English-Portuguese Cognates – The #1 hack to Boost Your Portuguese Vocabulary

Here you are, learning a new language and probably assuming that you are starting from ground zero. What if that’s not the case at all?  What if you are actually more acquainted with Portuguese than you thought you were?

In this article, I will show you a powerful hack to dramatically grow your Portuguese vocabulary, in no time!

See, if you are familiarized with English, you already know thousands of Portuguese words. Yes, you’ve been sitting on a huge vocab reservoir right from the start without even noticing it.

Let me elaborate. Cognates, more specifically English-Portuguese cognates, create a considerable vocab overlap between these two languages.

Cognates?

Cognates are words that, having a common root, look similar on both ends while sharing the same meaning. English and Portuguese share thousands of words stemming from either Latin or Greek, thus the abundance of cognates.

In this post, I am giving you more than just a random list of common English-Portuguese cognates (e.g., banana, radio, natural, animal, etc). Instead, you will be learning to use your pre-existent knowledge in English by pointing it toward Portuguese – it will exponentially increase your Portuguese vocabulary overnight. Powerful!

It is actually straightforward. You will be mining your English vocab by converting English words to their Portuguese counterparts – all it takes is a few tweaks in spelling and pronunciation.

Let’s get started.

Spanish speakers! Read an analogous article concerning Portuguese-Spanish cognates: Portuguese-Spanish Cognates and False Friends.

Noun cognates

Group 1: …ion > …ão 

This group is the largest within the noun category. Due to slight variations in the spelling patterns, it can be divided into three subgroups.

Common to all the subgroups: nearly all Portuguese cognates are feminine words. Also, all these cognates are stressed on the last syllable and produce a nasal diphthong sound (indicated by the tilde accent).

Let’s look into each subgroup and its cognates:

…tion > …ção

This subgroup comprises English nouns ending with –tion and their Portuguese counterparts with -ção. Here’re some examples:

…tion	…ção
station	a estação
nation	a nação
animation	a animação
alteration	a alteração
education	a educação
assimilation	a assimilação
introduction	a introdução
operation	a operação
. . .	. . .

…sion > …são

The cognates in this subgroup take the endings -sion and -são on the English and Portuguese ends respectively.

Note that the endings –ção (previous subgroup) and –são produce different consonant sounds, namely, an unvoiced sibilant (as in simple) and a voiced one (as in zebra) respectively. A few examples:

…sion	…são
division	a divisão
transfusion	a transfusão
conclusion	a conclusão
invasion	a invasão
aversion	a aversão
dimension	a dimensão
precision	a precisão
confusion	a confusão
. . .	. . .

…ssion > …ssão

The English nouns in this subgroup end in –ssion, whereas the Portuguese counterparts end with –ssão *. A few examples:

* Note that the double ss in –ssão renders an unvoiced sibilant, just like the ç in –ção does. If you want to learn more about Portuguese phonology and spelling patterns, go ahead and read this article:  Portuguese Pronunciation: A Helpful Guide to Portuguese Basic Sounds and Spelling Patterns.

…ssion	…ssão
compression	a compressão
recession	a recessão
progression	a progressão
profession	a profissão
emission	a emissão
session	a sessão
mission	a missão
digression	a digressão
…	…

Group 2: …ism > …ismo

In this group, we’ve got English and Portuguese cognates ending with -ism and -ismo respectively. The Portuguese words in this group are masculine.

Note that the letter s in -ismo produces a similar voiced sound to the s in measure.  Finally, keep in mind that the stress falls on the next-to-last syllable. Here’re some examples:

…ism	…ismo
rationalism	o racionalismo
regionalism	o regionalismo
communism	o comunismo
capitalism	o capitalismo
organism	o organismo
pacifism	o pacifismo
conformism	o conformismo
racism	o racismo
. . .	. . .

Group 3: …gram > …grama

The English and Portuguese cognates in this group take the suffix -gram and -grama respectively. The Portuguese words are masculine and the stress falls on the next-to-last syllable:

…gram	…grama
diagram	o diagrama
program	o programa
ideogram	o ideograma
gram	o grama
kilogram	o quilograma
telegram	o telegrama
seismogram	o sismograma
pictogram	o pictograma
. . .	. . .

Group 4: …ity > …dade

This group consists of English and Portuguese cognates ending with -ity and -dade respectively. Most of the Portuguese words in this group are feminine.

Note how that vowel e in -dade is hardly pronounced (as if the words ended with the consonant d). The stress is on the next-to-last syllable:

…ity	…dade
responsibility	a responsabilidade
superficiality	a superficialidade
functionality	a funcionalidade
flexibility	a flexibilidade
compatibility	a compatibilidade
productivity	a produtividade
spirituality	a espiritualidade
visibility	a visibilidade
. . .	. . .

Adjective cognates

Group 5: …ist > …ista

All English-Portuguese cognate pairs in this group end with -ist and -ista respectively. Note that many of the adjectives in this group are names of professions/occupations and can, thus, be also treated as nouns. Here’s an example:

Adjective
O António é pianista.
Anthony is a pianist.

Noun
O pianista toca amanhã.
The pianist is playing tomorrow.

Note! Ending with an a in the masculine form, these adjectives always keep the same form regardless of whether they refer to masculine or feminine words.

Tips! To learn more about gender in the Portuguese language read the following article: Disentangling Gender with Portuguese Masculine-to-Feminine Spelling Patterns.

And because gender and number go hand in hand, you might also be interested in this one: Forming the Plural in Portuguese: Singular-to-Plural Conversion Patterns You Need to Care About.

Finally, that s in -ista renders an unvoiced fricative sound similar to sh in sheet. Once again, the stress falls on the next-to-last syllable. Here’re some examples:

…ist	…ista
epidemiologist	epidemiologista
pianist	pianista
alpinist	alpinista
dentist	dentista
geneticist	geneticista
sentimentalist	sentimentalista
altruist	altruista
existentialist	existencialista
. . .	. . .

Group 6: …ent > …ente

All the words in this group end with -ent and -ente in English and Portuguese respectively. Since the Portuguese adjectives end with the letter e, they are invariable regardless of whether they refer to masculine or feminine words.

Again, note the nearly nonexistent e-sound and the word stress on the next-to-last syllable:

…ent	…ente
insufficient	insuficiente
permanent	permanente
competent	competente
correspondent	correspondente
independent	independente
intelligent	inteligente
existent	existente
consistent	consistente
. . .	. . .

Group 7: …ble > …vel

The English words in this group end with -ble, whereas the Portuguese, with -vel. Ending with a consonant, these Portuguese adjectives look the same whether they refer to masculine or feminine nouns.

Note that the stress falls on the next-to-last syllable (in this case, you actually have the acute accent indicating that). A few examples:

…ble	…vel
considerable	considerável
possible	possível
probable	provável
incredible	incrível
visible	visível
irreversible	irreversível
intelligible	inteligível
convertible	convertível
. . .	. . .

Group 8: …ar > …ar

This group consists of English-Portuguese cognates that end with -ar on both ends. Ending with a consonant, the Portuguese adjectives remain invariable regardless of the gender of the word they refer to.

Note that all Portuguese words ending with r are stressed on the last syllable *. Here’re some examples:

* Further reading! Learn more about Portuguese word stress: Portuguese Word Stress and Accent Marks.

…ar	…ar
molecular	molecular
cellular	celular
curricular	curricular
rectangular	retangular
nuclear	nuclear
popular	popular
familiar	familiar
similar	similar
. . .	. . .

Group 9: …ic > …ico/a

The English adjectives in this group end with -ic, while the Portuguese with either -ico or –ica depending on the gender of the word they refer to, that is, -ico for masculine words and -ica for feminine.

Note that the stress falls on the third-from-last syllable. In this case, all words have a diacritical accent indicating the stress:

…ic	…ico/a
magnetic	magnético/a
transatlantic	transatlântico/a
electric	elétrico/a
anthropogenic	antropogénico/a
problematic	problemático/a
logic	lógico/a
parametric	paramétrico/a
paradigmatic	paradigmático/a
. . .	. . .

Group 10: …ive > …ivo/a

In this group, the English cognates end with -ive, whereas the Portuguese with -ivo or -iva depending on if the adjective in question refers to a masculine or feminine word correspondingly.

The word stress falls on the next-to-last syllable. A few examples:

…ive	…ivo/a
competitive	competitivo/a
aggressive	agressivo/a
conservative	conservativo/a
expressive	expressivo/a
creative	creativo/a
respective	respetivo/a
persuasive	persuasivo/a
repetitive	repetitivo/a
. . .	. . .

Group 11: …ous > …oso/a

The English cognates of this group end with -ous whereas the Portuguese with either -oso or –osa, depending on if they refer to either a masculine or feminine word.

While this group is definitely not the most numerous one, there still are quite a few words in it. The word stress falls on the next-to-last syllable. A few examples:

…ous	…oso/a
religious	religioso/a
contagious	contagioso
prestigious	prestigioso/a
mysterious	misterioso/a
glamorous	glamoroso/a
vigorous	vigoroso/a
curious	curisoso/a
sinuous	sinuoso/a
. . .	. . .

Adverb/verb cognates

Group 12: …ly > …mente

The adverbs in this group end with the suffix -ly in English and with -mente in Portuguese. Note that all adjectives of the previous group (group 10) become adverbs and members of this group if you add the endings -ly (English) and -mente (Portuguese) to them.

Again, the e-sound at the end of these adverbs is hardly noticeable. Finally, note that the word stress falls on the next-last-syllable. Here’re some examples:

…ly	…mente
regularly	regularmente
particularly	particularmente
originally	originalmente
finally	finalmente
vulgarly	vulgarmente
peculiarly	peculiarmente
spectacularly	espetacularmente
normally	normalmente
. . .	. . .

Group 13: …ate > …ar

This group contains English verbs ending with -ate whose Portuguese counterparts end with -ar. The stress is on the last syllable. A few examples:

…ate	…ar
integrate	integrar
celebrate	celebrar
regulate	regular
orientate	orientar
participate	participar
proliferate	proliferar
coordinate	coordinar
perpetuate	perpetuar
. . .	. . .

Tips! There are other English-Portuguese commonalities making Portuguese quite accessible for those who are acquainted with English. Learn more about it: Portuguese Grammar Compared to English.

English-Portuguese false friends

There are a few English-Portuguese false friends, or false cognates if you will. Looking quite similar, these are words that people often assume to have the same meaning. Except that they don’t.

False friends often lead to funny, sometimes embarrassing, situations. It’s good to keep an eye on them.

Here’s a list with a bunch of common English-Portuguese false friends. Enclosed in parentheses are the actual equivalent words of the other language:

ENGLISH	PORTUGUESE
parents (pais)	parentes (relatives)
novel (romance)	novela (soap opera)
data (dados)	data (date as in 10th of  February)
gentile (pagão, infiel)	gentil (kind)
lunch (almoço)	lanche (a snack)
enroll (matricular, inscrever)	enrolar (wind up)
preservative (conservante)	preservativo (condom)
record (gravar)	recordar (remember)
adept (apto, ágil, hábil)	adepto (supporter, fan, enthusiast)
library (biblioteca)	livraria (bookstore)
fabric (tecido)	fábrica (factory)
injury (falta, lesão)	injúria (insult)
facility (lugar, instalação)	facilidade (ease)
balcony (varanda)	balcão (counter)
resume (continuar)	resumir (summarize)
expert (perito)	esperto (smart, clever)
push (empurrar)	puxar (pull)
grip (firmeza, tração)	gripe (flu)
costume (traje)	costume (tradition, habit)
tax (impostos)	taxa (rate, fee)
exit (saída)	êxito (success)
eventually (finalmente)	eventualmente (maybe)
exquisite (requintado)	esquisito (weird)
educated (letrado, cultivado)	educado (polite)
stranger (estranho)	estrangeiro (foreign)
refrigerant (refrigerant)	refrigerante (most commonly soda, soft drink)
particular (particular, específico)	particular (often used as private or personal)
constipation (prisão de ventre )	constipação * (a cold)
transpiration (transpiração vegetal **)	transpiração (perspiration)
combine/combined (combinar/combinado)	combinar/combinado! (to arrange a meeting or appointment/deal!)

* constipação also means “constipation”, but it’s only used in medical terms.
** the word transpiração is also used to denote “plant transpiration”; otherwise, it means “perspiration” (daily life).

Reading tips! Here’s a more comprehensive false friends list: 50+ English-Portuguese False Friends to Keep an Eye Out For