Brazilian Portuguese grammar

Every grammar guide of Lingora’s Brazilian Portuguese A1 course, with examples you can listen to.

01Verbs: Present TenseThe present tense, or presente do indicativo, is used to talk about actions happening now, routines, general truths, and even some future events. Verbs…
02Pronouns: This & ThatDemonstrative pronouns are used to point out specific people or things, indicating their position relative to the speaker and the listener. They must…
03Personal PronounsPersonal pronouns identify who is performing an action. In Brazilian Portuguese, they are often omitted because the verb ending already indicates the…
04Possessive AdjectivesPossessive adjectives indicate who owns or possesses something. Unlike in English, they must agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular…
05Pronouns: Direct ObjectsA direct object is the person or thing that directly receives the action of a verb. To avoid repeating the noun, it can be replaced by a direct object…
06Definite ArticlesThe definite article, equivalent to 'the' in English, must agree in gender and number with the noun it precedes. Unlike in English, it is used more…
07Verbs: Present ProgressiveThe present progressive describes an action that is in progress. In Brazilian Portuguese, it is formed with the present tense of the verb estar (to be)…
08Expressing 'have to'To express obligation or necessity, equivalent to the English "have to" or "must," the verb ter (to have) is used in a specific structure. It is…
09Saying 'Thanks'The expression of gratitude is tied to the gender of the person speaking. The words obrigado and obrigada literally mean obliged, so they function like…
10Indefinite ArticlesThe indefinite articles are um, uma, uns, and umas. They correspond to "a," "an," or "some" in English and are used to introduce a noun in a general or…
11Verbs: Imperative MoodThe imperative mood is used to give direct commands, make requests, offer instructions, or give advice. In Brazilian Portuguese, the forms used for…
12Adjectives: DeclensionAdjectives describe nouns and must match, or "agree with," the gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) of the noun they modify.…
13Nouns: DeclensionIn Portuguese, nouns have a grammatical gender (masculine or feminine) and change to show number (singular or plural). Unlike languages such as German or…
14Joined Prepositions & PronounsIn Portuguese, certain prepositions must merge with the word that follows them, such as a definite article or a pronoun. This merging is called a…
15The Many Meanings of 'de'The preposition de is one of the most common and versatile words in Portuguese. Its meaning changes significantly depending on the context. A key feature…
16Verbs: Past TenseThe past tense is used to talk about actions, events, and states that occurred before the present moment. In Portuguese, there are two primary simple…
17Verbs: Imperfect TenseThe Imperfect Tense, or Pretérito Imperfeito do Indicativo, describes past actions that were ongoing, habitual, or incomplete. It focuses on the process…
18Indirect PronounsIndirect object pronouns replace the person or thing that indirectly receives the action of a verb. They typically answer the questions "to whom?" or…
19Verbs: Conditional MoodThe conditional mood, known as futuro do pretérito, describes actions that would happen under certain conditions. It is most often the equivalent of…
20Verbs: Subjunctive MoodThe subjunctive mood is used to talk about situations that are subjective or not considered facts. This includes expressing desires, doubts, emotions,…
21Past ParticiplesA past participle is a verb form that can be used to create compound tenses or function as an adjective.
22Expressing 'to be' (ser vs. estar)The verbs ser and estar both translate to 'to be' in English, but they are not interchangeable. The choice between them depends on whether you are…
23The Many Meanings of 'que'The word que is one of the most common and versatile words in Portuguese. It can function as a pronoun, a conjunction, an adverb, or part of a fixed…
24Pronouns: Following a VerbIn Portuguese, object pronouns can be attached to the end of a verb using a hyphen. This is known as ênclise. While common in formal and written…
25Reflexive PronounsReflexive pronouns indicate that the subject of a verb is also its object. The action of the verb "reflects" back onto the person or thing performing it.…
26Past Perfect with 'ter'The past perfect tense, known as the pretérito mais-que-perfeito composto, is used to describe an action that happened before another action in the past.…