello, so feel free to contact me with any questions, comments, or just to say hello.
I am also a software developer. Check out my My GitHub profile for details.