Portuguese vs. English Grammar: A Quick Guide

Curious how similar Portuguese grammar is to English? While both languages share a common ancestor in the Indo-European family, placing them in the same broad category, they’ve also branched out over time.

Accordingly, Portuguese belongs to the Romance language family, while English falls under Germanic languages. This familial difference leads to some relevant grammatical differences that set them apart. Let’s dive in.

Common Features

Portuguese and English originate from the same large language family: the Indo-European languages. As such, both tongues share much in common, even if their similarities are not that apparent to many of us.  

SVO-Languages

Portuguese and English are SVO languages (SVO stands for Subject-Verb-Object). Let’s look at a simple example:

S > V >O
O Pedro comprou um carro.
Pedro bought a car.

In the sentences above, Pedro is the subject (S), bought/comprou the verb (V), and car/carro the object (O). As you can see, either language follows the same word order.

While both languages might have exceptions where sentences stray from the SVO structure, SVO still reigns supreme as the standard word order.

Terminology

Are you already familiar with basic English grammar terminology? That’d give you a head start on Portuguese grammar. Both languages use similar terminology and approaches to grammar and syntax.

Like in English, Portuguese categorizes most words into four main groups: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. These are considered “open classes” because new words constantly join the club, while older ones fade away over time.

Likewise, both languages share the same set of “closed classes” (aka function words), including articles, prepositions, pronouns, numerals, and conjunctions.

S-Plural

English and Portuguese take the same basic approach to forming plurals – adding an “s” to the end of nouns. This is known as the s-plural. However, Portuguese throws in a few more curveballs with exceptions compared to English. Despite these, the s-plural remains the most common way to form plurals in Portuguese.

Learn more about plural-forming patterns: How to Form Plurals in Portuguese.

Distinct Features

Verbs

The Portuguese verb system is far more intricate than the English: we have a wider variety of conjugations (within each tense) reflecting contextual subtleties. Besides, each conjugational set has distinct verb forms for each person. Take the Present tense of ter (have) as an example:

Preterite vs Imperfect

Speaking of a wider variety of conjugations. One thing that trips up many language learners is realizing the difference between the Preterite and Imperfect (Past tense). While we use the Preterite to refer to completed and punctual actions, the latter conveys continuity and repetition:

Preterite
Ontem comi um bolo.
Yesterday I ate a cake.

Imperfect
Atigamente, comia um bolo todos os dias.
Before, I used to eat a cake every day.

Understanding and mastering these nuances can be tricky and takes time.

Learn more about the Preterite vs Imperfect: Portuguese Perfect vs. Imperfect Tense: Know When to Use Either.

2 To-Be Verbs

Portuguese, like several other Romance languages, has two verbs corresponding to the English verb “to be”: “ser” and “estar”.

Shortly, we use “ser” and “estar” to refer to permanent and temporary states respectively:

Permanent State
Tu és uma pessoa alegre. (ser)
You are a happy person.

Temporary State
Tu hoje estás alegre. (estar)
You seem happy today.

Learn more about “ser” and “estar”: Portuguese Verbs ‘Ser’ and ‘Estar’- When to Use Either.

Subjunctive Mood 

English and Portuguese differ greatly in their use of the Subjunctive Mood. This mood is used to express desires, hypotheticals, or uncertainties.

Over time, English has largely eliminated distinct subjunctive verb forms, making them identical to those used for the indicative mood, so much so that many native speakers might not even realize it exists. For example, the verb “go” in the sentence “I suggest you go home” is actually in the subjunctive mood.

On the other hand, Portuguese, like other Romance languages, has retained a distinct subjunctive mood with unique verb conjugations that set it apart from the indicative mood. This means, once more, that students will have to keep track of many more verb forms.

Learn more about the Subjunctive: Portuguese Present Subjunctive.

Possession Marker

English and Portuguese use a reversed word order to indicate possession as illustrated next:

O carro da Sara. (~ the car belonging to Sara)
Sara’s car.

Notice that we use the preposition de to indicate possession (placed in between the possessed thing and the possessor).

Learn more about “de”: Portuguese Preposition “De”: A Usage Guide.

Articles

In Portuguese, possessive pronouns are normally preceded by a definite article:

A minha casa é branca.
My house is white.

O meu casaco is castanho escuro.
My jacket is dark brown.

The same happens with proper nouns:

A Joana ficou em casa.
Joana stayed home.

Olá, eu sou o Ricardo.
Hi, I’m Ricardo.

Learn more about Portuguese Possessives: Portuguese Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives.

Prepositions

Portuguese prepositions often contract with other words, namely articles. A few examples:

Preposition “a”

Eu vou ao cinema. (ao= a + o cinema)
I am going to the cinema. 

Preposition “de”

Eu venho da cidade. (da= de +a cidade)
I come from the city. 

Preposition “em”

Ela está no quarto de banho. (no = em + o quarto de banho)
She is in the bathroom.

Learn more about Portuguese prepositions: Basic Portuguese Prepositions and Contractions: An Inclusive Usage Rundown.

Subject Omission

It is common to leave out the subject in sentences. Since there is a verb form for each person, the latter is then implicit:

(Eu) Gosto de música > I like music
(Tu) Gostas de música > You like music

Also, you often leave out the subject when the same is impersonal:

(As pessoas) dizem que os eventos climáticos extremos acontencerão com maior frequência no futuro.
People say that extreme weather events will be more frequent in the future.

Finally, there isn’t any it-equivalent to refer to things. Those sentences that in English start with it take no subject in Portuguese:

Está a chover!
It is raining!

Não é justo!
It is not fair!

Gender 

Portuguese, like other Romance languages, is gender-entangled. See, nouns are either feminine or masculine and that has ripple effects across the language.

For instance, other word classes such as pronouns, adjectives, and articles will change their endings to conform to gender (of the noun they refer to). This is easily illustrated with an example:

(1) A minha cadeira é vermelha. (cadeira is feminine)
(2) O meu carro é vermelho. (carro is masculine)

(1) My chair is red.
(2) My car is red.

As you see above, only the verb (“é”) is kept unchanged. Otherwise, all other words adjust to match gender.

Learn more about gender: Gender of Portuguese Words.

Diminutive/Augmentative

The use of the diminutive and augmentative in Portuguese is commonplace. We use these not only to hint at size but also as a form of endearment or even belittlement (when used with irony). 

The most common way to form diminutives by swapping endings to -inho:

Que gatinho bonito! (gato)
What a cute little cat!

Onde está o nosso Joãozinho? (João)
Where is our little John?

Conversely, we often use the suffix –ão to form the augmentative:

Que tigrão! (tigre)
What a big tiger!

No Auxiliary Verb

In Portuguese, yes-or-no questions have the same word order as declarative sentences. What differs is only the intonation.

In English, on the other side, yes-or-no questions are often formulated with the auxiliary verb to do:

(1) Gostas gelado?
(2) Gostas de gelado.

(1) Do you like ice cream?
(2) You like ice cream.

Learn more about questions and interrogatives: Asking Questions in Portuguese: Question Words and Beyond