The structure of the Portuguese language is based on the simplest things. Sometimes it is enough to know quite a bit to understand speech and express your thoughts. Of course, the article cannot be endless, and we cannot describe all situations where today’s topics can be useful, but this knowledge is fundamental.
In the most basic sentence, there are always three components: an object, a verb, and a characteristic. As additional information, circumstances or words are added that enhance the effect of what was said. Let’s take everything apart one by one.
An object
When we don’t know what to call a person or thing, the word “it” comes in handy. Only in Portuguese there are three types of this word. Each of these types is determined by the following criterion: the location of the object relative to the interlocutors, namely:
- isto – when the subject is near the speaker;
- isso – when the object is next to the person being spoken to;
- aquilo – when the subject is far from both interlocutors.
Imagine that we are sitting at a table in a classroom:
Isto é uma caneta. Ela está na minha mão.(This is a pen. It is in my hand.)
Isso é uma porta. Ela é aberta. (That is a door. It is open.)
Aquilo é um semáforo. Ele está na rua. (That is a traffic light. It is outside.)
It is necessary to remember this rule, because it will still be useful to us in the future and other words and constructions will be built on its principle.
Indefinite articles
In the examples, we met with the indefinite article for the female object – “uma“. For males, respectively, this is the indefinite article “um“. The nature of origin is simple. “Indefinite” means some, non-specific, one of. Just “um” and “uma” are also translated as “one”, it’s just that when translating we no longer pronounce this word.
So, the indefinite article is exactly put when the dialogue says something for the first time:
- Isto é uma bicicleta. A bicicleta é de Espanha. (This is a bike. A bike from Spain.)
The second case when the indefinite article is definitely needed when talking about something in general, without specifics:
- Ela estuda numa escola. (She is in school.)
The third case is when you can add “one of” and the meaning of the sentence does not change, that is:
- Lisboa é uma cidade bonita. (Lisbon is a beautiful city./Lisbon is one of the beautiful cities.)
Numerals
Since we are talking about numerals – “one”, we will expand our knowledge in this topic:
- dois – two
- três – three
- quatro – four
- cinco – five
If you pay attention to the fact that the numeral “one” changes depending on the kind of object, then you might think that all numerals change, but this is not so. Only one more numeral changes: dois (two) for the masculine gender, and duas (two) for the feminine. The remaining numerals for both kinds of the object remain the same.
- São duas canetas. (These are two pens.)
- São cinco moedas. (These are five coins.)
Possessive pronouns
Already from early childhood, we begin to understand that all objects and people to some extent, and sometimes one hundred percent, belong to someone. This characteristic provides comprehensive information, so it’s time to study possessive pronouns.
- meu – my (masculine gender)
- minha – my (feminine gender)
- teu – your (informal, masculine gender)
- tua – your (informal, feminine gender)
- seu – your (formal, masculine gender)
- sua – your (formal, feminine gender)
This list refers to the object in a single copy, that is, the “owner” is one person.
- O meu nome é Inna. (My name is Inna.)
- A tua mãe está feliz! (Your mom is happy!)
- O seu passaporte está na mesa. (Your passport is on the table.)
The possessive pronoun can be used not only for the formal “your/your”, but also as a pronoun for “his” and “her”. However, they have their own translation: “dele” (him) and “dela” (her). These two pronouns are placed after the object, in contrast to the pronoun “seu/sua”, and their gender is already determined by the gender of the owner, not the subject. Notice the difference in spelling, but the same meaning, in the following sentences.
- É o Pedro e a sua mãe. = É o Pedro e a mãe dele. (This is Pedro and his mother.)
Let’s move on to possessive pronouns when there are several owners.
- nosso – our (masculine gender)
- nossa – ours (feminine gender)
- vosso – yours (masculine gender)
- vossa – yours (feminine gender)
For all other pronouns like “eles, elas, vocês” we simply add the ending “-s”: deles (their, masculine), delas (their, feminine), vossos (yours, masculine), vossas (yours, feminine). And also, according to the principle described earlier, all these possessive pronouns can be replaced by: seus (your/them, masculine), suas (your/them, feminine).
Remember an important point: all possessive pronouns (except dele(s)/dela(s)) are preceded by the definite article “o” for masculine and “a” for feminine: o meu/a minha, o teu/a tua, o seu/a sua, o nosso/a nossa, o vosso/a vossa. Similarly, when adding the ending “-s” for the plural of a possessive pronoun, we add the same letter to the single article in front of it: as minhas, os teus, and so on.
Question
In order to find out whose objects they are, we need the preposition “de”, the word “quem” (who) and the verb “ser” (to be).
- De quem é aquele carro? (Whose that car?) Aquele carro é nosso. (That is our car.)
If we do not plan to use a possessive pronoun in answering this question, then we need the preposition “de” to indicate the ownership of the subject.
- O carro é do José. (Jose’s car.)
- É uma parte do projeto da Margarida. (This is part of the Margarida’s project.)
Not only the physical body can belong to someone, but something abstract, for example, an opinion. To ask this, we need the usual question word “qual/quais”:
- Sou gorda? Qual é a sua opinião? (Am I fat? What’s your opinion?)
- Qual é a tua atitude? (What’s your attitude?)
Conclusion
In any language, there are a great many ways to describe an object or person. Today we touched upon only the first stage of this topic, but without knowing the base, unfortunately, moving forward is difficult. Today’s topic can be reduced to three words: “what”, “whose” and “how much”. This information will especially help us, for example, in a store, when we want to know what kind of product it is, how many pieces we need, what country the product is imported from, ask someone else’s opinion.