Surprise surprise!

Do you know what constipado means in Portuguese? Probably not what you are thinking...

Get a list of 50+ English-Portuguese False Friends and be surprised.

Magnet False Friends
3
Article Bank

Portuguese vs. Spanish: How Similar Are They Actually?

Portuguese and Spanish are Romance languages that share a common root: they both stem from Vulgar Latin. But how similar are they?

Portuguese and Spanish are different enough to be considered separate languages. They have nonetheless a similar grammar and lexicon that makes them closely related and, to some extent, mutually intelligible. The aspect that differs the most between these languages is their pronunciation.

Now, can native Portuguese speakers understand Spanish native speakers?

Yes, it is relatively easy for native Portuguese speakers to understand Spanish, even speak it. But this is not entirely reciprocal.

Native Spanish speakers seem to have a harder time following along with native Portuguese speakers. This imbalance is mainly due to differences in pronunciation between the two languages (we’ll soon look at them in more detail)

Mutual intelligence between native speakers apart, from a language learning perspective, Knowing either language will help you to learn the other.

In what follows, we’ll look at the similarities and differences between Portuguese and Spanish in greater detail. Read on.

Latest Dips

Dip #50 Seja o que for - Portuguesepedia
Dip #49 é - Portuguesepedia
Dip #48 Ali v. Lá - Portuguesepedia
DIp #47 Chegar tarde e a más horas - Portuguesepedia
Dip #46 Só que - Portuguesepedia
Dip #45 Nem tao pouco mais ou menos - Portuguesepedia
Dip #44 Implicar - Portuguesepedia
Dip #43 Esperar - Portuguesepedia
Dip #42 De um lado para o outro - Portuguesepedia

First impressions

Let’s take a glance at what Portuguese and Spanish look and sound like in the written and spoken forms respectively:

0:00
0:00
PortugueseSpanish
O nosso mundo atual apresenta problemas muito complexos e difíceis de resolver. Entre eles estão as alterações climáticas, a desflorestação, o esgotamento dos recursos naturais, a perda de biodiversidade, fortes desigualdades socioeconómicas e centenas de milhares de pessoas a viver sob pobreza extrema. Nuestro mundo actual presenta problemas muy complejos y difíciles de resolver. Entre ellos se encuentran el cambio climático, la deforestación, el agotamiento de los recursos naturales, la pérdida de biodiversidad, las fuertes desigualdades socioeconómicas y cientos de millones de personas que viven en extrema pobreza.
Our current world presents very complex problems that are difficult to solve. Among them are climate change, deforestation, depletion of natural resources, biodiversity loss, strong socio-economic inequalities and hundreds of millions of people living in extreme poverty.

As you can see, Portuguese and Spanish are pretty similar in written form.

In the text snippets above, it becomes apparent that almost all verbs and nouns look alike on either side, which means that native speakers of either language can easily read the other tongue.

On the other hand, you’d probably agree that the differences in pronunciation are greater than the differences in text. Spoken Portuguese and Spanish, while still relatable, are less mutually intelligible compared to their written forms.

Now, native Portuguese speakers are more likely to understand Spanish than otherwise. Why? Well, we are more intelligent! Just joking.

It has to do with this: the Portuguese sound system is more complex than the Spanish. We’ll get there in a while. But first, let’s take a look at the similarities and differences in vocabulary between the languages.  

Lexicon

Portuguese-Spanish cognates

Cognates are words that share a common origin and thus look and mean nearly the same. Since both languages originate from Vulgar Latin, cognate words between Portuguese and Spanish are in the thousands. 

Indeed, Portuguese and Spanish share nearly 90% of their vocabularies. This means that most words have either a cognate or an equivalent in the other language. 

Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that 90% of the words used in daily life in Portuguese and Spanish will be the same. See, many high-frequency words won’t find a cognate in the other language.

But even if the 90% figure is a bit overrated in practice, it is undeniable that Spanish-Portuguese cognates make these languages mutually intelligible to a high degree, at least in the written form.

Here are a few examples of Portuguese-Spanish noun cognates: 

PortugueseSpanish
lifevidavida
exitsaídasalida
foodcomidacomida
tablemesamesa
travelviagemviaje
eyesolhosojos
citycidadeciudad
. . . . . . 

A few more cognate examples concerning verbs and adjectives: 

PortugueseSpanish
eatcomercomer
washlavarlavar
sleepdormirdormir
uglyfeiofeo
darkescurooscuro
coldfriofrío
happycontentecontento
. . . . . . 

Let’s now take a look at personal pronouns. Except for the formal 2-person singular, they also look similar on both sides: 

PortugueseSpanish
IEuYo
You Tu/você (formal)Tú/usted (formal)
She/heEla/eleElla/él
WeNósNosotros
YouVós (vocês)Vosotros
TheyElas/ElesEllas/Ellos

The same goes for demonstrative pronouns (Portuguese demonstratives on top): 

Masc singfem. sing.masc. pl.fem. pl.
thiseste
éste 
esta
ésta
estes
éstos
estas
éstas
thatesse
ése
essa
ésa
esses
ésos
essas
ésas
that over there aquele
aquél
aquela
aquélla
aqueles
aquéllos
aquelas
aquéllas

! Sometimes, the gender of cognate words might be different on either side. For instance, Portuguese words ending with –agem are normally feminine, whereas their Spanish cognates, ending with –aje, tend to be masculine (e.g. a viagem vs. el viaje).

Further reading. Dive deeper into Spanish-Portuguese cognates: Portuguese-Spanish Cognates and False Friends.

! Semi-cognates

Semi-cognates are cognates that, though semantically relatable, slightly mean different things.

Other times, cognates may share approximately the same meaning, but their usage frequency differs considerably in either language. 

For instance, the Portuguese word câmbio is a cognate of the Spanish cambio. However, while the Portuguese câmbio specifically means exchange rate, the Spanish cambio means change (in general) and is, therefore, more widely used in Spanish than in Portuguese (the Portuguese de facto equivalent to cambio is mudança or troca depending on the context). 

Another example is the synonymous Portuguese verbs necessitar and precisar and their respective Spanish cognates necesitar and precisar. They all mean need. But while in Portuguese precisar, not necessitar, is commonplace, In Spanish it is the other way around: 

(pt) Preciso de ajuda
(sp) Necesito de ayuda 
(I need help)


There are, to be sure, dozens of other semi-cognate examples between Portuguese and Spanish, but you get the idea. 

Start off on the right foot

Grab my guide “Key Strategies” – a set of simple principles that will forever change the way you learn a language.

Magnet Key Strategies
3

Portuguese-Spanish false friends 

False friends – or false cognates if you will – are words that look the same in either language but mean different things, potentially leading to misunderstandings. Let’s take a look at a few examples:

Portuguese–Spanish false friendsPortuguese equivalents of the Spanish wordsSpanish equivalents of the Portuguese words
acordar
waking up

acordarse
recall
lembrar-sedespertarse
barata
cockroach

barata
cheap
barata*cucaracha
cadeira
chair

cadera
hip
ancasilla
cena
scene

cena
dinner
jantarescena
embaraçada
embarrassed

embarazada
pregnant
grávidadesconcertado
escova
brush

escoba
broom
vassouracepillo
escritório
office

escritorio
desk
secretáriaoficina
esquisito
weird 

exquisito
exquisite

requintado
raro
largo
large

largo
long
compridoamplio
oficina
workshop

oficina
office
escritóriotaller
polvo
octopus

polvo
dust
pulpo
propina**
tuition fee

propina
tip
gorjetacuota
rato
mouse

rato
a little while (time)
momentoratón
roxo
purple

rojo
red
vermelhopúrpura
ruivo
redhead

rubio
blond
loiropelirojo
trair
betray

traer
bring
trazertraicionar

* barato/a in Portuguese also means cheap.
** propina means bribery in Brazilian Portuguese, whereas in Portugal bribery is suborno. Read the following article to learn more about how these two standards of Portuguese compare: European vs. Brazilian Portuguese – How Different Are They, Really?

Audiobooks

Easy Reads for Portuguese Lanugage Learners - Entre a Felicidade e a Tristeza - by Portuguesepedia
Easy Reads for Portuguese Lanugage Learners - Cenas do Quotidiano - by Portuguesepedia
Easy Reads for Portuguese Lanugage Learners - Uma Segunda Oportunidade - by Portuguesepedia
Que Cara de Pau - Dialog Reads for Portuguese Language Learners - Portuguesepedia
Portuguese short story for beginners - de maos dadas - Portuguesepedia
Easy Reads for Portuguese Language Learners - Zen Stories - by Portuguesepedia
Estou feito ao bife - Idiomatic chats for Portuguese Language Learners - Portuguesepedia
Easy Reads for Portuguese Lanugage Learners - Conversa Fiada - by Portuguesepedia

Portuguese-Spanish dissimilar words

Portuguese-Spanish dissimilar words mean the same thing but look and sound differently on either side. Here are a few examples of high-frequency, dissimilar words:

PortugueseSpanish
taptorneiragrifo
windowjanelaventana
pencanetabolígrafo
neckpescoçocuello
officeescritóriooficina
storelojatienda
pregnantgrávidaembarazada
kneejoelhorodilla
. . . . . . 

Another instance of commonly used dissimilar words is weekdays. Unlike other Romance languages, Portuguese weekdays don’t allude to celestial bodies or old mythologies. Instead, they are ranked from the second (segunda) through the sixth day (sexta), with sábado and domingo standing for the seventh and first days respectively:   

PortugueseSpanish
Mondaysegunda-feira (2)lunes (moon)
Tuesdayterça-feira (3)martes (Mars)
Wednesdayquarta-feira (4)miercoles (Mercury)
Thursdayquinta-feira (5)jueves (Jupiter)
Fridaysexta-feira (6)viernes (Venus)
Saturdaysábado (7)sabado 
Sundaydomingo (1)domingo

Portuguese vs. Spanish pronunciation

Portuguese and Spanish languages are least similar in their spoken form. This is mainly because Portuguese has more complex phonology* compared to Spanish – there are more language sounds in Portuguese than in Spanish.  

This is also why native Portuguese speakers have an easier time speaking and understanding Spanish than otherwise.

Below, we will look in greater detail at how Portuguese and Spanish differ in pronunciation.

* Note that the Portuguese language sounds mentioned in this section refer to the European standard. Dive deeper into European Portuguese phonology: Portuguese Pronunciation: A Helpful Guide to Portuguese Basic Sounds and Spelling Patterns.

Consonants

Consonants are, in opposition to vowel sounds, speech sounds articulated with partial or total obstruction caused by the tongue, lips, teeth, or any other speech articulator.

Let’s look at some cases where Portuguese consonant sounds differ from Spanish. 

A softer Spanish

The Spanish b, d, and g sounds are pronounced more softly than in Portuguese. 

In Spanish, you’d pronounce the b without completely closing your lips. The differences are subtle but still noticeable. Here are a few cognate words where you can observe these nuances: 

0:00
PortugueseSpanish
knowsabersaber
lifevidavida
catgatogato

Latest Listening Drills

A minha casinha

Today I bring you a song popularized by the iconic Portuguese rock band Xutos e Pontapés in…

Listen now
Números preocupantes

In the last decade, more than 63,000 migrants have died according to the International Organization for Migration*….

Listen now
Banho de sangue

“If we don’t win there will be a blood bath in this country.” Listen to how João…

Listen now

Different r-sounds

In Spanish, as in Portuguese, there are two r-sounds.

One of them, the so-called voiced alveolar tap, is present in both languages, namely when the r occurs in between two vowels, as in the Portuguese-Spanish cognate caro (expensive). This sound is similar to the sound produced in the words lettuce or subtle (American pronunciation).

The r-sound rendered in words initialized by an r will differ between the languages.

Accordingly, the Portuguese word rio (river) is pronounced with a throaty, guttural r-sound. In contrast, the Spanish cognate río is produced at the front of the mouth and renders a fluttering r-sound, so-called voiced alveolar trill:

0:00
PortugueseSpanish
riverriorío
fastrápidorápido 

Portuguese is more fricative

Fricatives consist of hushing and hissing sounds. Fricative sounds are more frequent and more varied in Portuguese than in Spanish. 

For instance, the voiced and voiceless postalveolar fricatives –  as in share and measure respectively –  are non-existent in Spanish. 

Thus, whenever a Portuguese word renders any of these sounds, the corresponding Spanish cognate replaces it with another sound, usually a palatal approximant spelled with ll or a velar fricative (spelled with g or j):

0:00
PortugueseSpanish
arrivechegarllegar
agentagenteagente
JohnJoãoJuan

Hushing sounds are one of the reasons why people say that Portuguese sounds like Russian. Learn more about it: Here’s Why Portuguese Sounds Like Russian (or Polish).

What’s more, the z-sound, as in zebra, is common in Portuguese and rare in Spanish. 

In Portuguese, when an s shows between two vowels, it produces the z-sound. In Spanish, in a similar situation, the letter s will render the s-sound instead, as in soup

0:00
PortugueseSpanish
house; homecasacasa
tablemesamesa

B&V

In Portuguese, both b– and v-sounds are frequent and match the corresponding letters. In Spanish, however, only the b-sound exists regardless of if the word is spelled with b or v.

0:00
PortugueseSpanish
cowvacavaca
visitvisitarvisitar

Same sound, alternative spelling

The Portuguese nh-sound, the so-called voiced palatal nasal, is also present in Spanish though with a different spelling, namely ñ

0:00
PortugueseSpanish
ninho (nest)
carinho (affection)
niño (child)
cariño (darling)

Courses

Portuguese Verb Gems 1 - Online Course for Beginners - Portuguesepedia
Portuguese Online Course For Beginners A1 - Module 5 - Portuguesepedia
Portuguese Verb Gems 2 - Online Course for Beginners - Portuguesepedia
Portuguese Bad Words - Online Course on How to Swear in Portuguese - by Portuguesepedia
Top Five Portuguese Prepositions - The Big FIve - Online Course - Portuguesepedia
Portuguese Online Course For Beginners A1 - Module 3 - Portuguesepedia
Portuguese Online Course For Beginners A1 - Module 1 - Portuguesepedia
Portuguese Sounds - In-depth Course on European Portuguese Pronunciation - Portuguesepedia

Portuguese “lh” vs. Spanish “ll” and “j”

Portuguese words spelled with the digraph lh, for instance, telhado,  produce a sound called palatal lateral approximant

This same sound is found in a few dialects of Spanish, although it is coded with a different spelling, the double l as in llamo

In most Spanish dialects of today, however, the llspelling produces a more y-like sound (as in yes):

0:00
PortugueseSpanish
telha (roof tile)
malha (mesh)
ladrillo (brick)
rodilla (knee)

Also, you will often encounter Portuguese words spelled with lh whose Spanish cognates take a j instead, thus producing a distinct sound:

0:00
PortugueseSpanish
wetmolhadomojado
garlicalhajo

Vowels

Vowel sounds are produced when the air freely flows out of the mouth or nose. 

There are a few more vowel sounds in Portuguese than in Spanish. That alone makes Portuguese pronunciation more challenging than Spanish for those learning the language. 

So, Portuguese has 14 vowel sounds, 9 oral and 5 nasalized. Spanish has only 5, none of which are nasal. 

Accordingly, Spanish has a one-to-one matching between the 5 vowel letters – a, e, i, o, u – and the sounds they stand for. In Portuguese, however, one vowel letter can render several vowel sounds:

0:00
0:00
Vowel lettersPortuguese vowel soundsSpanish vowel sounds
a/a/ casa
/ɐ/ casa
/a/ casa
e/ɛ/ anel
/e/ comer
/i/  eficaz
/ɨ/ parte
/e/ enero
i/i/ rir/i/ sí
o/ɔ/ obra
/o/ aspirador
/u/ ato
/o/ loco
u/u/ mudo/u/ mucho

Stress-timed languages and vowel reduction

Portuguese, like English, is a stress-timed language, while Spanish is a syllable-timed language. This explains, at least partly, why there are more vowel sounds in the former than in the latter.

See, stress-timed languages clearly stress one syllable per word. This stressed syllable is likely to render an open vowel sound.

On the other hand, the vowel sounds of the remaining unstressed syllables are reduced, thus producing closed sounds.

This is why the word casa (see table above) has two a‘s, each rendering a distinct vowel sound – the first a is stressed and thus open, whereas the second a is unstressed and therefore reduced (producing a closed sound).

Conversely, being Spanish a syllable-timed language, it doesn’t have this stress-vs-unstressed-syllable clear dichotomy. That means that the vowels in Spanish are more consistent insofar as the sounds they stand for. 

Thus, the Spanish word casa, contrary to its Portuguese cognate, produces approximately the same a-sound on both syllables. 

Let’s take another example. The last o in the Portuguese word livro is unstressed and produces a reduced /u/-sound. 

Conversely, its Spanish cognate – libro – produces a more open /o/-sound by simply not having its last syllable reduced. You get the idea…

In conclusion, all vowels are, in Spanish, clearly pronounced. That’s not the case in Portuguese where unstressed vowels are reduced, thus producing closed sounds.

The fact that Portuguese is a stress-timed language makes its word-stress patterns all the more relevant for accurate pronunciation. Learn more about it in this article: Portuguese Word Stress and Accent Marks.

Portuguese nasal vowels

Contrarily to Spanish, Portuguese also has nasal vowels, 5 of them. These nasalized sounds occur when the air flows, at least partially, out of your nose. 

Portuguese words render nasal vowel sounds whenever a vowel is followed by an n or an m, and when these, in turn, are followed by other consonants:

0:00
Portuguese (nasal) Spanish (non-nasal)
singcantarcantar
intentionintençãointención
impossibleimpossívelimposible

Also, all Portuguese words with a tilde over an a or an o, for instance, irmã (sister) or limões (lemons), produce a nasalized vowel sound.

Diphthongs

Diphthongs are gliding vowel sounds – a vowel sound gliding into another one. As it is, Portuguese has a wider assemblage of them than Spanish.

For instance, diphthongs such as ei, ai, oi or ou are common in Portuguese and rare in Spanish. Conversely, the diphthongs ue and ie abound in Spanish and are unusual in Portuguese:

0:00
Portuguese  Spanish
feira (market)vuelo (flight)
ouro (gold)puede (can)
oito (eight)mientras (while)
ainda (still)piedra (stone)

Spelling patterns

There are a few spelling-pronunciation patterns between Portuguese and Spanish worth taking notice of. 

For instance, Portuguese words with an open e tend to have Spanish cognates with the ie instead: 

Portuguese  Spanish
stonepedra piedra
governmentgovernogobierno

Conversely, Portuguese cognates with the diphthong ei are normally spelled with an e in Spanish: 

Portuguese  Spanish
marketfeiraferia
rightdireitaderecha
acceptaceitaraceptar

Usually, Portuguese words containing an o on their stressed syllable (open o-sound) have Spanish cognates with a ue-diphthong instead: 

Portuguese  Spanish
schoolescolaescuela
doorportapuerta
proposalpropostapropuesta

Nasal diphthongs

Nasal diphthongs are in Portuguese but not in Spanish. Accordingly, all nouns that end with –ão – and their plural forms (-ãos, –ães, and –ões) – will produce nasal diphthongs. 

The Spanish cognates of those Portuguese words tend to take the –ión ending:

0:00
Portuguese
(nasal diphthongs)
Spanish
admirationadimraçãoadmiración
informationInformaçãoinformación
attentionatençãoatención

Portuguese vs. Spanish grammar

Overall, Portuguese and Spanish grammars are similar. There are, nonetheless, a few differences. Let’s take a look at it.

If you’re a beginner, I recommend this brief introduction to Portuguese grammar: Dabbling in Portuguese Grammar – First Impressions for Beginners.

Articles

Both Portuguese and Spanish have four definite articles agreeing in number and genus. Additionally, Spanish has a distinct form for its neuter article:

PortugueseSpanish
masc. singularoel
fem. singularala
masc. pluraloslos
fem. pluralaslas
neuter (o)lo

The Spanish neuter lo is used in conjunction with adjectives. In Portuguese, it is the masculine singular o that is used:

(Spa) Lo importante es dormir bien
(Por) O importante é dormir bem 
(The important thing is to sleep well)

Prepositions

In general, Spanish prepositions won’t contract with other words. The exception is prepositions de and a contracting with the masculine singular article el:

  • de + el= del 
  •  a + el = al

Portuguese prepositions, on the other hand, are more prone to contracting. For instance, see how Portuguese prepositions will contract with articles:

prepositionsContractions with the definite articles
(o, a, os , as)
Contractions with the indefinite articles
(um, uma, uns, umas)
emem + o = no
em + a = na
em + os = nos
em + as = nas
em + um = num
em + uma = numa
em + uns = nuns
em + umas = numas
dede + o = do
de + a = da
de + os = dos
de + as =das
de + um = dum
de + uma = duma
de + uns = duns
de + umas = dumas
aa + o = ao
a + a =à
a + os = aos
a + as = às
– 
porpor + o = pelo
por + a = pela
por + os = pelos
por + as = pelas
– 

Learn the ABC of Portuguese prepositions: Basic Portuguese Prepositions and Contractions: An Inclusive Usage Rundown

Verbs

In general, Portuguese and Spanish verbs and tenses are analogous.

Simple tenses

Simple tenses are conjugated similarly in either language. Let’s take the regular verb beber (drink) as an example:

PortugueseSpanish
Present tensebebo (eu)
bebes (tu)
bebe (ele)
bebemos (nós)
bebeis (vós)*
bebem (eles)
bebo (yo)
bebes (tú)
bebe (él)
bebemos (nosotros)
bebéis (vosotros)
beben (ellos)
Past tensebebi
bebeste
bebeu
bebemos
bebestes*
beberam
bebi
bebiste
bebió
bebimos
bebisteis
bebieron
Future tensebeberei
beberás
beberá
beberemos
bebereis*
beberão
beberé
beberás
beberá
beberemos
beberéis
beberán

*Notice that, in modern Portuguese, the 2-person plural (vós) is outdated and thus rarely used. Instead, our de-facto-you-plural is vocês + 3-person plural. For instance, vós bebeis becomes vocês bebem.

Also, the be-going-to-future is identical in both languages and uses the same auxiliary verb:

(Por) Eu vou beber vinho
(Spa) Eu voy a beber vino
I am going to drink wine

Perfect tenses

Portuguese and Spanish use different auxiliary verbs to form Perfect tenses: ter and haber respectively. Both verbs are the equivalent of the verb have which also plays the same auxiliary role in English. 

Look at these two sentences:

(Por) Eu tenho bebido muita água
(Spa) Yo he bebido mucha agua 

As you see above, the auxiliary verb of either language is conjugated in the Present tense and precedes the past participle of the main verb (beber).

Although these sentences are similar in structure, they convey different time-flow qualities. Let’s translate each sentence into English:

(Por) Eu tenho bebido muita água
I have been drinking a lot of water

(Spa) Yo he bebido mucha agua 
I have drunk a lot of water

As you can see, you’d use the English Present Perfect Continuous tense to translate the Portuguese sentence – the action is still ongoing

The translation of the Spanish sentence, however, uses the Present Perfect tense – the action is concluded.

There are other instances of perfect tenses usage among the two languages when structure and meaning coincide:

(Por) Eu tinha bebido muita água
I had drunk a lot of water

(Spa) Yo había bebido mucha agua 
I had drunk a lot of water

Now both sentences have the auxiliary verbs inflected in the same tense (Past tense Imperfect), and express the same time aspect (equivalent to the English Past Perfect). 

Confused by all the tenses and verb structures in Portuguese? Here’s something for you: Portuguese Verb Tenses and Moods Explained: A Usage Rundown Anchored to English

Personal infinitive

Contrarily to Spanish and other Romance languages, Portuguese has a conjugable Infinitive, the so-called Personal Infinitive. Let’s look at the verb ir (go):

Impersonal infinitive
(Por/Spa)
Personal infinitive
(Portuguese only)
irir (eu)
ires (tu)
ir (ele)
irmos (nós)
irem (vocês)
irem (eles)

Here is an example:

(Por) Não comas antes de ires para a cama
(Spa) No comas antes de ir a la cama
Don’t eat before you go to bed

Learn more about the Personal Infinitive: Portuguese Personal Infinitive: What Is It and When to Use It.

Word order

Portuguese and Spanish are both SVO languages by default:

SubjectVerbObject.

Accordingly, the word order is generally similar in either language. Let’s then look at what is different.

Yes/no questions

Contrary to English, neither language uses an auxiliary verb in yes/no questions. In Portuguese, however, you wouldn’t place the verb before the subject as you would in Spanish:

(Por) Ela fala Inglês?
(Spa) Habla ella inglés?
Does she speak English?

Placement of object pronouns

In Spanish, you’d place the object pronoun before the verb. Often, that’s also the case in Brazilian Portuguese. In European Portuguese, however, the object pronoun follows the verb by default:

(Por) Ele deu-me um livro
(Spa) Él me dio un libro
He gave me a book

However, in the presence of certain adverbs, prepositions, or conjunctions, the object pronoun in Portuguese will also precede the verb:

(Por) Ela também me deu um livro
(Spa) Ella también me dio un libro
She also gave me a book

Further reading! Learn more about object pronouns and their placement patterns: Portuguese Object Pronouns: What Are They for and Where to Place Them.

Get my guide "Key Strategies to Learn Portuguese" for FREE.

Magnet Key Strategies
3