Brazilian Portuguese Grammar

Brazilian Portuguese Grammar

A conversation-first grammar of Brazilian Portuguese. Each lesson takes about five minutes. Chapters are ordered by how soon you need them in everyday conversation, so you can read from the top — but every lesson also stands on its own.

2 of 75 lessons written

1 Who's Talking: Pronouns, Ser and Estar

Say who you are, how you are, and where you're from.

  1. 01-01 Subject pronouns: eu, você, a gente…
  2. 01-02 Ser (1): Eu sou… / Você é…
  3. 01-03 Estar (1): Tudo bem? / Estou bem
  4. 01-04 Ser vs. estar: the core distinction
  5. 01-05 Saying no: não
  6. 01-06 Yes/no questions and short answers

2 Present Tense: Everyday Verbs

Talk about what you do, like, want, and have.

  1. 02-01 Regular -ar verbs: falar, morar, trabalhar
  2. 02-02 Regular -er verbs: comer, beber, entender
  3. 02-03 Regular -ir verbs: abrir, partir, assistir
  4. 02-04 Ter: to have (and 'there is')
  5. 02-05 Ir: to go
  6. 02-06 Querer and poder: want and can
  7. 02-07 Gostar de: likes and dislikes
  8. 02-08 Fazer, saber, conhecer
  9. 02-09 Estar + -ndo: what's happening right now

3 Nouns and Articles

Gender, plurals, and the little words in front of nouns.

  1. 03-01 Masculine and feminine nouns
  2. 03-02 The: o, a, os, as
  3. 03-03 A/an and some: um, uma, uns, umas
  4. 03-04 Making plurals
  5. 03-05 Contractions: no, na, do, da, pro…

4 Asking Questions

Get the information you need in a conversation.

  1. 04-01 O que, quem, onde
  2. 04-02 Quando, como, por que
  3. 04-03 Quanto and qual
  4. 04-04 Tag questions: né?, não é?

5 Plans and the Future

Talk about what you're going to do.

  1. 05-01 Vou + infinitive: I'm going to…
  2. 05-02 Preciso, quero, tenho que + infinitive
  3. 05-03 Time words: hoje, amanhã, semana que vem

6 Describing People and Things

Adjectives, intensity, and comparisons.

  1. 06-01 Adjective agreement
  2. 06-02 Where adjectives go
  3. 06-03 Muito, pouco, bem, meio
  4. 06-04 Comparisons: mais… (do) que
  5. 06-05 Superlatives and -íssimo

7 This, That, and Whose

Point at things and say who they belong to.

  1. 07-01 Esse, essa, isso (and este, aquele)
  2. 07-02 Meu, minha, seu, sua
  3. 07-03 Dele, dela: avoiding ambiguity with seu

8 Places and Prepositions

Say where things are and where you're going.

  1. 08-01 Em: in, on, at
  2. 08-02 De: from, of
  3. 08-03 Para / pra and com
  4. 08-04 Aqui, aí, ali, lá
  5. 08-05 Tem vs. há: there is / there are

9 Numbers, Time, and Dates

Prices, times, days, and dates.

  1. 09-01 Numbers 0–20
  2. 09-02 Numbers 21–1000
  3. 09-03 Telling the time
  4. 09-04 Days of the week and dates

10 Talking About the Past

Tell people what happened.

  1. 10-01 Preterite of -ar verbs: falei, falou
  2. 10-02 Preterite of -er and -ir verbs
  3. 10-03 Fui: the past of ser and ir
  4. 10-04 Tive, estive, fiz: common irregular pasts
  5. 10-05 Imperfect: what used to happen
  6. 10-06 Preterite vs. imperfect

11 Object Pronouns, the Brazilian Way

Me, you, him, her — as Brazilians actually say them.

  1. 11-01 Me and te
  2. 11-02 Ele/ela as objects in speech (vs. o/a)
  3. 11-03 Lhe and para você
  4. 11-04 Where object pronouns go in Brazil

12 Requests, Offers, and Commands

Ask for things politely and tell people what to do.

  1. 12-01 Polite requests: pode…?, queria…
  2. 12-02 Everyday commands: fala!, olha!
  3. 12-03 Negative commands: não faz isso
  4. 12-04 Invitations and suggestions: vamos…?

13 Connecting Ideas

Build longer sentences.

  1. 13-01 E, mas, ou
  2. 13-02 Porque, então, por isso
  3. 13-03 Quando, se, enquanto
  4. 13-04 Que: the all-purpose connector

14 Reflexive Verbs and Ficar

Get up, sit down, stay, become.

  1. 14-01 Reflexive verbs: me chamo, se sentar
  2. 14-02 Ficar: stay, become, be located

15 The Subjunctive (Essentials)

Wishes, doubts, and 'if' — the forms you hear daily.

  1. 15-01 What the subjunctive is for
  2. 15-02 Present subjunctive: forms
  3. 15-03 Tomara que, espero que, quero que
  4. 15-04 Future subjunctive: quando você puder
  5. 15-05 Past subjunctive: se eu fosse

16 Conditionals and Compound Tenses

Would, could, have done.

  1. 16-01 Conditional: eu faria / eu ia fazer
  2. 16-02 Tenho feito: the present perfect
  3. 16-03 Tinha feito: the pluperfect

17 Sounds and Spelling

Reference chapter: read Portuguese aloud with confidence.

  1. 17-01 Vowels and nasal sounds
  2. 17-02 Brazilian te/de and the 'r' sounds
  3. 17-03 Accent marks and stress