Adjectives in Portuguese

Level A1

Adjectives in Portuguese

This lesson gives you twenty everyday adjectives in Brazilian Portuguese and shows you how to describe people and things with them. Most adjectives come after the noun (um carro pequeno), and they change to match it, so velho becomes velha in uma casa velha. You'll also see both verbs for "to be": ser for what something is like, estar for how it is right now. The apartment dialogue is casual, the way you'd talk to a friend; the shop dialogue uses a senhora, the polite way to address a woman you don't know.

Twenty everyday adjectives: bom, ruim, grande, pequeno…

Saying what something is like: é or está

Essa bolsaé / estápesada.

The adjective after the noun: um carro pequeno

Eu tenhoum carropequeno.

After the noun, except bom: um bom livro

In English the adjective comes first, but in Portuguese it usually comes after the noun: um celular novo, uma cidade bonita. With two adjectives, both go after the noun, joined by e (and): É um hotel pequeno e barato.

Bom is the big exception: it usually goes before the noun, as in Esse é um bom livro and Ela é uma boa professora. Mau also means "bad" and goes before the noun too (um mau exemplo), but in everyday speech Brazilians usually say ruim, after the noun: uma notícia ruim.

Bom, boa, bons, boas: ten adjectives in their four forms

MasculineFeminineMasculine pluralFeminine plural
bomboabonsboas
novonovanovosnovas
velhovelhavelhosvelhas
bonitobonitabonitosbonitas
carocaracaroscaras
grandegrandegrandesgrandes
quentequentequentesquentes
ruimruimruinsruins
fácilfácilfáceisfáceis
difícildifícildifíceisdifíceis

Matching the noun: velho, velha, velhos, velhas

English adjectives never change, but in Portuguese an adjective matches its noun in gender and number. Most end in -o for a masculine noun and -a for a feminine one, and add -s in the plural: um prédio velho, uma casa velha, Esses sapatos são caros. Adjectives ending in -e, like grande and quente, are the same for both genders and only add -s, while fácil and difícil become fáceis and difíceis in the plural.

The adjective matches after ser and estar too: A cozinha está suja, Essas maçãs estão muito boas. Use ser (é, são) for what something is like, as in Essa bolsa é pesada, and estar (está, estão) for how it is right now, as in A água está fria.

Muito and bem: very and really

A receitaé / estámuitofácil.

Talking about a new apartment, casually: Como é o apartamento novo?

Buying a bag, politely with a senhora: Estou procurando uma bolsa nova

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