Portuguese language

Grammar

Portuguese makes a clear distinction between the different word classes, that include verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, articles, conjunctions and interjections. There are also some other determiners and particles.

Related Topics:
Word classes - Verb - Noun - Pronoun - Adjective - Adverb - Preposition - Articles - Conjunction - Interjection - Determiner - Particle

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Verbs

Verbs are divided into three conjugations, which can be identified by looking at the infinitive ending, one of "-ar", "-er", "-ir" (and "-or", which is present in a small number of verbs ,like "pôr" (to put). This verb pertains, however, to the "-er" conjugation, as in past it was spoken "poner", then "poer" then "pôr".). Most verbs end with "-ar", such as cantar (to sing). All verbs with the same ending follow the same pattern.

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In Portuguese, verbs appear in distinct moods:

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• Imperative, used to express wish, command or advice.
• Indicative, used in the main clauses of declarative sentences.
• Subjunctive (conjuntivo). Used to express the content of a wish, a possibility or, in subordinate clauses, something denied in the main clause.
• Conditional, which is described as a distinct mood in some grammars, mostly in Portugal, less frequently in Brazil (see below).

Along with moods, there are non-finite verb forms:

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• Infinitive
• Gerund
• Past participle (or passive participle)

There is no present or active participle in Portuguese, but many adjectives come from Latin present participles and carry more or less the same meaning. Some neologisms are created in the same pattern. Unlike English, these "present participles" are not identical in form with gerund.

Related Topics:
Latin - Neologism - English

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Perhaps the most distinctive trait of the Portuguese language is the occasional inflection for person of the infinitive verb. The sentence Está na hora de irmos embora ("It is time that we leave") contains an example of such: the verb to go ("ir") is in the infinitive, but the personal infinitive: it contains a personal ending (-mos) for the first person plural, in accordance to Portuguese verb conjugation. In fact, Portuguese grammar allows the infinitive to be inflected this way, and it is even obligatory to use it in certain constructions, as the one in the example. Some other times, a personal infinitive clause is interchangeable with a finite subordinate clause. For instance, the two following clauses are synonymous, the finite one being more formal:

Related Topics:
Inflection - Person - Infinitive - Portuguese verb conjugation - Portuguese grammar - Clause - Subordinate clause - Synonymous - Formal

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:Faço isto para teres mais tempo. (infinitive)

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:Faço isto para que tenhas mais tempo. (finite)

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:(I do it so that you have some more time.)

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Personal infinitive has two proper tenses, present and perfect. Other tenses are replaced by periphrastic structures. The previous example showed present infinitive. The following lines give an example of past infinitive and an equivalent finite clause:

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:É bom teres tido tempo para isso. (past infinitive)

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:É bom que tenhas tido tempo para isso. (past finite clause)

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:(It's good that you had the time for that.)

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In this example, the difference between finite and infinitive clauses is not only of formality. The infinitive form asserts that "you" had the time; the finite one gives it only as a possibility.

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Portuguese subjunctive mood is very rich and varied. It has almost as many tenses as the indicative, namely present, perfect, imperfect, pluperfect and future, not mentioning periphrastic structures. In regular verbs, subjunctive future, which is uncommon in Indo-European languages, is identical to personal infinitive, but not in irregular verbs. And its role is obviously very different.

Related Topics:
Tenses - Present - Perfect - Imperfect - Pluperfect - Future - Regular verb - Indo-European

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Portuguese conditional mood is often described as a tense, namely the "future of the preterite". It has two forms, that can be rendered as the "future of the (perfect or imperfect) past" (for instance iria, would go) and the "future of the pluperfect" (for instance teria ido, would have gone). Periphrastic structures provide other tenses. Conditional is found more often in formal than in informal speech, where it is commonly replaced by the imperfect tense.

Related Topics:
Preterite - Imperfect tense

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Another interesting feature of Portuguese verbs is the existence of two or three equivalent forms for some past tenses, either in the indicative or in the subjunctive, but something similar happens in French and Spanish perfect tenses. For instance, in the indicative pluperfect it is possible to use either the auxiliary verbs ter (from Latin tenere) and haver (from Latin habere) or a simple form. He had gone could be translated either as Ele tinha ido, Ele havia ido or Ele fora. The two latter options, however, are much less common in oral and informal languages. The simple form (fora) would be sometimes seen as archaic or literary.

Related Topics:
French - Spanish - Pluperfect - Auxiliary verb - Archaic - Literary

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Nouns and adjectives

All Portuguese nouns have one of two genders: masculine or inclusive and feminine or exclusive. Most adjectives and pronouns, and all articles indicate the gender of the noun they reference. The feminine gender in adjectives is formed in a different way from that in nouns. Most adjectives ending in a consonant remain unchanged: homem superior (superior man), mulher superior (superior woman). This is also true for adjectives ending in "e": homem forte (strong man), mulher forte (strong woman). Except for this, the noun and the adjective must always be in agreement: homem alto (tall man), mulher alta (tall woman).

Related Topics:
Genders - Adjective - Pronoun - Gender

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An interesting trait of portuguese language is the use of definite articles (o, a, os, as) before most proper names of persons, except in formal usages when there is no title before the name:

Related Topics:
Article - Proper name

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:A Maria foi-se embora. (Maria left.) (informal)

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:Maria Teixeira foi-se embora. (Maria Teixeira left.) (formal and mostly written)

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:A Sr.ª Maria foi-se embora. (Ms. Maria Teixeira left.) (formal)

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Proper names of places (planets, continents, countries, cities, etc.) may need or exclude definite articles, in accordance to complex rules and frequent exceptions. For instance, names of countries geographically closer to Portugal are not usually preceded by an article, e.g., Espanha (Spain), Inglaterra (England), França (France). But these names will be preceded by an article when they are regarded not as names of places, but as names of political active entities:

Related Topics:
Planet - Continent - Countries - Cities - Spain - England - France

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:Este vento vem de Espanha. (This wind comes from Spain.)

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:A primeira proposta na ONU veio da Espanha. (literally: The first proposal at the UN came from the Spain.)

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Most countries, on the contrary, have their names preceded by an article, e.g., a Alemanha (Germany), a China (China), o Congo (Congo), a Argentina (Argentina), a Suécia (Sweden), etc. Portugal is never preceded by a definite article, and the same happens with some of its former colonies (Angola, Cabo Verde, Moçambique and Timor). Brazil and Guiné are always preceded by o and a, respectively.

Related Topics:
Germany - China - Congo - Argentina - Sweden - Colonies

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See also: Portuguese pronouns, Portuguese verb conjugation

Related Topics:
Portuguese pronouns - Portuguese verb conjugation

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