This intensive course is for language learners striving toward the B1level. The language of instruction is Portuguese. I will speak in English only if needed.
Geared toward Absolute Beginners, this course gives you a solid start and foundation to build upon. The language of instruction is almost entirely in English.
This is an introductory course to the Portuguese language as spoken in Portugal. Throughout the course, we will focus on the Portuguese sound system and basic Portuguese grammar.
You will also learn how to introduce yourself and day-to-day, useful phrases. Finally, we will discuss learning resources and strategies to support your learning journey.
After the course, you will have a basic understanding of European Portuguese pronunciation and grammar. You will also be capable of engaging in simple, short oral interactions. Last but not least, you will be aware of a variety of learning resources and strategies to help you succeed at learning the language.
Any questions?
Can't you attend any courses this season? Fill up this form and I will keep you posted on upcoming Intensive Courses.
Beginners A2
This intensive course is for language learners striving toward the A2 level. The language of instruction is English/Portuguese, typically in a 35/65 ratio.
This intensive course is for language learners striving toward the A1level. The language of instruction is English/Portuguese, typically in a 70/30 ratio.
If you've just started your learning journey, it may be that you will find this course a bit challenging. Nothing wrong with that.
However, if you think you'd have trouble coping with a challenging learning environment, consider enrolling for the Clean Slate A0 instead (if available).
There are plenty of interesting options for our accommodation. It will most likely be a countryside house near Tavira.
I haven't booked it yet because I want to get a better idea of the group's composition (how many couples/singles) and your preferences before I do so. That will for instance help me understand how big a house we might need.
I look forward to soon talking to you about this and much more. Até breve, p
Surprise surprise!
Do you know what constipado means in Portuguese? Probably not what you are thinking...
Get a list of 50+ English-PortugueseFalse Friends and be surprised.
This article teaches you how to form plurals in Portuguese. Learning the main singular-to-plural spelling conversion patterns is very helpful, more than you might think.
Here’s why.
In Portuguese, words belonging to several word classes are spelled differently depending on whether the nouns they refer to are in their singular or plural forms.
For instance, adjectives, articles, demonstratives, and possessive determiners change their endings to conform to the number of the noun they refer to.
Consider the following sentence written in the singular and plural. The words marked in blue are those agreeing in number, in reference to a noun. The words marked in red, on the other hand, are the nouns themselves:
singular Aminha queridaprimafoi com a minha adoradatia ao café e comeu aquele deliciosogelado. My dear cousin went with my adored aunt to the café and ate that delicious ice cream.
plural As minhas queridasprimasforam com as minhas adoradastias ao café e comeram aqueles deliciosos gelados. My dear cousinswent with my adored aunts to the café and ate those delicious ice creams.
As it clearly stands out in the example above, there are significantly more Portuguese blue words than English. In other words, singular-to-plural word inflection is way more prevalent in Portuguese than in English.
Luckily, you’ll only need to learn a handful of singular-to-plural conversion patterns to be able to keep everything number-aligned.
In Portuguese, just as in English, the s-plural is dominant. Accordingly, nouns ending in any vowel – -a, -e, -i, -o, -u (the nasal vowel -ã included) – form their plural by adding an -s at the end. A few examples:
SINGULAR
PLURAL
o cabelo (hair)
os cabelos (hairs)
a perna (leg)
as pernas (legs)
a maçã (apple)
as maçãs (apples)
o dente (tooth)
os dentes (teeth)
o rei (king)
os reis (kings / king and queen)
o pau (stick)
os paus (sticks)
. . .
eS-plural
This is a variation of the s-plural. Nouns ending with the consonants -n, -r, -s, and -z form their plural with -es. A few examples:
SINGULAR
PLURAL
o líquen (lichen)
os líquenes (lichens)
o cantor (singer)
os cantores (singers)
o gás (gas)
os gases (gases)
a raíz (root)
as raízes (roots)
. . .
The reason for that extra e is that, in Portuguese, words don’t normally end in consonant clusters. There is, however, an exception to this, namely the plural-ending -ns that we’ll look at next.
Nouns ending in -m
Portuguese nouns ending in -m build their plural with -ns, that is, by replacing -m* with -n and adding an -s at the end:
The majority of nouns ending in -ão form their plural with -ões (virtually all nouns referring to abstract concepts follow this pattern). However, some nouns ending in -ão will form their plural with -ães and -ãos:
SINGULAR
PLURAL
a divisão (division)
as divisões (divisions)
a razão (reason)
as razões (reasons)
o coração (heart)
os corações (hearts)
o pão (bread)
os pães (breads)
a mão (hand)
as mãos (hands)
. . .
! Have you noticed that Portuguese nouns ending in -ão and referring to abstract concepts often have English cognates? For instance, the word atenção (attention) or conclusão (conclusion).
Nouns ending in -al, -el, -ol, and -ul form their plural by replacing those endings with -ais, -eis, -ois, and -uis respectively.
SINGULAR
PLURAL
o animal (animal)
os animais (animals)
o automóvel (automobile)
os automóveis (automobiles)
o rouxinol (nightingale)
os rouxinóis (nightingales)
o azul (blue)
os azuis (blues)
. . .
However, the plural-forming pattern is slightly different for nouns ending in -il, that is, they form the plural with either -is or -eis depending if the word is stressed on the last or next-to-last syllable respectively*:
Nouns ending in -s (there are only a few of these) share the same form in singular and plural. Here’re a couple of examples:
SINGULAR
PLURAL
o lápis (pencil)
os lápis (pencils)
o cais (quay)
os cais (quays)
. . .
Extending the conversion patterns beyond nouns
In Portuguese, word classes such as adjectives, determiners (articles, possessives, demonstratives), pronouns and verbs are subject to plural-inflection. Accordingly, their endings change form to conform to the number in relation to the nouns they refer to.
Apart from verbs and personal pronouns, these variable word classes follow, as we shall see below, the same plural-forming patterns we’ve gone through above.
Adjectives
In Portuguese, unlike in English, adjectives adjust their endings to agree with the number of the noun they refer to. Again, they basically follow the same patterns as nouns do:
SINGULAR
PLURAL
vowel > s-plural
bonito (handsome)
bonitos (handsome)
cara (expensive)
idiotas (expensive)
grande (big)
grandes (big)
r, s, z > es-plural
trabalhador (hard-working)
trabalhadores (hard-working)
francês (French)
franceses (French)
capaz (capable)
capazes (capable)
ão > ões/ães
trapalhão (clumsy)
trapalhões (clumsy)
alemão (German)
alemães (German)
m > m
selvagem (wild)
selvagens (wild)
l > is
essencial (essential)
essenciais (essential)
cruel (cruel)
crueis (cruel)
gentil (kind)
gentis (kind)
ágil (agile)
ágeis (agile)
azul (blue)
azuis (blue)
s > s
simples (simple)
simples (simple)
. . .
Determiners
Determiners are those words introducing nouns. For instance, in the phrases the girl and those people, the article the and the demonstrative those are determiners.
There are different types of determiners such as articles, demonstratives, possessives, and so on. In Portuguese, unlike in English, all determiners agree with the number of the noun they refer to.
For the sake of clarity, note that the demonstratives and possessives listed below are considered pronouns if standing alone. Whether they show up in the quality of determiners or pronouns, demonstratives and possessives shall conform to number.
Articles
Besides conforming to gender (masculine/feminine), Portuguese articles also agree with the number:
SINGULAR
PLURAL
definite articles, the
o/a (m/f)
o livro (the book)
os/as
os livros (the books)
indefinite articles, a
um/uma (m/f)
uma rua (a street)
(uns/umas)
ruas (streets)
Demonstratives
Demonstrative determiners are those words pointing out things and objects:
SINGULAR
PLURAL
this/these
este/esta (m/f)
este prédio (this building)
estes/estas
estes prédios (these buildings)
that/those
esse/essa (m/f)
esse problema (that problem)
esses/essas (those)
esses problemas (those problems)
that over there / those over there
aquele/aquela (m/f)
aquela árvore (that tree over there)
aqueles/aquelas
aquelas árvores (those trees over there)
Possessives
These determiners imply possession. Note that in Portuguese (especially in the European standard), you normally have a definite article accompanying the possessive:
SINGULAR
PLURAL
my
meu/minha (m/f)
o meu amor (my love)
meus/minhas
os meus amores (my loves)
your
teu/tuas (m/f)
a tua carteira (your purse)
teus/tuas
as tuas carteiras (your purses)
his / her
seu/sua (m/f) more often dele/dela
a sua filha or a filha dele/dela (his/her daughter)
seus/suas more often dele/dela
as suas filhas or as filhas dele/dela (his/her daughters)
our
nosso/nossa (m/f)
a nossa casa (our home)
nossos/nossas
as nossas casas (our homes)
your
vosso/vossa (m/f)
o vosso primo (your cousin)
vossos/vossas
os vossos primos (your cousins)
their
seu/sua (m/f)more often deles/delas
o seu carro or o carro deles/delas (their car)
seus/suasmore often deles/delas
os seus carro or os carros deles/delas (their car)