Basic Portuguese

Learn Portuguese for free with our basic Portuguese lessons covering grammar, common vocabulary words, useful phrases, and conjugations for the basic verb tenses. Vocabulary for Brazilian Portuguese is included. Once you are done with this section, be sure to go on to Part 2 of our Portuguese lessons.

 



Table of Contents




Greetings

Hello.
Hi.
Good morning.
Good afternoon.
Good night.

Goodbye.
See you soon.
See you tomorrow.

How are you?

My name is...

Please.
Thank you.
 Olá.
Oi.
Bom dia.
Boa tarde.
Boa noite.

Tchau!
Até breve.
Até amanhã.

Como vai?

Meu nome é...

Por favor.
Obrigado/a





Subject Pronouns

Pronouns are words that are used in place of nouns. A subject pronoun indicates who or what performs the action of the sentence. Portuguese is similar to Spanish because they are both "pro-drop" languages, meaning the subject pronouns are usually omitted because the conjugations of the verbs will indicate the subject.


  Singular Plural
1st person eu (I) nós (we)
2nd person tu (you, familiar)  
3rd person ele (he)
ela (she)		 eles (they)
elas (they - if all females)

Note: The subject pronoun "vós" is no longer widely used in modern day Portuguese and therefore is omitted in all of our grammar lessons.





Colors

black
blue
brown
gold
gray
green
orange
pink
purple
red
silver
white
yellow		 preto
azul
marrom
de ouro
cinza; gris
verde
laranja
rosa
púrpura; roxo
vermelho
prateado
branco
amarelo





Vocabulary: Family

father
mother
husband
wife
son
daughter
brother
sister
grandfather
grandmother
grandson
granddaughter
uncle
aunt
nephew
niece
cousin [male]
coustin [female]
family		 pai
mãe
marido; esposo
mulher; esposa
filho
filha
irmão
irmã
avô
avó
neto
neta
tio
tia
sobrinho
sobrinha
primo
prima
família





Definite Articles

Here are the Portuguese definite articles. Notice that there are different forms for masculine and feminine and for singular and plural.

  Singular Plural
Masculine o os
Feminine a as

Examples:

o sapato
os sapatos
a mesa
as mesas



the shoe
the shoes
the table
the tables


When to use the definite article
1. When you are referring to nouns in general. A lot of times in English the definite article would be omitted for this usage.
2. When you are referring to a specific noun, or in other words, when we would use "the" in English.




Indefinite Articles

Here are the Portuguese indefinite articles. Notice that just like the definite articles, there are 4 different forms.

  Singular Plural
Masculine um  uns
Feminine uma umas

Examples:

um sapato
uns sapatos
uma mesa
umas mesas



a shoe
some shoes
a table
some tables


When to use the indefinite article
Indefinite articles are used when referring to non-specific things. They are the equivalent of "a" or "some" in English.





The Present Tense

Regular verbs in the present tense fall into three groups depending on the ending of the verb. There are "ar", "er", and "ir" verbs.

The present tense is formed by adding the appropriate ending to the stem of the verb.

Group 1: -ar Verbs

  Singular Plural
1st-person o  amos
2nd-person as  
3rd-person a am

eu falo
tu falas
ele/ela fala, você fala
nós falamos
eles/elas falam, vocês falam


Group 2: -er verbs

  Singular Plural
1st-person o emos
2nd-person es  
3rd-person e em

eu como
tu comes
ele/ela come, você come
nós comemos
eles/elas comem, vocês comem


Group 3: -ir verbs

  Singular Plural
1st-person o imos
2nd-person es  
3rd-person e em

eu parto
tu partes
ele/ela parte, você parte
nós partimos
eles/elas partem, vocês partem





Basic Adjectives

large
small
tall
short
loud
quiet
hard
soft
wet
dry
fast
slow
beautiful
ugly
young
old
thin (person)
fat (person)
friendly
rude
good
bad
happy
sad
funny
 grande
pequeno
alto
curto
barulhento
quieto
duro
macio; suave
molhado
seco
ligeiro; rápido
lento
lindo; belo
feio
jovem
velho
magro; esbelto
gordo
simpático
rude
bom
mau; ruim
contente; feliz
triste
engraçado





Vocabulary: The Human Body

body
skin
head
face
eye
nose
ear
mouth
lip
tongue
neck
shoulder
chest
arm
elbow
hand
finger
hip
thigh
leg
knee
ankle
foot
toe

heart
liver
lung
kidney
brain
 o corpo
a pele
a cabeça
a cara
o olho
o nariz
a orelha
a boca
o lábio
a língua
o pescoço
o ombro
o peito
o braço
o cotovelo
a mão
o dedo
o quadril
a coxa
a perna
o joelho
o tornozelo
o pé
a dedo

o coração
o fígado
o pulmão
o rim
o cérebro





Vocabulary: Clothing

shirt
t-shirt
sweater
jacket
coat
pants
jeans
skirt
belt
sock
shoe
sandal
swimsuit
bathrobe
dress
suit
tuxedo
tie
hat
necklace
bracelet		 uma camisa
uma camiseta
um suéter
uma jaqueta
um casaco
uma calça
uns jeans
uma saia
um cinto
uma meia
um sapato
uma sandália
um maiô
um roupão de banho
um vestido
um terno
um smoking
uma gravata
um chapéu
um colar
um bracelete





Gender of Nouns

In Portuguese, nouns are either masculine or feminine. It is necessary to memorize whether a noun is masculine or feminine when you learn it. There are a few rules that will help you recognize which gender a noun is based on its ending.

In general, nouns that end in "o" are masculine and those that end in "a" are feminine, although there are a few exceptions. (Although, nouns ending in "á" are usually masculine.)


Masculine Endings Feminine Endings
-o
-l
-r
-u
-z		 -a
-ade
-ção
-são




Vocabulary: Calendar Terms

Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

spring
summer
autumn
winter

second
minute
hour
day
week
month
season
year		 domingo
segunda-feira
terça-feira
quarta-feira
quinta-feira
sexta-feira
sábado

janeiro
fevereiro
março
abril
maio
junho
julho
agosoto
setembro
outubro
novembro
dezembro

a primavera
o verão
o outono
a inverno

o segundo
o minuto
a hora
o dia
a semana
o mês
a estação
o ano



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