Work through the building blocks of European Portuguese, one lesson at a time.
Course progress
0/15 lessons
Ser vs. Estar
Portuguese has two verbs for “to be”. Ser = what something IS (identity). Estar = how something IS right now (state).
Articles (o, a, um, uma)
Every noun has a gender. Masculine nouns take o/um, feminine nouns take a/uma. Plurals: os/as, uns/umas.
Prepositions (em, de, para, a)
Small words that glue sentences together, and they contract: em + o = no, de + a = da, a + o = ao.
Subject pronouns (eu, tu, você)
Portuguese usually drops the pronoun because the verb ending shows who is acting. Você/o senhor is the polite you; tu is for friends.
Plurals
Most plurals just add -s. Words ending in -m change to -ns, and words ending in -l change to -is.
Asking questions
Questions keep normal word order and rise in intonation, or lead with the verb. Question words: onde, que, como, quando, quanto.
Word order
Adjectives usually follow the noun, unlike English. Fixed phrases and questions often lead with the verb.
Negation (não)
Put não before the verb to negate it. Não can also answer a question by itself.
Contractions (no, na, do, da, ao, à)
em and de contract with the articles, and so does a before o. These tiny words are everywhere.
estar + a + infinitive
European Portuguese marks ongoing actions with estar + a + infinitive. This is a hallmark of European Portuguese.
Feelings with estar com
Hunger, thirst, hurry and cold use estar com + noun, not an adjective.
Polite requests (queria, pode, por favor)
Use queria (I would like) or pode (can you, formal) + infinitive, and add por favor. It is softer than quero (I want).
Formal commands
The formal command is the ele/ela form of the verb. Use it with strangers; with friends use the tu form.
Exclamations with que
Que + noun or adjective builds exclamations, like English what or how.
Telling the time
Clock times always take the contraction às. Às dez em ponto means at ten sharp. De manhã = in the morning.
