Learning the Portuguese Language
The purpose of these notes is to help Linguata learners get the most out of their language program. We start by considering how to approach Portuguese words and then follow with a basic, ‘nuts and bolts’ grammar to help students understand how the phrases they learn are put together. This will make learning easier and prepare the ground for broadening the use of Portuguese if desired.
Common Ground
Portuguese is a Romance language therefore it is rooted in Latin. English also acquired many Romance words as it drew directly and indirectly upon Latin sources, and, like Portuguese, added continuously to its vocabulary from classical sources and neighbouring languages. There is therefore a huge supply of Portuguese words that are immediately recognisable to the English speaker, words such as problema, area, figura, delicioso, especial and generoso. The list of similar words increases as soon as you realize that the ending –dade is equivalent to –ity, as in electricidade, and -izar is equivalent to –ize, as in nacionalizar, ‘to nationalize’, while, less obviously, –ção is equivalent to –tion:
|
acçãon |
action |
|
attracção |
attraction |
|
estação |
station |
|
informação |
information |
|
nação |
nation |
|
recepcão |
reception |
A useful tip is to assume that –ã means that an –n has been dropped: if you try the effect of inserting one this will often give a clue as to the English equivalent: botão ‘button’, região ‘region’.
Nouns and Adjectives
Nouns may be masculine or feminine, singular or plural, and the adjectives that apply to them change accordingly, as do the definite and indefinite article. Most Portuguese nouns end in a vowel and form their plural by adding –s. The following table shows this typical form with a masculine and feminine noun preceded by their indefinite and definite articles:
|
Noun |
A (Indef. Sing) |
Some (Indef. Plur.) |
The (Def. Sing.) |
The (Def. Plur.) |
|
Book (m.) |
Um livro |
Uns livros |
O livro |
Os livros |
|
House (f.) |
Uma casa |
Umas casas |
A casa |
As casas |
The next table gives examples of some other plural forms:
|
Other Plurals |
Singular |
Plural |
Nouns ending in |
|
|
Woman (f.) |
Mulher |
Mulheres |
-r or -z |
|
|
Country (m.) Pencil (m.) |
País Lápis |
Países Lápis |
-s plus end stress -s without end stress |
|
|
Man (m.) |
Homem |
Homens |
-m |
|
|
Animal (m.) Paper (m.) Sun (m.) |
Animal Papel Sol |
Animais Papéis Soís |
-al, -el, -ol, -ul |
|
|
Lesson (f.) Brother (m.) |
Lição Irmão |
Lições Irmãos |
-ão |
