# 2000 University of South Africa

Revised edition 2010

All rights reserved

Printed and published by the

University of South Africa
Muckleneuk, Pretoria

PTU1501/1/2011±2013
PTU1502/1/2011±2013
98628623

3B2

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Leonete Larisma for her contributions on the explanation of the personal pronouns, as
well as Elizabete Soares for her final revision of the manuscript. Their contributions have proved invaluable.

Fernanda Jones

A4 Icon 4pc
 (iii) PTU1501/1/2011±2013
PTU1502/1/2011±2013

Contents

Page

FOREWORD (v)

UNIT 1 A BACKGROUND TO THE PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE 1

UNIT 2

2.1 The Portuguese Alphabet 7

2.2 Some Problematic Consonants 7

& The letter `C' 7

& The letter `Q' 8
& The letter `G' 8

UNIT 3 ACCENTS AND STRESS 11

& Stress 11
& Value of Accents 13

UNIT 4 THE DEFINITE & INDEFINITE ARTICLES 16

4.1 Cases where the Definite Article is required in Portuguese but is not
used in English 16
4.2 Cases where the Definite Article is used in English but omitted in
Portuguese 21
4.3 Cases where the Indefinite Article is used in English but omitted in
Portuguese 22

UNIT 5 SPECIAL VERBS 25

5.1 To be Ð Ser, Estar & Ficar 25

& Uses of Ser 25

& Uses of Estar 26
& Ser or Estar 27

5.2 To Ask Ð Pedir & Perguntar 28

5.3 The Uses of the Verb Haver 29
5.4 To Play Ð Tocar, Jogar & Brincar 30
5.5 The Verbs Ter, Estar com & Estar cheio de 31
 (iv)

UNIT 6 PREPOSITIONS 35

& Simple prepositions 35

& Some compound prepositions 36
& Problematic prepositions 36
& Special uses of A and PARA 40
& Special uses of DE 41
& Phrasal verbs 42
& Contractions of prepositions with articles, pronouns & adverbs 43

UNIT 7 NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS & NUMBERS 45

7.1 Some definitions 45

7.2 About nouns: Gender and Plural Forms 46
7.3 About Adjectives: position and Portuguese substitutes for English
Adjectives 48
7.4 Adjectives versus Adverbs Ð Similar adjectives and adverbs 51
7.5 Numbers 53

UNIT 8 PRONOUNS 56

8.1 Subject Personal Pronouns Ð Forms and Usage 57

8.2 Object Pronouns 59
8.3 Possessive adjectives and pronouns 69

UNIT 9 THE DEMONSTRATIVE `THIS', `THAT'/`THESE', `THOSE' AND

THE ADVERB `HERE', `THERE' 73

UNIT 10 78

& Past Participles 78

& The Passive Voice 79

UNIT 11 USAGE OF DIFFERENT TENSES OF VERBS 81

& Indicative Mood 81

& Subjunctive Mood 85

APPENDIX: Phonetic Symbols 88

BIBLIOGRAPHY 90
 (v) PTU1501/1

Foreword

It is a common practice at Unisa to provide a study guide for each module

taught. In many cases, the ``study guide'' guides the student through their
prescribed books. This is not the case here. This guide is intended as a
reference manual, meant to clarify those aspects of the language that we
have identified are the most difficult to master during the first stages of
learning Portuguese.

We would urge you to page through the entire guide and read the main titles
in order to familiarize yourself with its structure and contents. Remember
to consult it regularly whenever the need arises. It might have the answer to
your query.

We sincerely hope that this manual will help you during the process of this
challenging and most rewarding of experiences: the learning of a new
language.

Statue of D. Afonso

Henriques in front

of the Castle of Gui-

maraÄes. D. Afonso

Henriques was the

first king of Portu-

gal who reigned

from 1128±1185.

He was born in

GuimaraÄes and, for

this reason, the city

is known as the

cradle of Portugal

(``berc
Ë o de Portugal'').
 1 PTU1501/1

UNIT 1

A BACKGROUND TO THE PORTUGUESE LANGUAGE

OBJECTIVE
To provide a summary about the roots and history of the Portuguese

language, and how it came to be spoken in so many parts of the word.

A long time ago Ð approximately two and half millennia ago, to be more

precise Ð a city at the centre of the Mediterranean Sea started expanding

its own borders and conquering territories around it: that city was Rome.

Roman expansion
By the year 218 b.C. Rome had extended its power to Hispania. The

conquest of the region was a long process that took almost two hundred

years, and was only completed by 19 b.C. The result of Rome's settlement

Ë aÄo'' of the Iberian

and governing of the territory was the ``romanizac

Peninsula: the adaptation of Roman culture and civilization to the local

traditions. One of the tribes that offered the Roman invaders the most

resistance was the Lusitanian tribe in the west. Centuries later, part of

Lusitania would become Portugal and associated with the Portuguese. This

is the reason for the word Lusitanian and Luso as a synonym for

Portuguese. The word Luso is especially useful in compounds, such as

Luso-Brazilian, Luso-Asiatic; Anglo-Luso; etc.

An important aspect of this acculturation process was the implantation of

the language of Rome Ð Latin Ð in the Peninsula. The people abandoned

their indigenous languages and adopted Latin, which was also the language

of administration.

We all know that languages are dynamic, undergoing a constant process of

change: they borrow words from other languages, they change the meaning

of existing words, their sounds change. When a particular language shares

its space with other languages, the mutual influences are even greater, and

they lead to greater changes. The language which the Roman soldiers and

settlers brought to the Peninsula also changed, under the influence of the

native languages of the area, giving, eventually, rise to new languages. This

is the reason why Portuguese is a Romance Language, one of the many

``modern varieties'' of Latin, the best known being, apart from Portuguese,

Catalan and Spanish, in the Iberian Peninsula, and French, Italian and

Romanian beyond its borders.

 2

The fall of the Roman Empire

rd
During the 3 century of our era, the Roman Empire entered a period of
th
crisis. By the end of the 4 century A.D. it was clearly divided into two
blocks: the Western Empire, with its capital in Rome, and Latin as the
official language, and the Eastern Empire, capital Constantinople, where
the Greek language and culture dominated.

th
By the middle of the 5 century, the Western Roman Empire had collapsed,
under the pressure of nomadic tribes, so-called Germanic tribes Ð the
Romans called them ``barbarians'' Ð, which invaded its territory and
eventually reached Hispania. The two main Germanic tribes to invade and
settle in the Iberian Peninsula during this period were the Visigoths, in the
east, and the Suevi, in the north-west. Although these invaders adopted the
local Romance language, some of their original words, especially related to
war and clothing, are found in Portuguese.

Arab Expansion
Not long after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, a man was born
who would have a huge impact on the world, right up to our days. The year
was 570, the city of his birth Mecca, and the man Mohamed, the founder of
Islam. Mohamed and his disciples started a process of religious, cultural
and territorial expansion which would take them to India in the east and,
via northern Africa, to the Iberian Peninsula in the west. In the year 711,
the Arabs invaded the Peninsula and within three years they had occupied
virtually the entire territory, up to the Pyrenees, on the border with France.
Their expulsion by Christian kings was a gradual process, which started in
th
the 9 century and, in Spain, was only finalized in the 15th century, with
the conquest of Granada. In Portugal, the Moorish rulers were expelled
from Algarve, the last territory to be conquered, by the 13th century, in
1249. Such a long stay resulted in a process of acculturation too, and it is
not surprising to learn that modern Portuguese has approximately 1 000
words of Arabic origin, mostly in the area of science and agriculture.
Algarve, the name of the most southern region of Portugal, is one of those
words.

Galician-Portuguese
The language that would later be called Portuguese to the south of the River
Minho, and Galician, to the north of the same river, was formed in the
north-western corner of the Iberian Peninsula, as a result of the historic
process described above.

For a long time, while Latin was evolving and gradually changing into new
languages, official texts were still being written in Latin throughout the
former Western Roman Empire. In the west of the Iberian Peninsula, from
th
about the 9 century a few surviving texts already include Portuguese
th
words. And from the 11 century onwards, many texts were written in
Galician-Portuguese. Galician-Portuguese, is the language of the famous
 3 PTU1501/1

Cancioneiros (collections of medieval songs), which were known through-

out the European courts at the time.

The Galician-Portuguese language was born in the north-eastern area of the

Peninsula, in an area that is today Galicia and the north of Portugal. After
Portugal's political independence from Castille in 1185, and following the
conquest of the southern lands from the Moors, the language interacted
with the Mozarabic dialects of the south and departed somewhat from old
Galician-Portuguese in the area that became the territory of Portugal. As the
language of a sovereign state, the dialect spoken to the south of the Minho
River grew to become a language of administration, justice and literature.
To the north of the same river, however, it remained only the language of
ordinary communication, as Castillian (commonly known as Spanish), was
the language of administration there.

Figure 1: Galicia, which is part of Spain, is highlighted in stripes

Notwithstanding the evolution suffered by Portuguese since it broke away

administratively from Galicia, and even though the official line is to regard
Galician and Portuguese as autonomous languages, most linguists defend
the unity of the two: that is, Portuguese and Galician are co-dialects of one
linguistic system, the Galician-Portuguese language, with 11 million
speakers in Portugal and some small areas of Spain, and, theoretically, 3
million speakers in and around Galicia. Due to the dominance of Spanish,
some scholars are of the opinion that the Galician dialect tends to die in
th
spite of a literary and cultural revival since the 19 century, and the fact
that, in 1979, it became Ð with Spanish Ð the co-official language of
Galicia.

Portuguese Expansion
From early on, the Portuguese were a seafaring nation with a great
 4

th
knowledge of the ``arte de navegar''. By the 15 century, a whole range of
circumstances within the country drove Portugal to find a sea route to
th
India, the land of silk and spices, and by the 16 century Portugal had
established an empire that spanned the globe: the Portuguese language was
th
heard, and spoken, everywhere. In fact, by the end of the 16 century and
th
during the 17 century, Portuguese was the lõÂngua franca along the
African coast, as well as in various ports in India and south-east Asia;
Europeans and the local peoples communicated with each other in
Portuguese, and Portuguese was also used at higher levels for political,
commercial and religious relations.

It comes as no surprise that Portuguese has many words borrowed from the
languages it came into contact with. It is also no surprise that the language
was implanted in many territories. Nowadays, Portuguese is the official
language of eight independent countries, on four different continents
(Africa, America, Europe and Oceania), and co-exists with Cantonese
Chinese in Macau, in Asia. Another result of Portugal's expansionism was
the birth of many Creoles, which are still spoken today, in places like Sri
Lanka, India, Macau, Malaysia, Casamance (in Senegal), Cape Verde,
Guinea-Bissau and SaÄo Tome and PrõÂncipe, while others have disappeared.

Therefore, although Portuguese is European in origin, it can no longer be

labelled as being simply a European language. Portuguese has become an
international language, with as many as 260 million native speakers.

Figure 2: Portuguese-speaking territories throughout the world

Portuguese as a World Language

In five African countries, Portuguese is the language of administration, edu-
cation, international relations and the media. It is also the mother tongue of
many speakers, especially in urban centres. The population of the Portu-
guese speaking African countries is estimated at 36 million approximately.

In the fifth largest country in the world, Brazil, Portuguese has acquired a
different flavour from European Portuguese, especially in terms of
pronunciation: a little like the differences between American English and
 5 PTU1501/1

British English. South Americans make up the largest number of mother

tongue Portuguese speakers with approximately 192 million people.

When East Timor (also known as Timor Lorosae), in Oceania, gained its
independence from Indonesia in May 2002, Portuguese was adopted as the
official language. The number of inhabitants of this territory is approxi-
mately 1 million.

Macau (460 000 inhabitants), next door to Hong Kong, was a Portuguese
enclave for five centuries. It was handed over to China only in 2000. James
Brooke, writing for the New York Times, says that Beijing sees the
resource-rich Portuguese speaking countries as important trade partners
and Portuguese as the means to develop the relationship with those
countries. As a result, more people in Macau and Beijing are learning
Portuguese now than ever before. A resident of Macau stated: ``Portuguese
has gone from a colonial hangover to a business opportunity.'' (The New
York Times, in Sunday Times, December 19, 2004, 8 Money & Business.)

(The source for the figures of speakers above is The World Fact Book, at
www.cia.gov/cia/publications)

THE GLOBAL IMPORTANCE OF PORTUGUESE

Given the figures above, it comes as no surprise that Portuguese is the
third most widely spoken global language in terms of native speakers.
Among all the languages of the world (both global and localized languages),
Portuguese comes 6th in terms of native speakers.

Top 10 Languages by Number of Native Speakers

Language Approximate number of speakers

1. Mandarin Chinese NATIVE: 873 million 2nd: 178 million
TOTAL: 1.051 billion
2. Hindi NATIVE: 370 million 2nd: 120 million
TOTAL: 490 million
3. Spanish NATIVE: 350 million 2nd: 70 million
TOTAL: 420 million
4. English NATIVE: 340 million
TOTAL: 510 million
5. Arabic NATIVE: 206 million 2nd: 24 million
TOTAL: 230 million
6. Portuguese NATIVE: 203 million 2nd: 10 million
TOTAL: 213 million
7. Bengali NATIVE: 196 million
TOTAL: 215 million
8. Russian NATIVE: 145 million 2nd: 110 million
TOTAL: 255 million
9. Japanese NATIVE: 126 million 2nd: 1 million
TOTAL: 127 million
10. German NATIVE: 101 million 2nd: 128 million
TOTAL: 229 million
Source: Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 15th ed. (2005)
 6

The Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries, or CPLP, is an

international organization consisting of the eight independent countries
which have Portuguese as an official language. Portuguese is also an official
language of the European Union, Mercosul and the African Union and the
Latin Union (along with English and French), and one of the official
languages of other organizations. It is named one of the working languages
of Southern African Development Community. Except for Equatorial Guinea
and the Asian territories East Timor and Macau, Portuguese is the sole
official language in each country.

THE REGIONAL IMPORTANCE OF PORTUGUESE IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

In spite of the domination of English in today's world, it remains important,
to learn foreign languages. Which language each person chooses to learn is
determined by different factors.

An important factor is the context in which one lives and works. In a South
African context, Portuguese is a very relevant language both in the business
world, and in the political, diplomatic and security spheres, given the
strategic importance of the Portuguese-speaking countries to the region, not
only the African countries where Portuguese is spoken, but also Brazil, with
whom South Africa is intensifying relations, and Portugal.

We hope you will enjoy this most rewarding of experiences: the learning of
a new language.

Resources:
http://alfarrabio.um.geira.pt/spl/ (you will find a Portuguese course on this page)
http://www.lonely planet.com/destinations/ (You can access all the different countries on this page)
http://www.instituto-camoes.pt
http://www.palcus.org/network/lang.html
http://www.portugalia.org
http://www.bacalhau.com.br/portugal.htm
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/
 7 PTU1501/1

UNIT 2

OBJECTIVE
To provide an explanation of some problematic areas related to

Portuguese spelling.

We would suggest that you refer to these explanations frequently during the

course of your studies, until you are totally familiar with the various rules

and explanations provided. Try to understand these rules, rather than

memorize them.

You are not obliged to learn the vocabulary used in this section Ð these

words are included to facilitate your understanding of the various spelling

and pronunciation rules. The Appendix at the end of this guide offers you a

list of the International Phonetic Symbols used here. Please refer to it when

in doubt.

2.1 THE PORTUGUESE ALPHABET

The first thing to keep in mind is that the letters K, W and Y are rarely used
in Portuguese, except in foreign names, chemistry symbols and the like.

Therefore, the Portuguese alphabet consists only of 23 letters.

2.2 SOME PROBLEMATIC CONSONANTS: C, G and Q

1
The spelling of the sounds [s], [k] [e] and [g] usually present some

problems to students of Portuguese. In order to overcome this, it is

important to learn the value of the following letters:

& The letter C ([s] & [k])

A Followed by e or i, C has a sound much like the English [s] in `say':
certeza (certainty) esquecer (to forget)
cinco (five) cieÃncias (science)
A Followed by a, o, u or any consonant except h, C has the sound of the
English c [k] in `car':

ficar (to stay) comer (to eat)

custar (to cost) crer (to believe)
claro (clear) acordar (to wake up)

ÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐ
1 [s], [k] [e] and [g] are International Phonetic Symbols. Refer to the Appendix.
 8

A Written with a cedilla C,, it is used only before a, o, u and it has the
sound of the English s [s] in `say':

come cËar (to begin)

a cËo (steel)
a cËu car (sugar)

X The c with a cedilla Ð C, Ð is never used before e or i, nor at the

beginning of a word.

& The letter Q ([k])

A The letter q always has the sound of c as in `car'.
A The letter q is always followed by u (qu):

quando (when) quarenta (forty)

queijo (cheese) quente (hot)
A Before e or i the u of qu is usually silent:

queijo (cheese) quente (hot)

quinhentos (five hundred) arquipeÂlago (archipelago)

X Cin quenta (fifty) quentar (to frequent)

and fre are two of
various exceptions Ð the u here is audible.

A Beforea or o the u of qu is always audible:

quarto (room; fourth) qualidade (quality)
quota (quota; share) quantidade (quantity)
& The letter G ([e] & [g])
A Followed by e or i, g has the sound [e] of the English s in `pleasure':
gente (people) agente (agent)
giz (chalk) agilidade (agility)

A Followed by a, o, u or a consonant, g has the sound of the English g in

`go':

gato (cat) gapanto (agapanthus)

a
gota (drop) goõÂsta (selfish)
e
guloso (glutton) agulha (needle)
gloÂria (glory) grego (Greek)
A For it to have the sound [g] of the English g in `go' before e or i, the g
must be followed by an u: gue and gui. The u of gue and gui is usually
not pronounced:
 9 PTU1501/1

guerra (war) Portu gueÃs (Portuguese)

guitarra (guitar) al guidar (basin)

X gu A entar (to bear, to endure), linguõÂstica (linguist) and

lin guõÂstica (linguistics) are two of various exceptions Ð the u
is audible.

SUMMARY
Looking at it from a different angle, the spelling of the sounds [s], [k], [ e]
and [g] can be summarised as follows:

A Sound [s] as in `seven'

With s:

sa Ð sapato (shoe); persa (Persian)

se Ð sete (seven); sela (saddle); seis (six)
si Ð sõÂlaba (syllable); sileÃncio (silence); sim (yes); ensinar
(to teach)
so Ð sopa (soup)
su Ð sumo (juice)

X When s appears between two vowels it has the sound [z]: casa,
p isa, pesa, etc.

With ss:

-ssa Ð assar (to roast; to grill)

-sse Ð assento (seat)
-ssi Ð assinar (to sign; to subscribe)
-sso Ð osso (bone); assobio (whistle)
-ssu Ð assunto (subject; topic)

With c:

ce Ð cela (cell); cebola (onion); acento (accent)

With c,:

-cË a Ð cacËa (hunting); coracËaÄ o (heart)

-cË o Ð mocËo (boy); bracËo (arm)
-cË u Ð ac,uÂcar (sugar)
A Sound [k] as in `car'
With c:

ca Ð casa (house); carro (car); encapar (to wrap up)

 10

co Ð copo (glass); costas (back); decorar (to learn by heart;

decorate)
cu Ð cuco (cuco); decurso (duration)
With qu:

que quero (I want); queijo (cheese)

quilo (kilogram); quintal (backyard) } The u is silent
Ð
qui Ð
qua Ð quarto (room)
quo Ð quota (quota)
A Sound [e] as in `division' and `pleasure'
With g:

ge Ð gelo (ice); geÂmeo (twin); digerir (to digest)

gi Ð paÂgina (page); agitar (to agitate)

With j:

ja Ð janela (window); loja (shop)

je Ð jejum (fast)
ji Ð jiboÂia (Boa)
jo Ð jogo (game); joelho (knee); beijo (kiss)
ju Ð Julho (July); ajudar (to help)

A Sound [g] as in `give'

With g:

ga Ð gato (cat); galo (cock); agarrar (to catch)

go Ð golo (goal); gota (drop); argola (ring)
gu Ð guloso (glutton); agulha (needle)
With gu:

gue Ð guerra (war); PortugueÃs (Portuguese) The u in bold is silent

gui Ð guitarra (guitar); alguidar (basin) }
 11 PTU1501/1

UNIT 3
ACCENTS AND STRESS
OBJECTIVE
To distinguish between the concepts of stress and accents.

Students tend to feel confused about accents. The first step in overcoming
this problem is to distinguish between what is meant by `accents' and what
is meant by `stress'.

. ACCENTS or ACCENT MARKS are orthographic signs used on vowels: the

acute (') (acento agudo), the grave ( Á ) (acento grave), the circumflex (^)
(acento circunflexo) and the tilde (~) (til). Note that not every word has an
accent.

. STRESS refers to the emphasis given to a certain syllable in a word. A

Portuguese word is automatically stressed on the last but one syllable (no
accent mark is required), unless the word has an accent mark elsewhere
or it ends in (l), (r) or (z). For example, if you look at the picture above,
the stressed syllable in the name Alberto is -ber-.
& Stress
A In Portuguese, the natural tendency of the language is for words that end
in a(s), e(s), o(s) and em(/ens) to have the stress on the penultimate
syllable (i.e. the second last syllable):

casa (house) = ca ± sa mesa (house) = me ± sa

2 1 2 1

carpete (carpet) = car ± pe ± te piano (piano) = pi ± a ± no

2 1 2 1

caneta (pen) = ca ± ne ± ta homem (man) = ho ± mem

2 1 2 1
 12

sapato (shoe) = sa ± pa ± to portuguesa = por ± tu ± gue ± sa

2 1 2 1

In all these words, the penultimate or second last syllable is the stressed
syllable. Because this is according to the natural tendency of the language,
no accent is necessary. Consider now the following words:

sera (will be) = se ± ra cafe (coffee) = ca ± feÂ

1 1

portugueÃs = por ± tu ± gueÃs caÃmara (camera;

1 Town council) = caà ± ma ± ra
3 2 1

avoà (grandfather) = a ± voà tambeÂm (also) = tam ± beÂm

1 1

aÂrvore (tree) = aÂr ± vo ± re peÃssego (peach) = peà ± sse ± go

3 2 1 3 2 1

None of them has the stress on the penultimate or second last syllable.
Therefore, the stress has to be indicated with an accent mark.

X A word ending in a, o or em which has the stress on the

penultimate syllable will need an accent mark if the stressed
vowel does not form a diphtong with an adjacent vowel:

baõÂa (bay) = ba ± õÂ ± a saõÂda (exit) = sa ± õÂ ± da

2 1 2 1

faõÂsca (ray of lightning) = fa ± õÂs ± ca

3 2 1

A Another natural tendency of the Portuguese language is for words that

end in r, l, n, x, z, aÄo (oÄes, aÄes, aÄ), i(s), u(s), im(/ins), om(/ons), um(/
uns) to have the stress on the last syllable:
amar (to love) = a - mar
cantar (to sing) = can - tar
comer (to eat) = co - mer
papel (paper) = pa - pel
animal = a -ni - mal
iden = i - den
rapaz (boy) = ra - paz
corac Ë aÄo (heart) = co -ra - c Ë aÄo
estac Ë oÄes (stations; seasons) =es - ta - c Ë oÄes
irmaÄ (sister) = ir - maÄ
aqui (here) = a - qui
partis (you leave / break) = par - tis
caju (cashew nut) = ca - ju
jardim (garden) = jar - dim
jardins (gardens) = jar - dins
 13 PTU1501/1

bombom (chocolate sweet) = bom - bom

bombons (chocolate sweets) = bom - bons
comum (common) = co - mum
comuns (common Ð plural) = co - muns
In all the words given above, the stress falls on the last syllable, as is
expected from their endings. Therefore, no accent mark is necessary.
Consider now the following words:

amaÂvel (kind) = a ± ma ± vel coÃnsul = coÃn ± sul

2 1 2 1

aÂmen = a ± men oÂrfaÄo (orphan Ð masc.) = oÂr ± faÄo

2 1 2 1
oÂrfaÄ (orphan ± fem.) = oÂr ± faÄ revoÂlver (revolver) = re ± voÂl ± ver
2 1 2 1
feÂmur = fe ± mur caÂlix = ca ± lix
2 1 2 1

All these words end in one of the letters that should make them stressed on
the last syllable. None of them, however, has the stress on the last syllable
and, therefore, the unexpected stress needs to be indicated with an accent
mark.

SUMMARY
A If a word ends in a(s), e(s), o(s) and em(/ens) and has no accent, it is
stressed on the penultimate syllable.

A r, s, n, x, aÄo (oÄes, aÄes, aÄ), i(s), u(s), im(/ins), om(/ons),

If a word ends in
um(/uns) and has no other accent, it is stressed on the last syllable.
A Words with an accent agudo (') or an accent circumflexo (^) are stressed
on the syllable with the accent.

& Value of Accents

Let us now consider the value of accents in more detail. Accents or accent
marks are part of the word and an accent left out or wrongly placed is
equivalent to a spelling mistake. In Portuguese, accents occur only in
vowels.

. The acento agudo (') indicates an open sound and stress on that
respective syllable:

a gua (water) pe (foot)

cafe (coffee) moÂvel (piece of furniture)
. The acento circunflexo (^) indicates a closed sound and stress on that
respective syllable:

caà mara (camera; room) portu gueÃs (Portuguese)

IngleÃs (English) a voà (grandfather)
. The acento grave ( Á ) does NOT indicate stress and is only used to indicate
 14

that a contraction between two words has occurred. The most common is
between the preposition a and the article a/as, or the demonstrative
aquele/aquela/aqueles/aquelas:
aÁ = contraction of the preposition a and the definite article a
. aÁquele = contraction of the preposition a and the demonstrative
pronoun/adjective aquele. The vowel a is open, but the stress falls on
syllable -que-.
. The til (~) is used to indicate a nasal vowel or nasal diphtong. It indicates
stress, unless there is another accent in the word:

ir maÄ (sister) cancËaÄo (song)

coracË aÄo (heart) oÂrfaÄ (orphan Ð fem.)
. Whereas the til (~) is essentially a sign of nasalization and the acento
2

grave ( Á ) only indicates that a contraction involving the preposition has a

occured, the other two accents Ð i.e., the acento agudo (`) and the
acento circunflexo (^) Ð indicate stress on the syllable to which that
specific vowel belongs.
. In certain cases the written accent not only tells how to pronounce the
word (phonetic information) but also indicates the grammatical category
to which the word belongs (for example, noun, adjective, verb, etc). It is,
therefore, essential to the meaning. An example of this is the word
re voÂlver meaning `revolver' (= noun) and revol ver (= verb) meaning
``to turn over''.

Some more common examples are:

. e = 3 person singular of the present tense of the verb ser

rd

e = conjunction meaning `and'

. da = 3 person singular of the present tense of the verb dar
rd

da = contraction of the preposition de and the article a

. esta = 3 person singular of the present tense of the verb estar
rd

esta = demonstrative pronoun meaning `this' (feminine)

Compare the following examples:

(i) Maria e a professora do meu filho. (e = [ ])e 3

Maria is my son's teacher.

and

Maria e a professora do meu filho saÄo amigas. (e = [i])

Maria and my son's teacher are friends.

(ii) O jardim da Universidade e bonito. (da = [d/])

The garden of the University is pretty.

and

ÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐ
2 Nasalization is a sound produced by letting the air from the lungs escape through the nose and mouth. Nasalization may be
indicated by a tilde (~) placed over a vowel, or by an -m or -n following a vowel.
Ë aÄo (heart), laÄ (wool), antes (before), campo (field, countryside), falam (they speak, you speak)
corac
The word muito has a nasal sound [i], although this is not indicated by the spelling.
3 See phonetic symbols in the Appendix. The phonetic transcription indicates the pronunciation of the words in bold.
 15 PTU1501/1

Maria da um livro ao JoaÄo.(da = [<l])

Maria gives John a book.

(iii) O livro esta sobre a mesa. (esta = [ieta])

The book is on (top of ) the table.

and

Esta pasta e minha.(esta = [aet/a])

This briefcase is mine.

Other examples of words where the accent is necessary to differentiate

between grammatical categories:

saia = noun (skirt) Ð the ai forms a dipthong.

saõÂa = verb sair, (to go out) Ð PreteÂrito Imperfeito do Indicativo Ð
the a and the õÂ do not form a diphtong and are pronounced
separately.

X In Portugal (not in Brazil) the 1

st
person plural of the tense
PreteÂrito Perfeito of the verbs of the first conjugation (i.e. those
that end in -ar in the infinitive) is differentiated from the same
person of the Presente do Indicativo by a written acento agudo
('):

a
cant mos = Presente do Indicativo (we sing) [closed a]
canta mos = PreteÂrito Perfeito (we sang) [open a]

dancË amos = Presente do Indicativo (we dance) [closed a]

dancË a mos = PreteÂrito Perfeito (we danced) [open a]
 16

UNIT 4

GENERAL OBJECTIVE
To provide additional guidance for some of the more problematic

grammatical areas of the course.

THE DEFINITE & INDEFINITE ARTICLES

OBJECTIVE
To contrast the use of articles between Portuguese and English.

DEFINITE ARTICLE INDEFINITE ARTICLE

(The) (A /An Ð Some)

o a um uma
os as uns umas
As you may already have seen, there are cases where the definite or

indefinite articles are used in Portuguese but omitted in English, and vice-

versa.

4.1 CASES WHERE THE DEFINITE ARTICLE IS REQUIRED IN

PORTUGUESE BUT IS NOT USED IN ENGLISH
A With nouns used in a generic sense, i.e. when all and not some is
implied:
As criancËas saÄo muito meigas.
Children (in general) are very affectionate.

Os ovos fazem mal aÁ sauÂde.

Eggs (in general) are bad for one's health.

O vinho naÄo e caro em Portugal.

Wine (in general) is not expensive in Portugal.

A With names of languages

O FranceÃs e o IngleÃs saÄo as lõÂnguas faladas no CanadaÂ.
French and English are the languages spoken in Canada.
 17 PTU1501/1

& But NOT:

. afterde or em:
Falou comigo em Espanhol.
He/She spoke to me in Spanish.

O curso de PortugueÃs e faÂcil.

The Portuguese course is easy.

. immediately after the verbs indicated in bold:

Ð Aprender (to learn)

NoÂs aprendemos franceÃs na Universidade.
We are learning French at University.

Ð Ensinar (to teach)

Estou a ensinar alemaÄo.
I am teaching German.

Ð Entender (to understand)

Entendes bem Zulu?
Do you understand Zulu well?

Ð Estudar (to study)

Estou a estudar italiano este ano.
I am studying Italian this year.

Ð Falar (to speak)

As minha primas falam espanhol fluentemente.
My cousins speak Spanish fluently.

Ð Saber (to know [have knowledge/be able to speak])

Sabes holandeÃs?
Can you speak Dutch?

Ð Traduzir para (to translate into)

Temos que traduzir o texto para portugueÃs
We have to translate the text into Portuguese.

A With the names of continents, provinces and countries

a Europa / o Brasil / o JapaÄo / etc.
Europe / Brazil / Japan

Adorava visitar a ItaÂlia!.

I would love to visit Italy!

A AÂfrica do Sul e o maior produtor mundial de ouro.

South Africa is the world's largest gold producer.

& But NOT with

. Portugal / Cuba / Marrocos / SaÄo Salvador / AragaÄo / Castela / Navarra/
TraÂs-os-Montes / Angola / MocËambique / Timor / Macau / Hong Kong
 18

Portugal e membro da UE.

Portugal is a member of the EU.

Macau foi um enclave portugueÃs na costa chinesa durante vaÂrios

seÂculos.
Macau was a Portuguese enclave on the Chinese coast for many
centuries.

. After de and em, it may or may not be omitted before AÂfrica, Espanha,
FrancËa and Inglaterra.

Em AÂfrica existem ainda muitos elefantes. OR Na AÂfrica ...

In Africa there are still many elephants.

De Espanha, nem bom vento nem bom casamento. (Proverb)

From Spain come neither good winds nor good marriages.

OR

O JoaÄo chegou hoje da Espanha.

John arrived today from Spain.

A With place names which can be common nouns (that is, they have a
physical meaning):
o Rio de Janeiro / o Porto / a Figueira da Foz
(Literally: January River, Port, The Fig Tree of the River Mouth)

O Rio de Janeiro e a capital do Carnaval!

Rio de Janeiro is the capital of Carnival!

. Also used with:

o Cairo / a CovilhaÄ / o Estoril / a Haia / a Havana / o Havre / o Cabo
(a Cidade do Cabo)

Nasci no Cairo. I was born in Cairo.

& But NOT:

. With other place names not mentioned above the article is omitted:

Lisboa e em Portugal. Lisbon is in Portugal.

Nasci em Durban. I was born in Durban.
Paris e a capital da FrancËa. Paris is the capital of France.
Visitei Londres ha dois meses. I visited London two months ago.

A Before a proper noun qualified by a descriptive adjective, adjectival

clause or adjectival phrase
. Compare the following examples:

Eu amo Portugal. O Portugal que tanto amo.

I love Portugal. The Portugal I so much love.
 19 PTU1501/1

Lisboa e uma cidade bonita. A Lisboa de Bocage e antiga.

Lisbon is a beautiful city. Bocage's Lisbon is old.

O VeraÄo em Atenas e muito quente. A Atenas de SoÂcrates ...

Summer in Athens is very hot. Socrates' Athens ...

. Similarly before languages:

Compare:

Ele fala PortugueÃs mas naÄo fala o PortugueÃs de Portugal.

He speaks Portuguese but not European Portuguese.

A Before titles:
o Bispo, the Bishop
a rainha Isabel, queen Elizabeth
o general Eisenhower, General Eisenhower
o Senhor Martins e a Senhora Rocha, Mr Martins & Mrs Rocha
o doutor Fonseca, doctor Fonseca
o Padre Augusto, Father Augusto
o Senhor Martins vive em PretoÂria ha vinte aros, Mr Martins has lived in
Pretoria for twenty years.

& But NOT:

. in direct address:

Bom dia, senhor Martins.

Good morning, Mr. Martins.

. when the title is in apposition:

O secretaÂrio, Padre Augusto, demitiu-se.

The Secretary, Father Augusto, resigned.

. when the title is a foreign word:

Herr MuÈller esta a viver em Portugal.

Herr MuÈller lives in Portugal.

Lord Mountbatten foi morto num ataque terrorista.

Lord Mountbatten was killed in a terrorrist attack.

& nor with:

Dom, Dona, Santo, Santa, Frei, Sor, SoÂror

Vi ontem Dom Miguel, o Bispo de Lisboa, no concerto.

I saw Dom Miguel, the Bishop of Lisbon, at the concert yesterday.

A With parts of the body and with clothing, the Portuguese definite article
usually translates the English possessive adjective:
e.g.:
Levantaram a cabecËa.
They raised their heads.
 20

Onde deixaste o chapeÂu?

Where did you leave your hat?
Encontraste as chaves?
Did you find your keys?

X The possessive is retained only where confusion might arise and

there is a need to be specific:

Os seus olhos brilhavam.

His eyes shone.
Onde deixaste o meu chapeÂu?
Where did you leave my hat?

A To indicate rate where the Portuguese definite article translates the

English indefinite article:
Vendem-no a treÃs escudos o quilo.
They sell it at three escudos a kilogram.

Comprei-os a doze escudos a duÂzia.

I bought them at twelve escudos a dozen

& but:
with time rate, the article is ommitted and the preposition por is used
instead:

Ganha quinhentos escudos por dia.

He earns 500 escudos a day.
... seis vezes por semana ...
... six times a week ...
Vou ao cabeleireiro duas vezes por meÃs.
I go to the hairdresser twice a month.
O meu marido vai aÁ Europa uma vez por ano.
My husband goes to Europe once a year.
A The definite article may be used before first names and surnames, to
indicate familiarity
O JoaÄo casou a semana passada.
John got married last week.

& However, the article is omitted in Portuguese before the name of

famous or important people:
Vasco da Gama descobriu o caminho marõÂtimo para a IÂndia.
Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India.
 21 PTU1501/1

Gosto imenso da obra de Fernando Namora.

I love Fernando Namora's works.

A The definite article is also used in o pequeno-almocËo

Portuguese with meals, certain
public institutions, the seasons (breakfast)
o almocËo (lunch)
of the year and festivals: o lanche/a merenda
O almocË o e ao meio-dia. (mid-morning / afternoon tea)

Lunch is at midday. o jantar (dinner)

a ceia (supper)
Meninos, o jantar esta pronto!
Children, dinner is ready!

AÁs oito saõÂ para a escola. a escola (school)

At eight, I left for school. o liceu (high school)
o liceu. o ColeÂgio (private school)
Passei a manhaÄ n
I spent the morning at high school.
a universidade (University)
Gosto imenso d o VeraÄo. a Primavera (Spring)
I love Summer. o VeraÄo (Summer)
o o Outono (Autumn, Fall)
Parece que
acaba.
Inverno nunca mais
o Inverno (Winter)
It feels as if winter will never end.

Durante a PaÂscoa, ha sempre, o Natal (Christmas)

muitos acidentes rodoviaÂrios. a PaÂscoa (Easter)
During Easter, there are always many X N.B.:
road accidents. Feliz Natal (Merry Christmas)
PaÂscoa Feliz (Happy Easter)
Dia de Natal (Christmas Day)

A The possessive adjective (used before a noun) must be preceded by the

definite article
o meu livro my book
a nossa casa our house
as suas irmaÄs his/her/their sisters

4.2 CASES WHERE THE DEFINITE ARTICLE IS USED IN ENGLISH BUT

OMITTED IN PORTUGUESE
A Before a number used in a title:
JoaÄo V (JoaÄo quinto). John V (John the fifth).
Elizabete I (Elizabete primeira) Elizabeth I (Elizabeth the first)
 22

A Usually before a noun in apposition, unless that noun is individua-

lized
Depois fui ao Porto, capital da provõÂncia.
Then I went to Porto, the capital of the province.

& BUT:
TambeÂm estava la o seu pai, o professor de muÂsica.
His father, the music teacher, was also there.
A With the verb TOCAR (to play an instrument) followed by the name of
the instrument
O Alberto toca piano e flauta.
Alberto plays the piano and the flute.
O Pedro toca viola muito bem.
Pedro plays the guitar very well.
A In the following expressions:
Quanto mais cedo, melhor.
The sooner the better.
Quanto mais tem, mais quer.
The more he has, the more he wants.
As coisas mudaram para pior.
Things changed for the worse.

4.3 CASES WHERE THE INDEFINITE ARTICLE IS USED IN ENGLISH BUT

OMITTED IN PORTUGUESE
A Before an unqualified noun dependent on a negative
NaÄo tenho laÂpis nem papel.
I don't have a pencil or paper.
Quando saõÂ de casa, ainda naÄo tinha recebido a resposta.
When I left home, I still had not received a reply.
Vieram sem convite.
They came uninvited.

& Except where there is an emphasis on the oneness of that noun

NaÄo vimos nem um uÂnico monumento.
We did not see a single monument.

A Before an unqualified noun indicating nationality (or regional

origin), rank or occupation, used after SER (to be) or PARECER (to
seem, appear)
EÂ austrõÂaco. He is an Austrian.
O meu tio era professor. My uncle was a teacher.
 23 PTU1501/1

& But is normally also used in Portuguese when the noun is qualified
EÂ um austrõÂaco tõÂpico.

He is a typical Austrian.

um professor muito competente.

EÂ

He is a very competent teacher.

However:
Ele era professor de liceu.

He was a high school teacher.

This means that the article is omitted in Portuguese, when the person

referred to is included within a specific class but is used when that person

is picked out of that class as an individual.

A With the following expressions denoting quantity

. cem = a hundred

. mil = a thousand

. meio / meia ... = half a ...

... cem navios, mil avioÄes e meio milhaÄo de soldados ...

... a hundred ships, a thousand planes and half a million soldiers ...

& Note, however:

a bottle
meia garrafa = half

uma meia garrafa = a half-bottle

A With the following expressions
. semelhante = such a

. que ... ! = what a ...!

. como = as a

. certo/certa = a certain

. tal = such a

Que bela surpresa receber semelhante presente!

What a lovely surprise to receive such a gift!

Que lindo jardim!

What a beautiful garden!

Como emigrante, naÄo tenho direito a votar.

As an emigrant, I don't have the right to vote.

Certo dia, ela simplesmente desapareceu.

A certain day, she simply disappeared.

Surpreende-me tal sugestaÄo.

I am surprised at such a suggestion.

 24

X Note, however:
um tal = a certain

... um tal Sr. Lopes

... a certain Mr. Lopes

o tal = the aforementioned

... a tal Sra. Costa ...

... the aforementioned Mrs. Costa ...
(The above explanation and some of the examples have been
taken or adapted from Willis, 1965: }} 105, 106 and 115)
 25 PTU1501/1

UNIT 5
SPECIAL VERBS

OBJECTIVE
To draw attention to special uses of various Portuguese verbs.

5.1 TO BE Ð SER, ESTAR & FICAR

To be can be expressed in Portuguese by ser, estar or ficar. Each one of
these verbs, however, has a different aspect.

SER ESTAR
(To be) (To be)
Expresses an inherent or Expresses a temporary,
permanent quality incidental state or
of `being' position

Ficar is also used to express permanent locations and can also mean ``to
stay''. It is not necessarily interchangeable with ser.

Example:
MocË ambique fica na AÂfrica. Mozambique is in Africa.

but
Eu fiquei em casa e os meus filhos foram ao cinema. I stayed at home
while my children went to the movies.

& Uses of SER

SER tells who or what the subject is, what it is like in essence. It is used
A To classify, identify a subject:
Ela e professora. She is a teacher.
Que e isto? E um laÂpis. What is this? It is a pencil.

A In expressions of possession, origin and time:

O livro e meu. The book is mine.
Ela e da AÂfrica do Sul. She is from South Africa.
SaÄo dez horas. It is ten o'clock.

A In impersonal expressions:
EÂ impossõÂvel. It is impossible.
EÂ verdade. It is true.

A To characterize a subject citing inherent qualities or attributes:

O gelo e frio. The ice is cold.
A sala e grande. The room is big.
 26

A mesa e de madeira. The table is made of wood.

A SõÂlvia e bonita. SõÂlvia is a pretty girl.

A To denote geographical location:

Lisboa e em Portugal. Lisbon is in Portugal.

A As an auxiliary verb in the passive voice:

A carta foi escrita por mim. The letter was written by me.

& Uses of ESTAR

ESTAR tells where or in what position or condition the subject is. It is
used:
A To express temporary posture, position, location:
Ela esta deitada. She is lying down.
O livro esta na mesa. The book is on the table.

A To denote state of body and mind at a particular moment in time:

Maria esta cansada. Maria is tired.
Estou nervosa. I am (feeling) nervous.
A Isabel hoje esta bonita. Isabel is looking pretty today.

A To denote a state resulting from change:

O cafe esta frio. The coffee is cold.

A Special use of ESTAR:

Estar is used with the preposition `a' plus the infinitive or with the
gerund (-ando, -endo, -indo) to express an action in progress:

Ela esta a escrever uma carta.

She is writing a letter.

Ela esta a beber cafeÂ.

She is drinking coffee.

Ela esta a ouvir muÂsica.

She is listening to music.

X This construction (estar a + infinitive) is preferred in

Portugal.

OR:
Ela esta escrevendo uma carta.
She is writing a letter.

Ela esta bebendo cafeÂ.

She is drinking coffee.

Ela esta ouvindo muÂsica.

She is listening to the music.
 27 PTU1501/1

X This last construction with estar + gerund is preferred in

Brazil.

. With certain adjectives either ser or estar can be used.

If ser is used, the adjective expresses a characteristic quality. If estar is
used the quality expressed by the adjective is incidental and temporary.
Often this is indicated clearly in the text or is given by the content.

A Margarida e bonita.
Margarida is pretty Ð characteristic defining quality

A Margarida esta bonita.

Margarida looks pretty today Ð incidental quality indicated by estar.

O Joa
~o e gordo.
John is fat Ð he has been fat for a long time.

O Joa
~o esta gordo.
John has recently become fat.

Ð Tens visto o Joa

~o? Esta ta~o gordo!
Ð Have you seen John lately? He is so fat!

O homem e rico.
The man is rich.

O homem esta rico.

The man is rich Ð he has (recently) become rich.

A roupa da Cristina e bem feita.

Cristina's clothes are well tailored Ð in general.

A roupa da Cristina esta bem feita.

Cristina's clothes look well tailored Ð the clothes she's wearing now.

& SER or ESTAR

There are two ways of indicating the day of the month in Portuguese

By using SER and the appropriate cardinal number.

By using ESTAR (usually in the 1st person plural) followed by the
appropriate cardinal number.
Que dia e hoje?

Quantos saÄo hoje?

Que data e hoje? What day is it today?

A quantos estamos?

Hoje e o dia quinze

Hoje saÄo quinze.
Today is the fifteenth.
 28

EÂ (o dia *) um de Junho. (* optional with the first day of the month).

It is the first of June.

5.2 TO ASK Ð PEDIR & PERGUNTAR

Both verbs can be translated in English as `To ask'. However, they have
distinct meanings in Portuguese and are therefore not interchangeable.

A PEDIR means `to ask' in the sense of `to request':

O Alberto pediu-me um favor.
Alberto asked me a favour. (= requested a favour)

O rapaz levantou-se e pediu licencËa para sair da aula.

The young man got up and asked permission to leave the classroom.

Escrevi uma carta ao meu pai a pedir-lhe dinheiro.

I wrote my dad a letter asking him for some money.

A Helena pede que vaÂs ao cinema com ela.

Helen asks that you go with her to the movies.

A PERGUNTAR means `to ask' in the sense of `to enquire' or `to ask a
question':
O turista perguntou-me onde era o hotel.
The tourist asked (enquired) where the hotel was.

Ele perguntou as horas.

He asked what the time was.

A Helena pergunta se vais ao cinema com ela.

Helen asks whether you will go to the movies with her.

X Note, however:
Ë oÄes = to enquire
pedir informac

X Compare the last example in each of the sections above:

A A Helena pede que vaÂs ao cinema com ela.

Helen asks that you go with her to the movies.

A A Helena pergunta se vais ao cinema com ela.

Helen asks whether you will go to the movies with her.

In the first example (pedir), Helen is keen to have someone go

with her. She is not interested in knowing whether or not the
other person would like to go with her.

In the second example (perguntar), Helen is simply interested in

knowing whether or not the other person will go to the movies
with her.
 29 PTU1501/1

5.3 THE USES OF THE VERB HAVER

& HAVER = there is / there are:

A The verb haver may be used in literary Portuguese as the auxiliary for
the formation of the compound tenses. From the students' point of view,
this is its least important function.

A The important forms to learn are:

. ha (there is; there are)

. havia (there was; there were)
. houve (there was/had been; there were/have been)
. tinha havido (there had been)
. houvera (there had been)
All these forms correspond to the third person singular or the verb.

Ha muitas pessoas no salaÄo.

There are many people in the hall.

Ha muito tempo que naÄo vou ao cinema.

I haven't been to the movies for a long time.
[Literally: there is a long time that I don't go to the movies]

Havia duas coisas de que naÄo gostaÂvamos.

There were two things we did not like.

Houve muita confusaÄo naquele dia.

There was a lot of confusion that day.

Nunca tinha havido tanta assisteÃncia a um espectaÂculo.

There had never been so many people at a show.

Deve haver (= infinitive) seis fregueses nesta loja.

There must be six customers in this shop.

A To indicate more visible states of the weather than those expressed by

means of fazer or estar. The same third person singular forms are used
as above.

Ha sol.
[Faz sol.] It is sunny.

[Esta sol.]

A Ha (ago, for) and havia (before, ago, earlier), followed by an expression
of time.

Foi para o Porto ha treÃs dias.

He/She went to Oporto three days ago.

Vivo aqui ha dez anos.

I have lived here for ten years.

Contou-nos que fora para o Porto havia treÃs dias.

He told us he had gone to Oporto three days before.
 30

X A There is often a tendency to use ha where havia would be

more correct. Take note that this should be avoided.

A Less commonly used, faz and fazia may fulfil the functions
of ha and havia.

A In the expression ha / havia que + infinitive (one must)

Ha que fazer mais.
One (you, he, we, etc) must do more.

A In haver de + infinitive (to be destined, obliged to).

O que havõÂamos de fazer?
What were we to do?

A Ha ... para + infinitive means `(something) to do or to be done'.

& HAVER DE = shall / should / would

The English `shall', `should' and `would', emphasizing action as
intended or destined to take place is usually translated by the present
or imperfecthaver de. The monosyllabic parts of haver are
inseparable from de and are linked to it by a hyphen.

Prometo-lhe que hei-de recusaÂ-lo.

I promise you I shall refuse him/it.

O que hei-de (eu) fazer?

What am I supposed to do?

Eu estava certo (de) que ele havia de voltar.

I was sure he would return.

X The English emphatic forms indicating obligation or determina-

tion (strictly `I will', `you shall', etc) are also rendered by haver
de.

5.4 TO PLAY Ð TOCAR, JOGAR & BRINCAR

Another verb to which we need to draw your attention is the verb `to play'.
Although we will not cover all its meanings here, the following common
usages are important to note and memorize:

A TOCAR means to play a musical instrument:

A Cristina toca harpa.
Cristina plays the harpsichord.
 31 PTU1501/1

A JOGAR means to play games:

Jogo teÂnis uma vez por semana.
I play tennis once a week.

Apetece-te jogar aÁs cartas?

Do you feel like playing cards?

Hoje vou jogar xadrez com um amigo.

Today I am going to play chess with a friend.

O Paulo joga futebol treÃs vezes por semana.

Paul plays soccer three times a week.

A BRINCAR means to play children's games:

Vamos brincar aÁs bonecas?
Shall we play house?

Vou brincar no jardim.

I am going to play in the garden.

5.5 THE VERBS TER, ESTAR COM & ESTAR CHEIO DE

The verb ter may be used either on its own, in which case it has a specific
meaning, or as an auxiliary verb in compound tenses.

A TER as an auxiliary verb:

In Portuguese, as in English, the compound perfect tenses are formed by
a form of the verb `to have' together with the appropriate verb. The
Portuguese auxiliary usually employed is ter, although in highly literary
style this may occasionally be replaced by the verb haver.

Tenho falado com ele todos os dias.

I have spoken to him everyday.

Joana tinha comprado um carro novo.

Joana had bought a new car.

A TER as a meaning verb:

A The verb ter usually translates `to have (got)':

Eu tenho um carro. I have a car.

Ele tem dois irmaos.
Ä He has two brothers.

A There are also some useful idiomatic expressions with ter:

. Ter a ver com / Ter que ver com Ð To have to do with

Eu naÄo tenho nada a ver com esse assunto
I have nothing to do with that matter.

Isto naÄo tem nada a ver com ele.

This has nothing to do with him.
 32

. Ter que fazer Ð To have work to do

Tenho imenso que fazer.
I have a lot of work to do.

Tinha que fazer em casa.

I had things to do at home.

X Note the difference:

& Ter problemas & Estar com problemas
To have problems To have problems
(in general) (at that moment)

O Pedro tem muitos Pedro esta com muitos

problemas familiares. problemas familiares.
Pedro has (on the whole) Pedro has been having
many family problems. many family problems of late.

A There are many cases where the verb ter translates the verb `to be':
. Ter ... anos Ð To be ... years old
Quantos anos tens? How old are you?
Tenho vinte anos. I am twenty years old.
Que idade tens? How old are you?
Tenho trinta e cinco anos. I am 35 years old.
Quantos anos tem a tua irm Ä a? How old is your sister?
A minha irmaÄ tem treze anos. My sister is thirteen years old.

. Ter ... razaÄo Ð To be right

Tens razaÄo, eu naÄo devia ter feito isso.
You are right, I should not have done that.

. NaÄo ter ... razaÄo Ð To be wrong

Eu acho que ele naÄo tem razaÄo.
I think he is wrong.

. Ter / tomar cuidado

Ter / tomar cautela } To be careful

Tem cuidado, naÄo vaÂs cair.

Be careful, you might fall.

Ele naÄo teve cautela e cortou-se.

He was not careful and so he cut himself.

A In many cases, both the verb ter as well as the verbal expression estar
com translate the English `to be':
. Ter frio / Estar com frio To be cold
} (of living beings)
 33 PTU1501/1

. Ter calor / Estar com calor To be hot

} (of living beings)
. Ter sono / Estar com sono To be sleepy
. Ter pressa / Estar com pressa To be in a hurry
. Ter sede / Estar com sede To be thirsty
. Ter fome / Estar com fome To be hungry
. Ter vontade de / Estar com vontade de To be keen, feel like
. Ter saudades de / Estar com saudades de To miss, long for
. Ter trabalho / Estar com trabalho To be busy

X In the following idiomatic expressions there might be a variation

in meaning according to whether ter or estar com are used,
especially with the present tense:

& Ter medo & Estar com medo

To be afraid To be afraid
(in general) (at that moment)

Tenho medo de caÄes. Estou com medo do caÄo.

I am (generally) afraid of dogs. I am afraid of the dog (right
now).

In the following expressions there might also be slight variations depending

on context and tense of the verb:

ter sorte (f.) to be lucky

estar com sorte (f.) }
Present tense:
Ele tem muita sorte.
He is a very lucky fellow.

Ele esta com sorte.

He is lucky today.

Tens sorte! / EstaÂs com sorte!

You're being lucky/You're in luck.

Past tense:
Ontem tive sorte, hoje na~o tenho nenhuma.
(Preterite) (Present)
Yesterday I was lucky, today not at all.

O JoaÄo tinha sempre sorte no jogo.

John was always lucky at games.

O JoaÄo estava com sorte.

John was being lucky.
 34

X The (f.) and (m.) given above stand for feminine and masculine.
Depending on whether the nouns frio, calor, sede, fome, etc. are
masculine or feminine. In the sentences you construct, the
adjective must agree with them.

Tivemos muito frio e muita fome.

adj(m.) noun(m.) adj(f.) noun(f.)

In these cases where the Portuguese ter + noun or estar

com + noun correspond to the English `to be' + adjective,
an English modifying adverb must be translated by the
corresponding Portuguese adjective (e.g., `I am very thirsty'
becomes Tenho muita sede, lit., `I have much thirst' or Estou
com muita sede.

& ESTAR CHEIO DE

In all the expressions above that take estar com the verbal phrase estar
cheio(a) de is used to translate `to be very, very ...'.
Note that in this phrase the adjective cheio has to agree with the gender of
the subject:

O homem esta cheio de trabalho. (Masculine)

The man is full of work.

A mulher esta cheia de trabalho. (Feminine)

The woman is full of work

a Estar cheio(a) de trabalho / de medo / de sorte / de fome /

de frio / de sono / de pressa / de sede / de vontade / de saudades
 35 PTU1501/1

UNIT 6
PREPOSITIONS

OBJECTIVE
To contrast some of the most common usages of prepositions in English
and Portuguese

Prepositions are one of the most difficult aspects to learn in a foreign

language and Portuguese is no exception. This is because there is no one to
one correlation between prepositions in the different languages.

For example, the preposition `at' in English can be expressed in Portuguese

by a, em, por etc. as the case may be.

We arrived at the same time.

ChegaÂmos ao (a + o) mesmo tempo.

John stayed at home.

O JoaÄo ficou em casa.
At least you knew where he was.
Pelo (por + o) menos sabias onde ele estava.

Below, we give you a list of the most useful single and compound
prepositions. In addition we explain the usage of some prepositions that
may cause confusion.

& Simple prepositions

Portuguese Most common translations in English

a to; at (of time)

ante before
apoÂs after
ate until, as far as, (up) to
com with
contra against
de of, from, about
desde since, from
durante during
em in, on, at
entre between, among(st)
para for, by (of time) in order to, towards
por by, through
segundo according to
sem without
sob below, under, beneath
sobre on, upon, about
traÂs behind, after
 36

& Some compound prepositions

Portuguese Most common translations in English

aÁ frente de at the front of, in front of

aleÂm de besides; beyond
antes de before
ao redor de around, about
atraÂs de behind
atraveÂs de through, across
em volta de around, about
debaixo de under, beneath
defronte de inside, within
depois de after
detraÂs de behind
diante de in front of, before
em cima de on top of
em frente de facing, opposite, in front of
fora de outside, out of
longe de far from
perto de near, close to
por cima de over, above

& Problematic prepositions

. BEFORE

if meaning time (antes de); if meaning place (diante de, ante)

Diante de indicates a more physical position than ante which

introduces an element of the English `in the presence of' / `when
confronted by'.

Perante is a very common alternative to the latter.

Terminou-o antes de chegar (= time)

He finished it before getting there.

Um pajem ia diante do rei. (= place)

A page boy walked before the king.

Compareceu ante (/perante) o juiz. (= place)

He appeared before the judge.

. AT

if meaning time (a), if place (a for movement, em for position)

Chegaram todos ao mesmo tempo.

They all arrived at the same time.

A que horas chegaste aÁ (a + a) reuniaÄo?

At what time did you arrive at the meeting?
 37 PTU1501/1

Vamos comer ao (a + o) novo restaurante grego.

Let's go and eat at the new Greek restaurant.

Estive na (em Ë aÄo.

+ a) exposic
I was at the exhibition.

. ABOUT

if meaning time (por, aÁ volta de, por volta de), if place (ao redor de,
em redor de, aÁ roda de), concerning (de, sobre, acerca de)

Chegou pelas (/ aÁ volta das) duas horas.

He/she arrived at about two o'clock.

Falou da (/ na) sua viagem.

He/she talked about his/her trip.

O que disse da sua irmaÄ?

What did he say about his/your sister?

Li um livro sobre a Alemanha.

I read a book about Germany.

X `About' (and `around') meaning `approximately' is usually

translated by the plural indefinite article:

Umas cem libras About one hundred pounds.

. AFTER

if meaning time (depois de, apoÂs), succession (apoÂs)

Depois de o visitar, fui para casa.

After visiting him, I went home.

ApoÂs a guerra, elegeram outro governo.

After the war, they elected another government.

um apoÂs outro one after another

dia apoÂs dia day after day

. FROM

desde is rather more emphatic than de; it is usually balanced by ateÂ

(to). Ate is sometimes followed by the preposition a, particularly
before the feminine definite article.

das cinco aÁs oito horas

from five to eight o'clock

desde as cinco ate aÁs (a + a) oito horas

from five until eight o'clock

Tinha trabalhado desde a uma.

He had worked from one o'clock.
 38

De Sintra a Lisboa fui de comboio.

From Sintra to Lisbon I went by train.

X To tell one from the other

Distinguir um do outro

. ON

physical position(em, sobre), figurative sense (sobre). Sobre and em

cima de often serve to avoid the ambiguity that may occur with em
(meaning in as well as on).

Os pratos estaÄo na (sobre a / em cima da) mesa.

The plates are on the table.

Esta sobre o (em cima do) armaÂrio.

It is on (on top of) the cupboard.

Ele escreveu alguma coisa sobre a RevolucËaÄo.

He wrote something about the Revolution.

. ON

to indicate date ( a or no dia); to indicate day of the week or month

( em).
Cheguei a Lisboa a (/ no dia) 21.
I arrived in Lisbon on the 21st.

Cheguei na segunda-feira e parto na quinta.

I arrived on Monday and leave on Thursday.

. UNDER

debaixo de or sob), figurative sense (sob). In the

physical position (
former case debaixo de (cf. English `underneath') is slightly more
concrete than sob.

Encontrei-o debaixo da mesa.

I found him/it under(neath) the table.

Estavam a brincar debaixo das (/ sob as) aÂrvores.

They were playing under the trees.

O motorista foi apanhado a conduzir sob a influeÃncia de

aÂlcool.
The motorist was caught driving under the influence of alcohol.

. TO

movement to ( a indicates a temporary movement; para indicates a

permanent movement); meaning up to ( ateÂ, ate a).

Vou aÁ FrancË a.
I am going to France. (short trip or return is implied)
 39 PTU1501/1

Vou para a FrancËa.

I am going to France. (permanence is implied)

X The `to' of the infinitive in English (e.g. to eat / to play, etc) is

not translated into Portuguese. For instance:

I want to eat Ð Quero comer

We meant to go Ð QuerõÂamos ir

. TO

meaning `in order that / so that', is rendered by para + infinitive or

para que subjunctive in Portuguese.
+

Vamos para a praia para descansar.

We are going to the beach/coast to rest. (= in order that we
might rest)

Vamos para a praia para que descansemos. (subjunctive)

We are going to the beach/coast to rest.

However, the structure para + infinitive is generally used when

the subject of the main clause is the same as that of the subordinate
clause.

. By: a (time)
Levanto-me aÁs oito.
I get up by eight o'clock.
By: por
As criancËas foram castigadas pela professora/pelo professor.
The children were punished by the teacher.
Ela segurou a criancËa pela maÄo.
She held the child by the hand.
By: ao pe de (next to)
A pasta esta ao pe da janela.
The case is by the window.

. For: destination (para)

Parto para Madrid dentro de quinze dias.
I leave for Madrid in two weeks' time.

Isto e para ti.

This is for you.
 40

. For: por
Comprou o carro por 50 000 rands.
He bought his car for 50 000 Rand.

Vendeu a casa por 150 000 rands.

He sold his house for 150 000 Rand.

Morreu pela (por + a) paÂtria.

He died for his country.

Repetiu a conversa palavra por palavra.

He repeated the conversation word for word.

. Of: de
Esta a morrer de amor por ela.
He is dying of love for her.
De que nacionalidade e a Brenda?
What nationality is Brenda?

EÂ uma mulher de muito valor.

She is a woman of great value.
Esta saia e de laÄ.
This skirt is made of wool.
. With: com
Moro com os meus pais.
I live with my parents.

Concordo consigo.
I agree with you.

NaÄo concordo com Francisca.

I don't agree with Francisca.

Os miuÂdos estaÄo aÁ bulha uns com os outros.

The children are fighting (with) each other.

& Special uses of A and PARA:

Both a and para can translate the English `to'.
A implies that there is only a brief stop at the point (to be) reached;
Para implies a stay of some length.

Vai aÁ loja.
Go to the shop.

Vou a Paris.
I am going to Paris (= for a short time)
 41 PTU1501/1

Vou para Paris.

I am going to Paris (= to stay or for a long while)

Vou a casa de Maria.

I am going to Maria's house. (= for a short time)

Vou para casa.

I am going home.

& Special uses of DE:

A The English (`s) and (-s') just as for example, Peter's house or the boys'

friend are translated into Portuguese by means of the preposition de

with the inversion of the word order.

A casade Pedro. Peter's house (= the house of Peter)

O amigo dos rapazes. The boys' friend (= the friend of the boys).

& de is the commonest translation of of.

Examples:

Toma uma chaÂvena de chaÂ?

Will you have a cup of tea?

Esta reÂgua e (feita) de plaÂstico.

This ruler is made of plastic.

Isto e de vidro.

This is made of glass.

A pasta dele esta cheia de livros.

His case is full of books.

A Another common use of de is to translate the English double noun.

Vivo numa casa de tijolo. I live in a brick house.

de vidro.
Parti a porta I broke the glass door.

Comprei uma saia de laÄ. I bought a woolen skirt.

A Prepositions attached to certain words in Portuguese:

There are some cases where prepositions have been connected with

other words to such an extent that they now form one single unit as in

hei-de, haÂs-de, haÂ-de, havemos de, haÄo-de, de being the preposition, or

for example, poder com, which, as a unit, has a very specific meaning

(NaÄo posso com ela = I can't stand her).

[The same happens in English as is explained below under `Phrasal

verbs', for example: to get up, to feel down, etc.]

Some verbs like gostar, pensar, etc, in sentences containing an object

(direct or indirect) always require a preposition.

 42

. Gostar de:
Gosta de marisco? (Do you like shellfish?)
Sim, gosto. (Yes, I do)
NaÄo, naÄo gosto. (No, I don't)
Sim, gosto imenso de toda a espeÂcie de marisco.
(Yes, I love all kinds of shellfish)

. Pensar em:
Tenho pensado tanto em ti.
I have been thinking so much about you.

Ontem pensei em ti.

Yesterday I thought about you.

Ontem pensei muito em ti.

Yesterday I though a lot about you.

As the examples show, it is possible to have other words inserted

between the verb and the preposition. The preposition must come just
before the object of the sentence.

Let us now look at the following examples:

(1) Ela esta sempre pronta a ajudar os amigos.

She is always ready to help her friends.
(2) EÂ muito faÂcil gostar da Maria.
It is very easy to like Mary.

In example (1) one uses the expression estar pronto a ... (to be ready to). In
this case, both Portuguese and English expressions are very similar. This a
is part of the expression estar pronto a ...

In example (2) the verb gostar (which can also be used on its own) requires
a preposition because it is followed by an object of gostar. This object has
to be preceded by the preposition de.

& Phrasal verbs:

There are many verbs in English, called phrasal verbs, which have a
preposition or adverb which forms an integral part of the verb. These verbs
cannot be literally translated into Portuguese. The prepositions, or adverbs,
will not be translated in these cases.

To put up (with someone) = aturar (algueÂm)

He shut the factory down. = Ele fechou a faÂbrica.

Phrasal verbs may be translated either by a single verb, as in the examples

shown above, or by a phrasal verb or idiomatic expression in Portuguese.
For example, the popular phrasal verb `to crash out' (= to fall asleep) is
rendered in Portuguese by the idiomatic expression `cair redondo'.

(Some of the above explanations are based

and adapted from Willis, 1965)
 43 PTU1501/1

& Contractions of prepositions with articles, pronouns and adverbs

Some Portuguese prepositions are joined with other words to form a new
rod. The most common are:

de + o/a/os/as = do/da/dos/das
em + o/a/os/as = no/na/nos/nas
por + o/a/os/as = pelo/pela/pelos/pelas
de + ele/ela/eles/elas = dele/dela/deles/delas
em + ele/ela/eles/elas = nele/nela/neles/nelas

& Contractions of prepositions with articles

Regarding contractions, you should note the following:

A The contraction of de + um/ uma/ uns/ umas is not obligatory.

Refined users prefer the uncontracted form as they find the contracted
forms dum, duma, duns, dumas inelegant.

A When o/s and a/s are not articles but direct object pronouns, no
contraction takes place,

Fez isso, por o amar muito.

She did that, because she loves him a lot.

A When the pronoun is the subject, or the object, of a verb in the infinitive,
it must not be contracted.
SaÄo horas de eles chegarem.
They should be arriving any time now.

A Similarly, when the article o, a, os, as is part of the subject of a clause,

no contraction takes place.

Foi-me impossõÂvel acabar o trabalho a tempo, apesar de a minha

colega me ter ajudado.
It was impossible for me to finish my work in time, even though my
colleague helped me.

& Some contractions of prepositions with some pronouns and adverbs

Prep. + Pronoun
a + aquele/s = aÁquele/s
a
a
+
+
aquela/s
aquilo
=
=
aÁquela/s
aÁquilo
} to that/to those

de + aquele/s = daquele/s
de
de
+
+
aquela/s
aquilo
=
=
daquela/s
daquilo
} from that/from those

de + este/s = deste/s
de + esta/s = desta/s
} from this/from these

de + esse/s = desse/s
de
de
de
+
+
+
essa/s
isto
isso
=
=
=
dessa/s
disto
disso
} from that/from those
 44

de + ele/s = dele/s from him/it/them (mas.)

de + ela/s = dela/s from her/it/them (fem.)
em + aquele/s = naquele/s
em
em
+
+
aquela/s
aquilo
=
=
naquela/s
naquilo
} in that/in those

em + este/s = neste/s
em + esta/s = nesta/s
} in this/in these

em + esse/s = nesse/s
em
em
em
+
+
+
essa/s
isto
isso
=
=
=
nessa/s
nisto
nisso
} in that/in those

Prep. + Adverb
de + aqui = daqui from here
de + ali = dali
de + aõÂ = daõÂ
} from there
 45 PTU1501/1

UNIT 7
NOUNS, ADJECTIVES, ADVERBS AND NUMBERS

OBJECTIVE
To highlight some important characteristics of Portuguese nouns,
adjectives, adverbs and numbers and to illustrate their usage.

7.1 SOME DEFINITIONS

A What is a noun?
A noun is a word that names an object, etc. Nouns are variable words. This
means that they have a masculine and a feminine form (if they name living
beings); a singular and a plural form.

Masc. Sing. Fem. Sing. Masc. Plur. Fem. Plur.

o homem a mulher os homens as mulheres
the man the woman the men the women
} (Variable in gender and number)

Fem. Sing. Fem. Plur. Masc. Sing. Masc. Plur.

or: a casa as casas o livro os livros
the house the houses the book the books
{
A What is an adjective?
{
(Variable in number) (Variable in number)

An adjective is a word that describes a noun. Adjectives are also variable

words. What does that mean? It means that they also have masculine and
feminine, singular and plural forms. Because an adjective describes a noun,
it must agree with it in gender and number.

homem pequeno mulher pequena

small man small woman

homens pequenos mulheres pequenas

small men small women

O homem e pequeno. A mulher e pequena.

The man is small. The woman is small.

Os homens saÄo pequenos. As mulheres saÄo pequenas.

The men are small. The women are small.

A casa e bonita. As casas saÄo bonitas.

The house is pretty. The houses are pretty.
 46

O livro e bonito. Os livros saÄo bonitos.

The book is pretty. The books are pretty.

X Numerals often have an adjectival role. In that case, some of

them must agree (only in gender) with the noun they describe.
Consult in this regard section Numbers below (p. 56).

Eu comi duas macËaÄs. Tu comeste dois peÃssegos.

I had two apples. You had two peaches.

Ordinals always have two genders. The ordinal numbers 1 to 10

are the most important to learn.

O primeiro trabalho. A primeira licËaÄo.

The first job/assignment. The first lesson.

A What is an adverb?
Adverbs are words that describe verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs.
Adverbs are invariable. That means that they have only one form.

. Ele cantou
~
bem.
~
Eles cantaram
~
bem.
~
verb adv verb adv
He sang well. They sang well.
. Este carro e muito
~
grande.
~
Estes carros saÄo
~
muito
~
grandes.
~

adv adj verb adv adj

This car is very big. These cars are very big.

. A Cristina e muito
~
mais
~
bonita do que a irmaÄ.
~

adv adv adj

Cristina is much prettier than her sister.

7.2 ABOUT NOUNS: GENDER AND PLURAL FORMS

You have learnt that words ending in - a are usually feminine while those
ending in - o are usually masculine. This is true. However, as the word
`'usually'' indicates, there are exceptions to the rule. For this reason, we
recommend that you always learn a noun with the article. For instance,
learn: a mesa (the table) and not just mesa. Besides, there are some nouns
that end in other letters, such as -r, -e, -m, -l, etc. where the word ending
does not give any indication as to the word's gender. Whenever you are not
sure about the gender of a noun in Portuguese, consult a dictionary.
 47 PTU1501/1

. Here is a list of some of those words that end in -o but are feminine, and
of those that end in -a but are masculine:
g Some feminine (f.) words that end in -o:

Ë aÄo (attention)
a foto (photo); a tribo (tribe); a atenc

A Some masculine (m.) words that end in -a:

1. Words, usually derived from the Greek, and ending in -ma:

o clima (climate, weather); o diploma (diploma);

o drama (drama); o problema (problem);
o programa (programme); o telegrama (telegram); o esquema
(the scheme); o tema (theme); o dia (day).

~
Isto e um(m.) problema(m.) tremendo(m.).
This is a big problem.

2. Others which do not end in -ma:

o cometa (comet); o dia (day); o guia (guidebook); o mapa (map);

o planeta (planet).
~

Esta um(m.) dia(m.) lindo(m.)!

It's a lovely day today!

Bom dia!
Good morning!

3. Some words denoting male beings:

o cura (priest); o guia (guide); o lojista (shopkeeper);
o papa (pope).

. Likewise, if a noun ends in -s, it is usually plural. However, laÂpis

(pencil) can be singular or plural.

O meu laÂpis naÄo escreve. (singular).

My pencil doesn't write.

Os meus laÂpis naÄo escrevem. (plural).

My pencils don't write.

X The adjective simples, like the noun laÂpis, can also be singular
or plural.

Este exercõÂcio e simples. (singular)

This exercise is easy.

Estes exercõÂcios saÄo simples. (plural)

These exercises are easy.
 48

7.3 ABOUT ADJECTIVES: POSITION AND PORTUGUESE SUBSTITUTES FOR

ENGLISH ADJECTIVES
& Position of adjectives
Usually, in Portuguese, the adjective follows the noun. There are, however,
certain adjectives that usually precede the noun. Others will convey a
different meaning depending on whether they are placed before or after the
noun.

A After the noun

The primary function of an adjective that is placed after the noun is to
distinguish that noun from others of its kind (it has an identifying value)

uma camisa verde Ð a green shirt.

Green is not a general characteristic of shirts. Rather, it distinguishes
this shirt from shirts of other colours.

We give you now some important groups of distinguishing adjectives

that regularly follow the noun. Most descriptive adjectives fall within
these parameters.

1. Adjectives of nationality and religion:

a Revoluc francesa
Ë aÄo the French Revolution
um padre catoÂlico a Catholic priest

2. Adj. of colour and shape:

a CasaBranca the White House

Cor-de-Rosa
o PalaÂcio the Pink Palace
uma mesa redonda a round table
uma cadeira baixa a low chair

3. Adj. of classification or category:

um estudo literaÂrio / a literary / a philosophical /

filosoÂfico / geograÂfico a geographic study
aÂcido aceÂtico acetic acid

4. Adj. modified by adverbs (especially by mais or menos):

uma histoÂria muitotriste a very sad story
Ë a mais popular do liceu
a moc the most popular girl in the High
School

5. Participles used as adjectives:

uma vida estragada a spoilt life

uma causa perdida a lost cause
uma noite encantada one enchanted evening
 49 PTU1501/1

A Before the noun

1. Demonstratives, possessives and indefinite adj. (including muito,
pouco, outro) and cardinal numbers, regularly precede the noun:

esta semana this week

a nossa famõÂlia our family
pouco tempo little time
treÃs macËaÄs three apples
algum dia one day
muitõÂssimo trabalho a lot of work

2. Certain common adjectives, usually monosyllabic, (bom, mau)

usually precede the noun:

eÂma pessoa (he) is a bad person

eÂboa pessoa (he) is a good person
esta mau tempo the weather is bad

These adjectives may also follow the noun, especially if the noun is
preceded by an article or another adjective:

e uma pessoaboa or e uma boa pessoa

e uma pessoa ma or e uma ma pessoa

A Changes the meaning according to position

1. Certain adjectives acquire a significant difference in meaning accor-
ding to their position before or after the noun. Note particularly:

um amigo velho an old (elderly) friend

um velho amigo an old (long-standing) friend

um rapaz pobre a poor (destitute) boy

um pobre rapaz a poor (pitiful) boy

o mesmo chefe the same boss

o chefe mesmo the boss himself

um carro novo a brand new car

um novo carro a new car (for me: i.e. it replaces
my old one, even though it may
not be brand new)

um homem grande a big man

um grande homem a great man

2. When placed before a noun, the adjective may acquire a subjective or

figurative sense, reflecting the speaker's attitudes or feelings (it has
a qualifying value, and not an identifying one). Compare:

grande homem great man

homem grande big man

escura noite (metaphorical) dark night

(= unpleasant time)
noite escura dark night (moonless, cloudy)

triste dia sad day (strong feeling)

dia triste sad day
 50

A Adjectival phrases and descriptive suffixes which function as

adjectives
There are cases where an adjective in English is not translated by an
adjective in Portuguese, its meaning being conveyed in a different way:

1. A double noun in English, in which case one of the nouns has an

adjectival role, is rendered in Portuguese by de + noun:

uma casa de tijolo a brick house

uma colher de prata a silver spoon
uma mesa de vidro a glass table
um campo de teÂnis a tennis court
um colar de ouro a gold necklace
um livro de receitas a cookbook

2. English adjectives may be translated into Portuguese by suffixes that

are added to the noun:

The adding of diminutive or augmentative endings to nouns express

not only size, but also a favourable or unfavourable connotation.
Frequently, the use of such suffixes obviates the need for adjectives.

& ito/a, inho/a (smallness + favourable tone; affection)

uma casita (5 casa) a (nice) little house
uma casinha (5 casa) a (nice) little house
um miudito (5 miuÂdo) a tiny little boy
maÄezinha (5 maÄe) Mommy
paizinho (5 pai) Daddy

& aÄo/ona (largeness or impressiveness)

um casaraÄo ( 5 casa) a big house
uma mulherona ( 5 mulher) a battle axe; a big woman

& ote/a (often, but not always, derogatory Ð adj. or nouns)

os amigotes ( 5 amigos) the so called friends
uma moc
Ë a grandota ( 5 grande) a biggish girl
um velhote ( 5 velho) an old sport; a silly old man

& acËo/a (largeness, comic or derogatory)

o ricac
Ëo ( 5 rico) the moneybags
a mulherac
Ëa ( 5 mulher) the big woman

& ato/a (diminutive, derogatory)

um novato ( 5 novo) an inexperienced person

& ada (augmentative; collection, etc.)

uma asneirada ( 5 asneira) a big, stupid mistake
a papelada ( 5 papel) the collection of papers
 51 PTU1501/1

& ico (smallness, insignificance)

uma namorico ( 5 namoro) an unimportant flirt
um bailarico ( 5 baile) a little dance; an insignificant
dance

X The suffix -inho may be added not only to nouns, but also to
adjectives, and even to adverbs and other words:
cedo Ð early (adv) Ð cedinho (very early)
agora Ð now (adv) Ð agorinha (right now)

When the suffix -inho is added to the adjective, it has an

intensifying value which is rendered in English by the adverb
very:

cheio (m.) Ð full (adj) Ð cheiinho (very full)

cheia (f.) Ð full (adj) Ð cheiinha (very full)
branca (f.) Ð white (adj) Ð branquinha (very white)

A Maria esta cheiinha de sono.

Mary is very sleepy (dropping with sleepiness).

O Alberto esta cheiinho de fome.

Alberto is terribly hungry.

This suffix -inho often has an affectionate connotation.

Another way of conveying intensity is through the repetition of

the adjective:

A Ana esta paÂlida, paÂlida.

Ana is looking very pale.

O cabelo da minha avo e branco, branco.

My Granny's hair is very white.

7.4 ADJECTIVES VERSUS ADVERBS Ð SIMILAR ADJECTIVES AND

ADVERBS
Some words, like muito, pouco, bastante etc. may be either an adjective, in
which case they are variable, or an adverb, in which case they are
invariable.

muito, muita, muitos, muitas (adj): much, a lot of, many

muito (adv): much, very, too.

pouco, pouca, poucos, poucas (adj): little,

poucos, poucas (adj): few

pouco (adv): little, insufficiently, not much

bastante, bastantes (adj) (this adjective is uniform as far as gender is

concerned): enough, sufficient, satisfactory

bastante (adv): sufficiently, satisfactorily

 52

A Here are some detailed examples:

. Eu tenho muitas duÂvidas. (I have many doubts)
: :
Adj Noun

(Muitas is an adjective that has to agree with the noun duÂvidas:

feminine and plural.)

. Estas roupas saÄo muito lindas. (These clothes are very beautiful)
: :
Adv Adj

(Muito is an adverb, for it is modifying the adjective lindas. It is

invariable.)

. muito boa. (My mother is very good-hearted)

: :
A minha maÄe eÂ

Adv Adj

(No agreement required.)

. Esta casa e muito pequena. (This house is very small)

: :
Adv Adj

(No agreement required.)

. NoÂs temos muitos amigos. (We have many friends (masculine))

: :
Adj Noun

(Agreement necessary.)

. muita atencËaÄo ao que te digo. (Pay lots of attention to what I tell

: :
Toma
you)

Adj Noun

(Agreement necessary.)

. O JoaÄo tem muitos problemas. (John has many problems)

: :
Adj Noun

(Agreement necessary. Remember that problema is a masculine noun.)

. pouco / muito dinheiro. (I have little/a lot of money)

:
Eu tenho
}

Adj Noun

(Agreement necessary.)

. bastante / muito longa. (The trip was quite/very long)

:
A viagem foi
}

Adv Adj

(No agreement required.)

 53 PTU1501/1

. Temos que ir aÁs compras, pois temos pouca comida (We have to go shop-
: :
ping because we have little food at home)

Adj Noun

(Agreement required.)

. bastante grandes. (These rooms are quite big)

: :
Estes quartos saÄo

Adv Adj

(No agreement required.)

. Estou pouco satisfeita com o resultado da operacËaÄo. (I am not really

: :
Adv Adj

happy/little happy with the result of the operation)

(No agreement required.)

Acho que o meÂdico naÄo tinha muita experieÃncia.

: :
Adj Noun

(Agreement necessary.)

. bastante / muito ricos. (His grandparents are quite/

:
Os avoÂs dele saÄo
}

very rich)

Adv Adj

(No agreement required.)

. Ë as saÄo
Estas aeromoc bastante / muito / pouco simpaÂticas. (These
:
} }
Advs Adj

air hostesses are quite/very/unfriendly)

(No agreement required.)

. Tenho tido bastantes / muitas / poucas oportunidades de falar

:
Adjs Noun

PortugueÃs. (We have had quite a few/many/few opportunities to speak

Portuguese)

(Agreement necessary.)

7.5 NUMBERS
A Some cardinal numerals have a feminine and a masculine form. Because
of their adjectival role, these numbers have to agree in gender with the
nouns they qualify. The numbers with the two gender forms are:
 54

1 Ð um / uma
2 Ð dois / duas
200 Ð duzentos / duzentas
300 Ð trezentos/as
400 Ð quatrocentos/as
500 Ð quinhentos/as
600 Ð seiscentos/as
700 Ð setecentos/as
800 Ð oitocentos/as
900 Ð novecentos/as

So, you will say:

; ; ; ;
fem. fem. masc. masc.

Eu comi uma laranja e um peÃssego ao pequeno-almoco.

I had an orange and a peach for breakfast.

; ; ; ;
masc. masc. fem. fem.

A Isabel tem dois irmaÄos e duas irmaÄs.

Isabel has two brothers and two sisters.

; ;
fem. fem.

Temos duzentas alunas de PortugueÃs e so vinte alunos.

We have two hundred female students doing Portuguese and only twenty
males.

A One hundred (100) has two forms in Portuguese: cem and cento. These
two forms are not interchangeable:

. cem is used when followed by a noun or by a number higher than

100.

cem laÂpis Ð 100 pencils

cem pessoas Ð 100 people
cem aÂrvores Ð 100 trees
cem mil Ð one hundred thousand
cem milhoÄes Ð one hundred million

. cento is used:
(i) when followed by e and a number lower than 100:
cento e um Ð 101 (one hundred and one)
cento e vinte Ð 120 (one hundred and twenty)
cento e noventa e nove Ð 199 (one hundred and ninety-nine);
 55 PTU1501/1

(ii) when it acts as a noun:

; ;
(art.) (noun)

um cento de aÂrvores Ð one (a) hundred trees

(OR: uma centena de aÂrvores);

(iii) in the expression por cento:

cem por cento Ð one hundred percent

dez por cento Ð ten percent.

X Note the following examples

treÃs mil e cem (3 100) Ð three thousand one hundred

BUT

treÃs mil cento e quarenta (3 140) Ð three thousand one

hundred and forty.

O Pedro ganha oito mil e cem rands por meÃs.

Peter earns eight thousand one hundred Rand a month.

O Andre ganha dois mil cento e cinquenta euros por meà s.

Andre earns two thousand one hundred and fifty euros per
month.
 56

UNIT 8
PRONOUNS

OBJECTIVE
To illustrate and explain the usage of the various personal pronounts in
Portuguese.

Very simply defined, a pronoun is a word that is used instead of a noun or

noun phrase.

Consider the following dialogue where the noun John is replaced by the
pronouns `he', `his', `him'.

Portuguese English
Ð Onde esta o JoaÄo? ``Where is John?''
РEle saiu ha momentos. O Marco '' He left a moment ago. Mark
telefonou- lhe o convidar a
para phoned him inviting him to go to
ir ao cinema com ele. the movies.''
РMas como e que ele foi? O carro ``But how did he go? Has his car
dele ja esta arranjado? been fixed?''
Ð Sim. Ele levantou-o da oficina ``Yes, he fetched it from the
hoje de manhaÄ. garage this morning.''

Likewise, a whole noun phrase may be replaced by a pronoun:

vaÂrias bebidas alcooÂlicas e umas revistas

O Sr. Costa tinha trazido
proibidas mas o inspector da alfaÃndega confiscou-as.
Mr. Costa had brought several alcoholic beverages and forbidden
magazines but the customs official confiscated them.
The pronoun as (them) replaces the noun phrase vaÂrias bebidas
alcooÂlicas e umas revistas proõÂbidas (several alcoholic beverages and
forbidden magazines).

X Types of pronouns
. Personal Pronouns (such as I, me)
. Possessive Pronouns (such as mine)
. Demonstrative Pronouns (such as this)
. Interrogative Pronouns (such as what?)
. Relative Pronouns (such as who)
. Indefinite Pronouns (such as anybody)

We now look at the personal pronouns. Personal pronouns may fulfil

different functions in a sentence. They may be the subject, the direct object,
 57 PTU1501/1

the indirect object, or some other object of the sentence. According to their
function they have different forms.

8.1 SUBJECT PERSONAL PRONOUNS Ð FORMS AND USAGE

Subject personal pronouns are those that have the function of subject.

As you know, the subject of a sentence is the word or words which

represent the person or thing that does the action shown by the verb, and
with which the verb agrees.

Consider the following sentence as an example:

Eu dei um livro ao meu filho.

; ; ;
I gave a book to my son.

subject direct object indirect object

In our example above: Who gave the book? Ð I. Therefore ``I'' is the
subject.

A Subject Personal Pronouns Ð Forms:

Singular 1st person Ð eu (I)
2nd person Ð tu (you, familiar form)
(Refers to voceÃ, [o senhor, a senhora]
one person (you, polite form)
or object 3rd person Ð ele (he, it)
only.) ela (she, it)

Plural 1st person Ð noÂs (we)

2nd person Ð voÂs (you, very courteous form)
(Refers to voceÃs, [os senhores, as sen-
more than horas]
one person (you, both polite and informal form)
or object.) 3rd person Ð eles (they, masc.)
elas (they, fem.)

A How to use these forms:

I Singular: Addressing or referring to one person, animal or object only.
. 1st person: Eu refers to the speaker.

Eu sou portugueÃs. / Eu falo portugueÃs.

I am Portuguese. / I speak Portuguese.

. 2nd person: Tu is used when directly addressing a friend, a child, a

member of the family younger than the speaker or a very
close relative.

Tu eÂs portugueÃs. / Tu falas portugueÃs.

You are Portuguese. / You speak Portuguese.
 58

Voceà / o senhor / a senhora is used when the speaker

directly addresses someone older or with whom he is not

on very familiar terms.

O senhor e portugueÃs? / Voceà fala PortugueÃs?

Are you Portuguese? / Do you speak Portuguese?

. 3rd person: Ele refers to a male person, animal or thing the speaker is

talking about.

Ele e portugueÃs. / Ele fala portugueÃs.

He is Portuguese. / He speaks Portuguese.

Ela refers to a female person, animal or thing the speaker

is talking about.

Ela e portuguesa. / Ela fala portugueÃs.

She is Portuguese. / She speaks Portuguese.

II Plural: Addressing or refering to more than one person, animal or

object.

. 1st person: NoÂs refers to more than one person, including the speaker.

NoÂs somos portugueses. / NoÂs falamos portugueÃs.

We are Portuguese. / We speak Portuguese.

. 2nd person: VoÂs nowadays is rarely used as indicated above. It is used

when the speaker addresses more than one person

directly. (Rarely used as indicated above.)

VoÂs sois portugueses. / VoÂs falais portugueÃs.

You (pl.) are Portuguese. / You (pl.) speak Portuguese.

X VoÂs may also be used when the speaker addresses one person
only. This is considered very pretentious in ordinary speech.

VoceÃs / os senhores / as senhoras are the commonly used

forms when the speaker addresses more than one person

directly (instead of voÂs).

VoceÃs saÄo portugueses. / Os senhores falam portugueà s?

You (pl.) are Portuguese. / Do you (pl.) speak Portuguese?

. 3rd person: Eles / elas. These two forms (masculine and feminine)

indicate the persons, animals or things the speaker is

talking about.

Eles saÄo portugueses. Eles falam portugueÃs.

Elas saÄo portuguesas. Elas falam portugueÃs.

They are Portuguese. They speak Portuguese.

 59 PTU1501/1

X The subject pronoun is usually omitted in Portuguese as the

verb ending gives an indication about the speaker (eu/noÂs),
whom he is addressing (tu/voceÃ; voÂs/voceÃs), and about whom or
what he is speaking (ele/ela; eles/elas).

Nevertheless, it is used:

(a) when it is necessary to indicate the author of an action in

greater detail than the verb ending allows or for emphasis;
(b) when the subject is ele/ela/eles/elas, in order to avoid
confusion with voceÃ/o senhor/a senhora/voceÃs/ os sen-
hores/as senhoras, as they are followed by identical verb
forms.

Ex.: Fala portugueÃs? (o senhor/a senhora/ voceÃ)

Do you speak Portuguese?

but:

Ele fala portugueÃs?

Does he speak Portuguese?

8.2 OBJECT PRONOUNS

& Direct and indirect object pronouns
One of the biggest problems that students usually encounter, regarding the
usage of Object Pronouns, seems to be the inability to distinguish between
direct and indirect object.

We have explained above what is a pronoun. We mentioned then that

pronouns may have different functions. They can be the subject of a
sentence, or they can be its object. They can also be the object of a
preposition.

Before we proceed, let us learn to distinguish the direct object from the
indirect object.

A Direct Object Pronouns

The direct object is the word or words in a sentence which stand for the
person or thing on whom or on which the action of the verb is done. In
our example:

Eu dei um livro ao meu filho.

I gave a book to my son. (I gave my son a book.)

What did I give? Ð a book. `A book' is the direct object.

A Indirect Object Pronoun

The indirect object is the word or words in a sentence which stand for
 60

the person or thing to whom (or for whom) or to which (or for which)
something is given, or done, etc.

In our example above: To whom did I give the book? Ð to my son. `To
my son' is the indirect object.

Remember that in English, a construction like ``He gave him the book''
means ``He gave the book to him''.

When we speak or write, we often need to substitute the direct and

indirect object (as well as the other objects) in the sentences we
construct by pronouns.

Read the following text carefully:

Ontem o meu marido esteve doente. Quando cheguei a casa,

encontrei- o (1) deitado a descansar. Perguntei- lhe (2) o que se
passava. Ele respondeu- me (3) que estava com dores de cabec,a.
Pediu- me (4) entaÄo que lhe (5) trouxesse uma aspirina. Quando
lha (6) trouxe, tomou-a (7) imediatamente e, passados uns
momentos, adormeceu.

Yesterday, my husband felt sick. When I arrived home, I found

him (1) lying down, having a rest. I asked him (2) what the matter
was. He answered (me) (3) that he had a headache. He asked me
(4) to bring him (5) an aspirin. When I brought it to him (6), he
drank it (7) immediately and a few minutes later he fell asleep.

All the words in bold in the text are object pronouns. Let's analyse them:

(1) encontrei- o (I found him): this o substitutes o meu marido (my

husband) and is a direct object pronoun Ð it answers the question:
what or who did I find?
(2) Perguntei- lhe (I asked him): this lhe substitutes the expression ao
meu marido (my husband) and is an indirect object pronoun Ð it
answers the question: whom did I ask?
(3) respondeu- me (he answered me)
(4) pediu- me (he asked me): in this case the me refers to the person who
speaks and is an indirect object pronoun Ð it answers the
questions: whom dit he answer? and whom did he ask?
(5) que lhe trouxesse (to bring him): this lhe is once again an indirect
object pronoun that substitutes the expression ao meu marido (my
husband) Ð it answers the question: to whom should I bring?
(6) quando lha trouxe (when I brought it to him): here, lha replaces a
aspirina, which is the direct object(: what did I bring?) as well as ao
meu marido, which is the indirect object(: to whom did I bring
them?) Therefore, lha is a combined form of the direct and the
indirect object pronouns: lhe = to him + a = it.
(7) tomou- a (he drank it): a is here the direct object pronoun and
replaces a aspirina(the aspirin) Ð it answers the question: what did
he drink?

In the following table we give you all the forms of object pronouns
corresponding to the subject personal pronouns studied in the previous
chapter of this guide.
 61 PTU1501/1

X Both the prepositional, as well as the reflexive pronouns were

included in this table for the sake of comprehensiveness, for
they are also object pronouns.

Personal pronouns
Object Prepositional pronouns
Subject
Direct Indirect Reflexive 1 2
eu (I) me (me) me (to me) me (myself) mim (me) comigo (with me)

tu (you) te (you) te (to you) te (yourself) ti (you) contigo (with you)

voceà (you) o/a (you) lhe (to you) se (yourself) si (you) consigo (with you)

ele/ela o/a lhe se si, ele, ela consigo, com ele/ela

(he/she/it) (him/her,it) (to him, her, it) (him/her/itself) (him, her, it) (with him/her/it)

noÂs (we) nos (us) nos (to us) nos (ourselves) noÂs (us) connosco (with us)

voÂs vos vos vos voÂs convosco

(you) (you) (to you) (yourselves) (you) (with you)

voceÃs (you) os/as (you) lhes (to you) se (yourselves) convosco, com voceÃs

voÂs (you) voÂs (to you) voceÃs (you) (with you)

eles/elas os/as lhes se si, eles/elas consigo, com eles/elas

(they) (them) (to them) (themselves) (them) (with them)

Let us go back to our first example:

Eu dei um livro ao meu filho.

In a conversation we would use o Ð direct object pronoun Ð to replace um

livro:

Eu dei- o ao meu filho.

and we would use lhe Ð indirect object pronoun Ð to replace ao meu
filho:

Eu dei- lhe um livro.

Imagine the following dialogue:
Portuguese English
Ð OlaÂ, Lourdes. Como correu a festa ''Hello, Lourdes. How did your
dos anos do teu filho? son's birthday party go?''

Ð Correu muito bem. Vieram 10 ``It went very well indeed. There
garotos que se fartaram de di- were 10 boys altogether and they
vertir. all had great fun.''

Ð Que prenda lhe deste? ''What did you give him?'' (Lit-
erally: What gift did you give him?)

Ð Dei- lhe um livro. ``I gave him a book.''

 62

The last sentence of the dialogue: Dei-lhe um livro (I gave him a book)
corresponds to Eu dei um livro ao meu filho (I gave a book to my son). In
order not to repeat ao meu filho (to my son), we use a pronoun. Because ao
meu filho is an indirect object in the sentence, the pronoun is lhe (him).

X When the pronoun follows the verb, it is connected to it by an

hyphen.

e.g.: O almoc
Ë o fez-me mal. (Lunch has made me feel sick.)

When it precedes the verb, no hyphen is used.

Ë o naÄo me fez mal.(Lunch didn't make me sick.)

e.g.: O almoc

& Variant forms for direct object pronouns

In some cases, when the object pronouns follow the verb, spelling changes
must be made to the pronoun or to both the verb and the pronoun.

A When the verb ends in r, s or z, and is followed by the forms o, a, os, as

of the direct object pronoun (i.e. the 2nd polite and 3rd person singular
and plural), the r, s or z at the end of the verb is dropped and the
pronoun assumes the forms lo, la, los, las. In this case, both the verb
and the pronouns suffer a change.

Verb ending in Direct object pronoun

-r
/ -lo
-s
/ + -la
-z
/ -los
-las

t
-r
Vou chamar o Jose РVou chamaÂ-lo.
Vou ver a ZeÂlia Ð Vou veÃ-la.
Ele conseguiu abrir os frascos Ð Ele conseguiu abri-los.
Posso abrir as janelas Ð Posso abri-las.

t
-s
Tu pagas a conta Ð Tu pagaÂ-la.
NoÂs vimos o filme Ð NoÂs vimo-lo.
Ã
Tu ves as criancË as? Ð Tu veÃ-las?

t
-z
Ela traz o carro. Ð Ela traÂ-lo.
Ele fez o trabalho Ð Ele feÃ-lo.
Ele diz isso Ð Ele di-lo.
Eu fiz os deveres Ð Eu fi-los.
 63 PTU1501/1

X quer + o/a/os/as 4 quere-o/a/os/as

e
Ele quer o livro Ð Ele quer -o.
Ele quer a caneta Ð Ele quer -a. e
Ele quer os livros Ð Ele quer -os.e
e
Ele quer as canetas Ð Ele quer -as.

tens + o/a/os/as 4 tem-lo/la/los/las.

Tu tens o meu livro Ð Tu tem-lo.
Tu tens a minha caneta Ð Tu tem-la.
Tu tens os meus livros Ð Tu tem-los.
Tu tens as minhas canetas Ð Tu tem-las.

A a5o, -o5e or in -m, the direct object

When the verb ends in a nasal sound: -
pronouns o, a, os, as become no, na, nos, nas. In this case, only the
pronouns suffer a change.

Verb ending in Direct object pronoun

(-)a5o -no
(-)o5e -na
+
(-)m -nos
-nas

Eles daÄo as licËo5es Ð Eles da5o-nas.

Eles trazem os pais Ð Eles trazem-nos.
Eles comeram a sopa toda Ð Eles comeram-na toda.
Ela po5e o chapeÂu Ð Ela po5e-no.
Eles veÃem o Jose РEles veÃem-no.

& Contractions of object pronouns

When there are two object pronouns in one sentence, the indirect object
forms me, te, lhe, nos, vos, lhes combine and contract with the direct
object forms o, a, os, as as shown in the following tables.
In these tables the abbreviation IO stands for Indirect Object Pronoun and
DO for Direct Object Pronoun.

IO DO IO DO
me + o = mo me + a = ma
te + o = to te + a = ta
lhe + o = lho lhe + a = lha
nos + o = no-lo nos + a = no-la
vos + o = vo-lo vos + a = vo-la
lhes + o = lho lhes + a = lha
 64

IO DO IO DO
me + os = mos me + as = mas
te + os = tos te + as = tas
lhe + os = lhos lhe + as = lhas
nos + os = no-los nos + as = no-las
vos + os = vo-los vos + as = vo-las
lhes + os = lhos lhes + as = lhas

X The position of this contracted forms in the sentence follows the

rules given below.

& Position of the object pronouns in a sentence

In Portuguese the object pronouns, including their contracted forms, may
have 4 different positions in a sentence:

A After the verb:

In affirmative main sentences, the object pronouns follow the verb and
are joined to it by a hyphen.

Eu vi-te no cinema. I saw you at the movies.

NoÂs perdoaÂmos-lhe. We forgave him.
Hoje, ajudei-te muito. Today, I helped you a lot.

A Before the verb:

There are certain circumstances in which the object pronouns precede
the verb.

. In negative sentences:

Eu naÄo te vi no cinema. I did not see you at the movies.

NoÂs naÄo lhe perdoaÂmos. We did not forgive him.
Hoje, naÄo te ajudei muito. Today, I did not help you a lot.

. In interrogative sentences:

Onde me viste? Where did you see me?

Quem te disse? Who told you?

. After some prepositions, conjunctions and adverbs:

Antes que me esquecËa.... Before I forget...

Eles mal me falam. They hardly speak to me.
Depois de lhe falar.... After talking to him/her...

A In compound tenses, between the auxiliary and the past participle

(in certain cases):
Eu tinha-vos avisado. I had warned you.
Ele tinha-lhe dito.... He had told him/her ...
 65 PTU1501/1

X In compound tenses which are part of negative tenses,

interrogative tenses or which appear after some prepositions,
conjunctions and adverbs, the pronoun precedes the verb. For
instance:

Eu naÄovos tinha avisado. I had not warned you.

O que lhe tinha dito? What did he tell her/him?

A Between the radical and the endings of the future and conditional
tenses (in most cases):
In affirmative main sentences where the verb is in the future and the
conditional tenses, the object pronouns are placed between the radical
of the verb (which is constituted by the infinitive) and the specific
endings of the future and conditional tenses.

Let us first see how these tenses are formed:

FUTURE CONDITIONAL

eu infinitive + ei eu infinitive + ia
tu infinitive + aÂs tu infinitive + ias
voceà infinitive + a voceà infinitive + ia
ele/ela infinitive + a ele/ela infinitive + ia
noÂs infinitive + emos noÂs infinitive + õÂamos
voceÃs infinitive + aÄo voceÃs infinitive + iam
eles/elas infinitive + aÄo eles/elas infinitive + iam

. Using the reflexive pronouns

In order to better illustrate this, we will now conjugate the verb
lavar (=to wash) and lavar-se (= to wash oneself) in both these
tenses. In this example we are using the reflexive pronouns, which,
let us not forget, are also object pronouns.

LAVAR (to wash) LAVAR-SE (to wash oneself)

eu lavarei (lavar + ei) eu lavar-me-ei
tu lavaraÂs (lavar + aÂs) tu lavar-te-aÂs
F voceà lavara (lavar + aÂ) voceà lavar-se-aÂ
U ele lavara (lavar + aÂ) ele lavar-se-aÂ
T ela lavara (lavar + aÂ) ela lavar-se-aÂ
U noÂs lavar-nos-emos
R noÂs lavaremos (lavar + emos)
voceÃs lavar-se-aÄo
E voceÃs lavaraÄo
eles lavaraÄo
(lavar + aÄo)
(lavar + aÄo) eles lavar-se-aÄo
elas lavaraÄo (lavar + aÄo) elas lavar-se-aÄo

C eu lavar-me-ia
O eu lavaria (lavar + ia)
tu lavar-te-ias
N tu lavarias (lavar + ias)

D voceà lavaria (lavar + ia) voceà lavar-se-ia

I ele lavaria (lavar + ia) ele lavar-se-ia
T ela lavaria (lavar + ia) ela lavar-se-ia
I noÂs lavarõÂamos (lavar + õÂamos) noÂs lavar-nos-õÂamos
O voceÃs lavariam (lavar + iam) voceÃs lavar-se-iam
N eles/elas lavariam (lavar +iam) eles/elas lavar-se-iam
A eles/elas lavar-se-iam
L eles/elas lavariam (lavar +iam)
 66

. Using the direct object pronouns

We have learnt previously that when the verb ends in -r and is
followed by the direct object pronouns o, a, os, as, the (r) falls away
and the pronoun becomes lo, la, los, las. Following the pattern
indicated above, ie. inserting the pronoun between the radical
(infinitive) of the verb and the specific ending for the Future and the
Conditional, naturally the (r) of the Infinitive falls away and the
corresponding change occurs in the pronoun. Lets us conjugate one
verb of each main verbal groups, i.e. ending in -ar, -er & -ir in the
infinitive together with the direct object pronoun.

. LAVAÂ-LO= to wash you / it / him

. COMEÃ-LO = to eat it
. PARTI-LO = to break it
LAVAÂ-LO COMEÃ-LO PARTI-LO
to wash you/it/him to eat it to break it

eu lavaÂ-lo-ei eu comeÃ-lo-ei eu parti- lo-ei

tu lavaÂ-lo-aÂs tu comeÃ-lo-aÂs tu parti-lo-aÂs
F voceà lavaÂ-lo-a voceà comeÃ-lo-a voceà parti-lo-aÂ
U ele lavaÂ-lo-a ele comeÃ-lo-a ele parti-lo-aÂ
T ela lavaÂ-lo-a ela comeÃ-lo-a ela parti-lo-aÂ
U noÂs lavaÂ-lo-emos noÂs comeÃ-lo-emos noÂs parti-lo-emos
R voceÃs lavaÂ-lo-aÄo voceÃs comeÃ-lo-aÄo voceÃs parti-lo-aÄo
E eles lavaÂ-lo-aÄo eles comeÃ-lo-aÄo eles parti-lo-aÄo
elas lavaÂ-lo-aÄo elas comeÃ-lo-aÄo elas parti-lo-aÄo

C eu lavaÂ-lo-ia eu comeÃ-lo-ia eu parti-lo-ia

O tu lavaÂ-lo-ias tu comeÃ-lo-ias tu parti-lo-ias
N voceà lavaÂ-lo-ia voceà comeÃ-lo-ia voceà parti-lo-ia
D ele lavaÂ-lo ele comeÃ-lo-ia ele parti-lo-ia
I ela lava±lo-ia ela comeÃ-lo-ia ela parti-lo-ia
T noÂs lavaÂ-lo-õÂamos noÂs comeÃ-lo-õÂamos noÂs parti-lo-õÂamos
I voceÃs lavaÂ-lo-iam voceÃs comeÃ-lo-iam voceÃs parti-lo-iam
O
N eles lavaÂ-lo-iam eles comeÃ-lo-iam eles parti-lo-iam
A elas lavaÂ-lo-iam elas comeÃ-lo-iam elas parti-lo-iam
L

X Word order in Brazil

In Brazilian Portuguese, the personal object pronouns as well as
the reflexive pronouns nearly always come before the verb. The
following examples clearly illustrate the difference between the
word order (including object pronouns) in Portugal and Brazil:

Portugal Brazil

Eu dar- te-ei um presente. Eu te darei um presente.

I will give you a present.
Elas viram- no na loja. Eles o viram na loja.
They saw him/it at the shop.
Ela poÄe- na no carro. Ela a poÄe no carro.
She puts her/it (fem.) in the car.
Hoje, eu sinto- me cansada. Hoje, eu me sinto cansada.
Today, I feel tired.
 67 PTU1501/1

A Prepositional pronouns
Prepositional pronouns are those personal pronouns which follow a
preposition.

a (to), com (with), contra (against), de (of, from, about), em (on, at, in),
para (to), por (for, by) and sem (without) are some of the prepositions
you know.

When the personal pronoun is needed after the preposition com, there are
special forms which are given on the right side of the table on p. 62 Ð
column 2. These forms already incorporate the preposition com.

* with me /with myself Ð comigo

O Joa5o foi comigo ao cinema. / John went with me to the movies.
* with you /with yourself Ð contigo (familiar form)
Eu gostava de ir contigo aÁ praia. / I would like to go with you to the
beach.

* with you /with yourself Ð consigo (polite form)

AvoÃzinho, posso ir passear consigo? / Grandpa, may I go for a walk
with you?
* with him (/it) Ð com ele; with himself (/itself) Ð consigo
Hoje aÁ noite vou com ele ao cinema. / Tonight I'm going with him to
the movies.
Ele na5o vive satisfeito consigo. / He doesn't feel happy with himself.
Ele pensou consigo (mesmo) que na5o gostaria de estar no lugar do
amigo. / He thought to himself that he wouldn't like to be in his
friend's shoes.

* with her (/it) Ð com ela; with herself (/itself) Ð consigo

Passei o diacom ela. / I spent the day with her.
Ela pensou consigo que havia de se vingar. / She thought to herself
(lit.: with herself) that she would get her revenge.
Ela esta infeliz consigo (proÂpria). / She is unhappy with herself.
* with us / with ourselves Ð connosco
A Joana vai de feÂrias connosco. / Joana will go on holiday with us.
* with you / with yourselves Ð convosco (cerimonious)
Suas altezas, iremos convosco onde voÂs fordes. / Your Highnesses, we
will go with you wherever you go.
* with you (/ with yourselves) Ð convosco
Digam-me, o meu ca5o pode ficar convosco? / Tell me, may my dog stay
with you?
* with them Ð com eles (masc.); with themselves Ð consigo.
Vamos passar uns dias com eles. / We will spend a few days with
them.
 68

Eles na5o vivem satisfeitos consigo 1

(mesmos ). / They are unhappy
with themselves.
* with them Ð com elas (fem.); with themselves Ð consigo
Vamos passar a tarde com elas. / We will spend the afternoon with
them.
Elas na5o vivem satisfeitas consigo (mesmas ). / They are unhappy
1

with themselves.
After all the other prepositions the pronouns are those on the left side of the
1st column of the table (p. 62 Ð column 1):

* me, myself Ð mim

Esta laranja eÂpara mim. / This orange is for me.
Porque e que tu nunca acreditas em mim? / Why don't you ever
believe (in) me?

* you, yourself Ð ti (familiar)

Estavam todos contra ti. / They were all against you.
JoseÂ, o telefonema era para ti. / Joseph, the telephone call was for
you.
* you, yourself Ð si (polite)
Foi a si que convidaram para director da firma, na5o foi? / It was you
they invited as director of the company, wasn't it?
Joa5o, o telefonema e para si. / John, this phone call is for you.
* him, it Ð ele; himself, itself Ð si
Ele,por si, faria isso, a mulher e que na5o o deixa. / If it were up to
him, he would do that, but his wife won't allow him. (Lit.: He, by
himself )
Esta encomenda e para ele. / This parcel is for him.
Recebi carta dele ontem. / I received a letter from him yesterday.
* her, it Ð ela; herself, itself Ð Se ela, por si soÂ, pouco faz. / She doesn't
do much by herself.
Esta pasta e dela. / This folder belongs to her.
Na5o posso viver sem ela. / I can't live without her.

* us, ourselves Ð noÂs

Isto fica entre noÂs. / This will stay between us.
Foi para noÂs uma alegria receber notõÂcias deles.
ÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐ
1 The words mesmo, mesma, mesmos, mesmas and proÂprio, proÂpria, proÂprios, proÂprias after a noun or pronoun mean self.
They may be used for emphasis of clarification.
They are used after subject pronouns (e.g. Eu mesma naÄo sei o que hei-defazer./I myself don't know what I should do./
Foi ele proÂprio quem decidiu ficar./It was he himself who decided to stay.), after prepositional pronouns (e.g. Esta muito
satisfeito consigo proÂprio or Ele esta muito satisfeito consigo mesmo./He is very happy with himself./Eu disse a mim
mesma/proÂpria que nunca mais faria uma coisa dessas./I told myself that I would never again do such a thing).
They are not used after direct and indirect object pronouns.
These words mesmo and proÂprio may have other meanings in other contexts:

e.g. Foi nesse mesmo dia que ele me telefonou.

He phoned me that very day.
EÂ para teu proÂprio bem que naÄo permito que vaÂs.
It is for your own sake that I won't allow you to go.

Ele e mesmo antipaÂtico.

He is really unpleasant.
 69 PTU1501/1

(Lit.: It was a joy for us to receive news from them.)

We were overjoyed to get news from them.

* you, yourselves Ð voÂs (cerimonious; public speech)

Cidada5os, e por voÂs que o Partido DemocraÂtico procura implantar
esta nova lei. / Citizens, it is for you that the Democratic Party is

trying to implement this new law.

* you, yourselves Ð voceÃs

Farei isso por voceÃs. / I will do that for you.
Na5o vamos sem voceÃs. / We won't go without you.
* they Ð eles (masc.); themselves Ð si
Os meninos feriram-se a si mesmos. / The boys hurt themselves.
Esta encomenda e para eles. / This parcel is for them.
Esta casa foi alugada por eles. / This house was rented by them.

* they Ð elas (fem.); themselves Ð si

As moc
Ë as organizaram o safari por si proÂprias. / The girls organized
the safariby themselves.
Elas decidiram entre si quem seria a lH1der. / They decided amongst

themselves who would be the leader.

Esta bagagem e delas. / This luggage belongs to them.

Aquele jipe e para elas. / That jeep is for them.

8.3 POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES AND PRONOUNS

OBJECTIVE
To contrast the possessive in English and Portuguese.

English has different forms for the possessive, depending on whether it is

an adjective or a pronoun.

Portuguese has only one form regardless of whether it is an adjective or a

pronoun. However, this form varies in gender and number.

A Possessive adjectives are words which indicate possession and are

closely linked to the noun. They are always placed before the noun:

Eu tenho o meu livro. (I have my book.)

Tu tens o teu livro. (You have your book.)
A Possessive pronouns are words which indicate possession but which

replace the noun:

Isto e meu? (Is this mine?)

Eu tenho o meu livro e tu tens o teu. (I have my book and you have
yours.)
 70

Possessive Pron./ Adj.

Personal Singular Plural English
Pronouns
Masc. Fem. Masc. Fem.
eu (I) meu minha meus minhas my, mine

tu (you) teu tua teus tuas your, yours

voceà (you) seu sua seus suas your, yours

ele, ela seu sua seus suas his, her/s, its

(he, she, it) (dele/a) (dele/a)

noÂs (we) nosso nossa nossos nossas our, ours

voÂs (you) vosso vossa vossos vossas your, yours

vosso vossa vossos vossas

voceÃs (you) your, yours
seu sua seus suas

seu sua seus suas

eles, elas their, theirs
(they) (deles/as) (deles/as)

Both possessive adjectives and pronouns agree in gender and number with
2
the thing possessed. The possessor determines which person is to be used.

For example, if I am the possessor, then the first person singular of the
possessive adjective or pronoun will have to be used.

Whether this first person takes the masculine singular/plural or feminine

singular/plural form will depend on what it is that is possessed by me:
"
o meu livro (my book) Ð masculine singular
"
os meus amigos
"
(my friends) Ð masculine plural

a minha caneta
"
(my pen) Ð feminine singular

as minhas"casas (my houses) Ð feminine plural

a minha maÄe (my mother) Ð feminine singular
"
o meu pai (my father) Ð masculine singular
In all the above examples the I (i.e. the owner) can be either male or female.
ÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐ
2 However, the forms dele, dela, deles, delas agree in gender and number with the possessor, not the thing possessed.

e.g. A Paula teve um acidente com ~ (o seu agrees with the thing possessed).
o seu carro
A Paula teve um acidente com o carro dela (dela agrees with the possessor).
~

Paula had an accident with her car.

 71 PTU1501/1

A minha maÄe so me

vem buscar aÁs 03H30 E o meu pai soÂ

vem aÁs 04H15

X IMPORTANT
Possessive adjectives are often preceded by the definite article.
This article is omitted when the possessive adjective is preceded
by a demonstrative adjective or a numeral. For example:

O meu livro e azul. (My book is blue.)

BUT
Estemeu livro e azul. (This book of mine is blue.)
Os meus amigos estaÄo ali. (My friends are there.)
BUT
Dois amigos meus estaÄo ali. (Two friends of mine are
there.)

Sometimes, contrary to English usage, the possessive adjective is omitted.

This happens with reference to parts of the body and articles of clothing if
their owner is the same as the subject of the verb.

Cortei a maÄo. (I cutmy hand.)

Ele abre os olhos. (He opens his eyes.)
Tirei o chapeÂu quando cheguei a casa. (I took off my hat when I
arrived home.)

Here follow a few examples of possessive pronouns and adjectives in

context:

Sr. Martins, aqui estaÂo seu livro.

Mr. Martins, here is your (de voceÃ) book.

Meninos, a vossa professora esta doente.

Children, your (de voceÃs) teacher is ill.

The possessive seu, sua, seus, suas, may be translated as both `yours' and
`his/hers/theirs'. In cases where confusion might arise the forms: dele,
 72

3
dela, deles, delas (literally: of his, of her, of theirs) are preferred when
translating his, hers and theirs.

Imagine that you meet your friend Marta and tell her:

Sabe, Marta, vi hoje a Alda com o seu marido.

Marta, I saw Alda today with (her?/your?) husband.

If Marta understands this seu as meaning Marta's own husband (`your

husband'), as she most certainly will, her marriage may end in divorce. To
avoid such a drama, you have to be clear. If you saw Alda with Alda's
husband, then you must say:

Sabe, Marta, vi hoje a Alda com o marido dela.

or simply:

Sabe, Marta, vi hoje a Alda com o marido.

ÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐÐ
3 As we have said before, the forms dele, dela, deles, delas agree in gender and number with the possessor, not the thing
possessed.
 73 PTU1501/1

UNIT 9
THE DEMONSTRATIVE `THIS', `THAT'/`THESE', `THOSE' AND THE
ADVERB `HERE', `THERE'

OBJECTIVE
To illustrate and contrast the usage of the demonstrative and of the
adverbs ``here'' and ``there'' in English and Portuguese.

The rendering in Portuguese of the demonstrative and of the adverbs `here'

and `there' needs special attention.

Demonstratives Adverbs
este esta estes estas aqui caÂ
{
{
this these here here
isto Ð this
(the space
(near me where the
or us in a speaker is in a
specific sense) general sense)
[near me or us]

esse essa esses essas aõÂ Ð

{
{

that those there

isso Ð that (near you or us
in a specific
sense)
[near you]

aquele aquela aqueles aquelas ali, aleÂm

{
{

acola laÂ
that those there there
aquilo Ð that

(near him/ her/ it/ them

(near him/her/ (a generic
or simply far from me and you)
it/them or sim- space where the
ply far from me speaker Ð the
and you) I Ð is not)
74
75 PTU1501/1
 76

Examples:

Este livro aqui e meu.

This book here is mine.

Esta pasta e minha.

This case is mine.

Estes laÂpis saÄo meus.

These pencils are mine.

Estas canetas saÄo tuas.

These pens are yours.

Isto e meu.
This is mine.

Isto aqui e meu.

This thing here is mine.

Esse laÂpis aõ e azul.

That pencil there (near you) is blue.

Aquela pasta ali e minha.

That case over there (far from both you and I) is mine.

Isto aqui e um laÂpis.

This thing here is a pencil.

Isso aõ e uma caneta.

That thing there (near you) is a pen.

Aquilo ali e uma lapiseira.

That thing over there (away from both me and you) is a lead pencil.

& Note the following dialogues:

РO que e isto? ``What is this (near me)?''
Ð Isso e um raÂdio. ``That (near you) is a radio.''
РO que e isso? ``What is that (near you)?''
РIsto e uma borracha. ``This (near me) is a rubber.''
РO que e aquilo? ``What is that (over there)?''
РAquilo e um prato. ``That (over there) is a plate.''
РEste livro e meu? ``Is this book (near me) mine?''
РSim, esse livro e teu. ``Yes, that book is yours.''
Ð Estas cadeiras saÄo novas? ``Are these chairs new?''
Ð Sim, essas cadeiras saÄo novas. ``Yes, those chairs are new.''
Ð Esta casa e muito antiga, naÄo eÂ? ``This is a very old house, isn't it?
Ð Sim, esta casa foi construõÂda no ``Yes, this house was built in the
th
seÂculo XVIII. 18 century.''

(This reply implies that both speakers are in the same house. If they
were having this conversation on the phone, and the first speaker was in
the house, the second speaker's reply would have to be:

Ð Sim, essa casa ... ``Yes, that house ...'')

 77 PTU1501/1

& Examples for ca and laÂ:

1. Ð Diz-me, JoaÄo, a Isabel esta ``Tell me, John, is Isabel at
ca (em casa)? home?''
Ð NaÄo, ela saiu ha pouco. ``No, she left a little while ago.''
Ð Sabes para onde foi? ``Do you know where she is gone
to?''
Ð NaÄo, mas acho que ia visitar ``No, but I think that she was
a avoÂ. going to visit Granny.''

(A few moments later)

Ð MamaÄ, telefonei para casa ``Mom, I phoned Granny's house

da avo e ela disse-me que a and she told me that Isabel is not
Isabel naÄo esta la . there.''

2. Ð Os meus pais naÄo vivem ca . ``My parents don't live here.
Eles vivem em Durban/ em They live in Durban/in
Portugal. Portugal.''
РAi sim? Ja vivem la ha ``Is that so? Have they been
muito tempo? living there for a long time?''

X Ca and la are often used as emphatic elements in spoken

Portuguese in which case they don't indicate place and are not
adverbs. They emphasize the subject. Ca emphasizes the first
person (eu, noÂs), whereas la emphasises the second and third
person (tu, voceÃ, ele, ela, voceÃs, voÂs, eles, elas). This emphasis is
given in English by means of inflexion or tonal stress:

Eu ca naÄo vou.

I am not going.
Tu la sabes.
It's up to you. / You know better.

Voceà la sabe.

You know better.
NoÂs ca vamos ver esse film.
We are going to see that film.
Venha la ! (voceÃ) / Vem la ! (tu)
Do come! (Trying to persuade the subject)
 78

UNIT 10
PAST PARTICIPLES

OBJECTIVE
To provide an easily accessible list of irregular and double past
participles.

Most verbs have only one past participle which may be regular or irregular.

SER Ð sido (irregular)

Eles teÃm sido muito agradaÂveis. (They have been very kind/pleasant.)

VER
?
Ð visto (irregular)
Eu tenho visto a tua irmaÄ regularmente. (I have been seeing your sister

?
regularly.)
O JoaÄo foi visto a sair do cinema. (JoaÄo was seen coming out of the
movies.)

PODER
?
Ð podido (regular)
NaÄo tenho podido telefonar-te. (I have not been able to phone you.)

TRAZER
?
Ð trazido (regular)
Ele tem trazido os miuÂdos aÁs aulas. (He has been bringing the children

?
to class.)
O bolo foi trazido pela Ana. (The cake was brought by Ana.)

A The most important verbs which have an irregular participle are:

abrir Ð aberto impor Ð imposto

cobrir Ð coberto pagar Ð pago
descobrir Ð descoberto poÃr Ð posto
dizer Ð dito prever Ð previsto
escrever Ð escrito ver Ð visto
fazer Ð feito vir Ð vindo
ganhar Ð ganho

A Some verbs have two past participles Ð a regular and an irregular one:

Regular Irregular
aceitar aceitado aceito/a(s) or aceite(s)
entregar entregado entregue(s)
expressar expressado expresso/a(s)
gastar gastado gasto/a(s)
matar matado morto/a(s)
salvar salvado salvo/a(s)
segurar segurado seguro/a(s)
soltar soltado solto/a(s)

acender acendido aceso/a(s)

eleger elegido eleito/a(s)
morrer morrido morto/a(s)
prender prendido preso/a(s)
romper rompido roto/a(s)
suspender suspendido suspenso/a(s)
 79 PTU1501/1

emergir emergido emerso/a(s)

exprimir exprimido expresso/a(s)
extinguir extinguido extinto/a(s)
imergir imergido imerso/a(s)
imprimir imprimido impresso/a(s)

A When a verb has two past participles, the regular past participle is

usually used in the compound tenses (ter/haver + regular past

participle) and the irregular one is usually used after the verbs ser,
estar, ficar, and a few others.
Ela tinha acendido as luzes.

She had switched on the lights.

As luzes estavam acesas.

The lights were on.

As luzes foram acesas.

The lights were switched on.

As luzes ficaram acesas.

The lights were left on.

Ele tinha aceitado a minha oferta.

He had accepted my offer.

O meu filho foi aceite na Escola, apesar de ja naÄo terem lugar.
My son was accepted by the school even though they were full.

in some cases, be used in

Even though the irregular past participle may,

the compound tenses (with the verbs ter/haver),

Ele tinha aceite a minha oferta.

He had accepted my offer.

we recommend that you keep to the rule given above, because this is not

acceptable with all verbs with double participles.

THE PASSIVE VOICE

. in the passive structure, the past participle has the value of an adjective

and therefore agrees in gender and number with the noun that it modifies;

. the auxiliary verb ser must be in the same tense as the main verb in the
active sentence.

e.g.:

trara Рfuture indicative)

JoaÄo trara o livro. (

O livro sera trazido por JoaÄo. (sera Рfuture indicative)

Note that when a verb has two participles, the irregular one is always
used in the passive voice.
 80

A How to change a sentence from the active to the passive voice?

(1) Identify the subject (who) and the direct object (what) of the active
sentence:

Jose Saramago escreveu vaÂrios romances

subject direct object

(2) Use the direct object in the active sentence as the subject of the
passive sentence:

vaÂrios romances (masculine plural)

subject

(3) Change the verb of the active sentence (in our case escreveu) to the
past participle and make it agree in gender and number with the new
subject:

escrever ? escritos (masculine plural)

(4) Conjugate the verb ser in the same tense as the main verb in the
original sentence:

escreveu Ð (Preterite)

eu fui, tu foste, ele foi Preterite of

noÂs fomos, voÂs fostes, eles foram*
} ser

(5) Use the person of the conjugated verb ser that agrees with the new
subject (* in our case, third person plural-foram).

VaÂrios romances foram escritos

(6) The subject of the active sentence becomes the agent of the passive
voice. It is placed after the verbs and preceded by the preposition
por.

VaÂrios romances foram escritos por Jose Saramago.

If the subject starts with a definite article, the preposition and

the article must be contracted (por + o = pelo; por + a = pela).

O pai castigou o filho. (Active voice)

O filho foi castigado pelo pai. (Passive voice)
 81 PTU1501/1

UNIT 11
USAGE OF DIFFERENT TENSES OF VERBS

OBJECTIVE
To highlight some special usages of verbal tenses in Portuguese.

When we speak of verbal tenses we must consider several moods: the

indicative mood, the subjunctive mood, the imperative mood and the
conditional mood. Within these moods there are different tenses, some of
which are simple (e.g. eu falo Ð I speak) and others are compound (e.g. eu
tinha falado Ð I had spoken). The compound tenses are formed with a
tense of the verbs ter or haver and the past participle of the verb whose
meaning is conveyed. If you see the verb ter on its own or followed by a
preposition and then a verb, it is not a compound tense (e.g. tenho muito
trabalho Ð I have a lot of work; tenho de ir aÁs compras Ð I have to go
shopping, etc.).

We will only touch upon some tenses of the indicative and of the
subjunctive mood in this chapter.

A The indicative mood expresses an action as factual (it conveys reality

and statements).

A The subjunctive mood expresses wishes, doubts, possibilities, etc. It is

usually used in subordinate clauses, or in sentences starting with Se ... ,
Quando ... , Talvez and others: desde que ... , a naÄo ser que ... , antes
que ... , logo que ... , assim que ... , mesmo que ... , por muito
que ... , ha quem ... , que ... , etc.

& Indicative Mood

. Present Tense (Presente do Indicativo)
The present tense agrees to a large extent in English and Portuguese
although there are a few important differences. In Portuguese it is used to
express:

Momentaneous present: Hojeesta sol. It is a sunny day.

Permanent state: A Terrae redonda. The earth is round.

Habitual action: Nem fumo nem bebo. I don't smoke and I don't drink.

Vou ao cinema todas I go to the movies every week.

as semanas.

Other examples:

Ð Trabalha(s) aqui? ``Do you work here?''

Ð Sim, trabalho. ``Yes, I do.
 82

Trabalho aqui ja ha muito tempo. I have been working here for a

long time.''

Ð E tu, onde trabalhas? ``And you, where do you work?''

Ð De momento naÄo trabalho para ``At the moment I am not working

ningueÂm. for anybody.

Trabalho por conta proÂpria. I work for myself.''

With time expressions, the present tense is used to express a future sense:

AmanhaÄ acabo o trabalho. I will finish the work tomorrow.

Ele chega amanhaÄ. He arrives tomorrow.

No proÂximo ano vou aÁ Europa. Next year I will go to Europe.

Hoje aÁ noite vou ao cinema. Tonight I am going to the movies.

When translating the English progressive (e.g. I am writing, I am going),

you have to be careful. If the English expresses an action to be performed in

the near future, it is rendered by the Present Tense in Portuguese. If it

expresses an action in progress, it is rendered by the present tense of

estar + a + infinitive.

Vou de feÂrias no proÂximo meÃs.

I am going on holiday next month.

(near future Ð Present Tense)

Estou a escrever uma carta ao meu pai.

I am writing my dad a letter.

(action in progress Ð estar + a + infinitive)

& Notice also these special constructions:

Eu vou acabar o trabalho. I am going to finish the work.

Eu tenho de acabar o trabalho. I have to finish the work.

(obligation)

Eu hei-de acabar o trabalho. I will finish the work.

(intention)

The present tense is used with the following expressions:

Ð desde ... since ... (a certain date or time)

The present tense is used for an action that has been going on since a

certain date or time and still is. The English has been can be misleading.

Estamos casados desde Junho. We have been married since June

(and we still are).

Vivo aqui desde Abril. I have been living here since

April.

Рha ... for ... (a certain period of time)

This structure ha translating ``for'' is a very important one to remember.

 83 PTU1501/1

When an action has been going on for a period of time, and still is, ha ... que
(lit. now it makes ...) states the length of time, and the following verb is in
the present indicative.
Ha cinco anos que naÄo o vejo. I haven't seen him for five
years.
Ha quinze anos que vivemos aqui. We have been living here for
fifteen years.
Ha dois meses que naÄo vou ao I haven't gone to a movie for
cinema. two months.
Ha quanto tempo trabalha? (For) How long have you been
working?

. Past Tenses
A Preterite: records, reports, narrates a completed action in the past:

Trabalhei hoje o dia inteiro. I worked the whole day today.

Trabalhei no Hospital Central I worked at the Central
durante 20 anos. Hospital for 20 years.
Ja acabei o trabalho. I have finished my work.
РOnde esta a Ana? РSaiu. ``Where is Ana?'' ``She has
gone out.''
NoÂs vimo-la sair. We saw her.
Vi hoje a Isabel. I saw Isabel today.
Hoje nadei a tarde inteira. I swam all afternoon today.
Estudei a tarde inteira. I studied all afternoon.
Passei duas horas com o advogado. I spent two hours with my
lawyer.
Vivi treÃs anos em Portugal. I lived in Portugal for three
years.

We may then conclude that the preterite is used to express an action or

state in the past without reference to repetition or continuity. The time
referred to may be close to the present or remotely past. It is the tense of
simple narration in the past. The preterite usually presents verbal action in
its completeness, ascribed to a particular moment or to a definite period of
time; it is used to indicate past action with a specific duration or a specific
beginning or a specific end.

The Portuguese Preterite translates both the simple past tense (-ed) as well
as the present perfect (have + -ed) in English.

A Imperfect: expresses a past action or condition in process; souvenirs,

habitual or repeated action, permanent or continuous past actions and a
past general fact opposed to a present one; it is used for politeness; in
colloquial language, it usually replaces the conditional tense:

Ele trabalhava apesar da mi- He kept on working in spite of my

nha presenc
Ë a. presence.
Quando eram criancËas, estuda- When they were children, they
vam juntos todos os dias. used to study together every day.
 84

Quando eu era crianc

Ë a, nunca When I was a child, I never went
ia ao cinema. to the movies.
Eles trabalhavam afincada- They were working hard when I
mente quando eu entrei. walked in.
Ele trabalhava aqui, quando He was working here when the
rebentou a guerra. war broke out.
Passava-me o sal? Will you pass me the salt, please?
Dizia-me as horas, por favor? Will you tell me the time, please?
Quando vivia em Lisboa, via a When I was living in Lisbon, I
minha maÄe todos os dias. used to see my mother everyday.
Quando estive de fe rias em When I was on holiday in Durban,
Durban, nadava todos os dias. I used to swim everyday.
Ontem, enquanto estudava, re- Yesterday, while I was studying, I
cebi um telefonema. received a phone call.
NoÂs eÂramos muito felizes. We were very happy.
A nossa casa em S. Tome naÄo Our house in S. Tome wasn't very
era muito grande. large.
Eu naÄ o sabia , naÄ o tinha a I didn't know, I didn't have the
mõÂnima ideia de que o JoaÄo se slightest idea that John had got
tinha casado. married.

The imperfect is used to express an action or state in the past as continuing,

repeated, or habitual. It can often, but not always, be conveniently
translated into English by the past progressive ( was or were + the
present participle), by kept on + the present participle, or by used to or
would + the infinitive. This tense is the tense we use when we describe
something in the past. The imperfect considers verbal action in its duration,
without indication of beginning or end (a state of mind free of time limits,
for instance, or an action repeated an indeterminate number of times).

. Future
Expresses future:

Partirei na proÂxima semana. I will leave next week.

However, in the spoken language it is used mainly to express suppositions

or uncertainty:

O Pedro trabalhara aqui? I wonder if this is where Peter

works?
Quantas cadeiras havera nesta I wonder how many chairs there
sala? are in this room.
 85 PTU1501/1

X Note that with time expressions, in the colloquial language, the

present tense is used instead of the future tense to express a
future sense:

No proÂximo ano vou a Angola. I will go to Angola next year.

Lavo o carro hoje aÁ tarde. I will wash the car this after-
noon.

In other expressions, the future tense is usually expressed,

colloquially, by the verb ir in the present tense+the infinitive of
the verb (this construction corresponds, to a large extent, to the
English `to be (present tense) + ... ing (present participle)'.

Vais viajar para a semana. You are going to travel next week.
Vamos trabalhar juntos. We are going to work together.

. Present Perfect
Expresses a continuous or constantly repeated action or a continuous state.
It does not correspond to the English `I have + p.p.', and is better
translated by the English Perfect Continuous (e.g. I have been buying).

Ultimamente tenho comprado o paÄo nesta padaria.

Lately I have been buying bread at this bakery.

Both the English Present Perfect (e.g. I have bought) and the English Simple
Past Tense (e.g. I bought) are translated by the Portuguese Preterite or the
Imperfect (see examples above).

. Past Perfect
The Past Perfect corresponds very much to its English equivalent and it
expresses an action that happened prior to another action:

Ele sabia que eu tinha comprado paÄ o.

He knew that I had bought bread.

& Subjunctive Mood

Most of the time, the indicative mood and the subjunctive mood are not
distinguishable in English, although sometimes the use of ``may'', ``might''
or ``should'' will indicate it. The subjunctive is generally introduced by
`que' and also by `quando' and `se'.

(1) In Portuguese, it is often used after verbs that suggest or request that
something be done:

Exigiu que ela viesse imediata- He demanded that she come at

mente. once.
Insistem que chegues a tempo. They insist that you be there on
time.
Sugiro que o fac
Ë a. I suggest that he do it.
 86

(2) It appears also after expressions of emotion, usually when hope is

implied:

Que o Senhor te abenc

Ë oe. May the Lord bless you.
Gostava tanto que o Jim esti- How I wish Jim were here.
vesse aqui.

(3) It is found in situations that involve unreality, that is, the indefinite,
uncertain, inconclusive, contrary to fact. In other words, it express
doubt:

EÂ possõÂvel que ele a conhec

Ë a. It is possible that he may know
her. (/ I think he might know her.)
Seja como for ... Be it as it may ...
Se eu fosse a ti, naÄo fazia isso. If I were you (but I'm not), I
wouldn't do it.
Se chover ... If it should rain ...
Duvido que falem portugueÃs. I doubt that they speak Portu-
guese.

X After impersonal expressions denoting doubt, the subjunctive is

used.

EÂ provaÂvel que ele venha amanhaÄ. (Subjunctive)

It is probable that he will come tomorrow.

If, however, the impersonal expression denotes certainty, the

indicative mood must be used in the subordinate clause:

EÂ verdade que ele vem hoje. (Indicative)

It is true that he is coming today.

(4) The colour, the warmth of an emotion Ð the fear, surprise, joy, pity,
etc. Ð expressed in the main clause produces the subjunctive in the
subordinate clause.

Alegro-me que (voceÃ) venha. I'm glad that you're coming.

Lamento que esteja doente. I'm sorry that he is sick.
EÂ pena que ele naÄo saiba. It's a pity he doesn't know.
Surpreende-me que ele o facËa. I'm surprised that he will do it.
Receio que naÄo chegue a tempo. I'm afraid that it won't arrive in
time.
Oxala naÄo seja tarde! Oh, how I hope it isn't late!
Oh, if only it weren't late!

(5) In relative clauses the Subjunctive is used if the antecedent is ill defined
or vague:

Tem uns sapatos que me sirvam? (Subjunctive)

Have you any shoes which might fit me?
 87 PTU1501/1

Tens uma mala que me emprestes?

Do you have a suitcase that you might lend me?

Havera algueÂm que o queira?

Will there be anyone who might want it?

Talvez a Ana more aqui.

Ana might live here.

BUT

Ha algueÂm que o quer. (Indicative)

There is someone who wants it.

Eu sei que a Ana mora aqui.

I know that Ana lives here.

X The Infinitive is used instead of the clause with the Sub-

junctive when there is no change of subject. Also in this case the
`que' is dropped.

Espero fazer boa viagem.

I hope to have a good trip.

Duvido poder fazer isto.

I doubt if I can do this.

BUT

Espero que voceÃs facËam boa viagem.

I hope you have a good trip.

Duvido que eles possam fazer isto.

I doubt they can do this.

For our purposes the most important tenses of the subjunctive are the
present (1), the imperfect past subjunctive (2) and the future (3). There will
be times, even at this stage, when other tenses would be preferable or even
obligatory but an in-depth knowledge of these is not required until next
year.
 88

APPENDIX

Phonetic Symbols

This appendix contains a list of Phonetic Symbols of the International Phonetic Association
(IPA).

These are the symbols that we have used, whenever necessary, in the guide.

This list was extracted from R.C. Willis: An Essential Course in Modern Portuguese,
1965:15±17.

[a] a very open vowel between the a of Standard English cat and father (cf. the a of
Northern English cat, mat): lado [ tladu].
[a] a very open vowel like e in jet or sell: ela [ tal/].
[e] a closed vowel, like ey in they, but without the English final [j] glide: devo [ tdevu].
[A] a short indistinct open vowel like i in family: fechar [fA tfr].
[i] a closed vowel like ee in seen, but shorter and sharper: mõÂ nimo [ tminimu].
[b] an open vowel like o in jolly: gosta [ tgbft/].
[o] a closed vowel like o in note, but without the English final [w] glide: boca [ tbok/].
[u] a closed vowel like oo in root: cru [kru].
[/] a neutral vowel between the a of Standard English bad and idea: cama [ tk/m/].
[I] a neutral vowel like the second e in general: pedir [pI $
t ir].
[aÄ], [b5], [e5], [A5], [oÄ], [u5] indicate the nasal vowels that correspond to the oral vowels
described above.
[p] unvoiced bilabial plosive like p in petrol: pata [ tpat/].
[b] voiced bilabial plosive like b in bad: bago [ tbaM u].
5
[t] unvoiced dental plosive like t in tug, but less aspirate and with tongue against top
front teeth: tarifa [t/ trif/].
[d] voiced dental plosive like d in dog, but less aspirate and with tongue against top front
teeth: dava [tdav/].
[k] unvoiced velar plosive like c in cat: caso [ tkazu].
[g] voiced velar plosive like g in good: gato [ tgatu].
[b5 ] voiced bilabial fricative: a ``buzzed'' b sound: lips as for English b; sustained sound as
for English v: lobo [tlob5 u].
[f] unvoiced labiodental fricative like f in fat: fala [ tfal/].
[v] voiced labiodental fricative like v in vase: vinho [ tvicu].
$
[ ] voiced dental fricative midway between d in dog and like th in this: steda [ tse $/].
[j] voiced palatal fricative

semi-consonant like y in yet: fiar [fjar].

{ semi-vowel like y in play: vai [vaj].
[M ] voiced velar fricative like the g of English gate, but with only the slightest contact of
5
the vocal organs: lago [ tlaM u].
5
[w] voiced velar fricative

semi-consonant like w in wet: voar [vwar].

{semi-vowel like w in mower: pau [paw].
[l] voiced alveolar lateral like l in let: lua [ tlu/].
[l] voiced palatal lateral like the lli in million, but with the l and y sounds more closely
associated: filho [ tfi1u].
[(] voiced velar lateral, like the l of English awl or fault; it is pronounced at the back of
the mouth: mal [ma(].
 89 PTU1501/1

[m] voiced bilabial nasal like m in mat: mapa [ tmap/].

[n] voiced alveolar nasal like n in net: nata [ tnat/].
[c] voiced palatal nasal like ni in onion, but with the n and y sounds more closely
associated: ninho [ tnicu].
[d] voiced velar nasal like the n in bank or sing: cinco [ tsA5dku].
[r] voiced alveolar vibrant like the trilled r of Scots bread: cara [tkar/].
[rr] voiced alveolar vibrant like the foregoing but with a multiple trill: carro [tkarru].
[00] voiced velar vibrant like [rr] but pronounced at the back of the mouth. It is a variant
of [rr], found mainly in Lisbon and SetuÂbal: carro [ tka00u].
[s] unvoiced dental sibilant like s in sat: saco [ tsaku].
[z] voiced dental sibilant like z in zebra: zelo [ tzelu].
[f] unvoiced palatal sibilant like sh in shout: chuva [ tfuv/].
[e] voiced palatal sibilant like s in measure: jogo [ teoM u].
5
[o~] and [w
~] indicate the nasalized semi-vowels that correspond to [j] and [w] above.
 90

Bibliography

Curso de PortugueÃs Ð QuestoÄes de GramaÂtica e Ë oÄes

Noc de Latim,
a
EnciclopeÂdia Estudo, 5 . EdicËaÄo, 1981, Porto: EdicËoÄes ASA.

Dias, E. M. et al.: Portugal Ð LõÂngua e Cultura, revised edition, 1978,

Newark: The Cabrilho Press.

Freire, N.A.: Larousse da ConjugacËaÄo, 1985, Paris: Libraire Larousse.

Williams, E.B.: An Introductory Portuguese Grammar. 1976, New York:

Dover Publications, Inc. (1942, 1969, F.S. Crofts & Co. N.Y.)

Willis, R.C.: An Essential Course in Modern Portuguese, 1965, London:

George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd.