How often and how much in Brazilian Portuguese

Level A2

How often and how much in Brazilian Portuguese

Learn to describe how often you do things and how much of something you have. Brazilian Portuguese uses frequency words such as “sempre” and “às vezes,” and interval phrases such as “uma vez por semana.” You’ll also learn to say when an amount is enough or excessive.

Frequency words

These words describe how often something happens, from “sempre” (always) to “nunca” (never). English often places “always” before the main verb; Portuguese allows “sempre” before the verb or after its complement: compare “Ela sempre levanta” with “Eu escovo os dentes sempre.” With “nunca,” use “Eu nunca leio” before the verb, or “Eu não leio nunca” after it.

Using frequency words in a sentence

Frequency expressions often come before the main verb, as in “Ela sempre levanta às sete.” Some can also follow the verb or its complement, as in “Eu escovo os dentes sempre de manhã.” When “nunca” comes before the verb, no “não” is needed: “Eu nunca leio no carro.” When it comes after the verb, normally add “não” before the verb: “Eu não leio nunca no carro.” Portuguese verbs agree with their subjects: compare “eu trabalho” with “ela trabalha.” “A gente” means “we,” but takes a third-person singular verb: “A gente muitas vezes come junto.”

Words for intervals and counts

“Com que frequência” asks how often something happens. “Todo” changes to “toda” to agree with the following time word, as in “todo sábado” and “toda noite.” Use “uma vez” for once and “duas vezes” for twice.

Asking how often

Use “Com que frequência” followed by the subject and activity verb. With “você,” the question is informal: “Com que frequência você lava roupa?” For a more formal address to a man, use “o senhor” and the matching verb form: “E com que frequência o senhor trabalha à noite?” English uses “you” for both, so choose the Portuguese form to suit the relationship and setting.

Com que frequência pronome ou forma de tratamento verbo de atividade?

Saying something happens every period

Use “todo” or “toda” before a period or day, agreeing with that word: “todo sábado” but “toda noite.” Then say who does the activity and use the present tense, as in “A gente lava roupa todo sábado.” In English, “every” does not change form.

sujeito verbo de atividade todo/toda período ou dia.

Saying how many times per period

Use a number plus “vez” or “vezes,” then “por” and the time period: “uma vez por mês” or “duas vezes por dia.” The singular is “uma vez”; with larger counts, use plural “vezes.” This is different from English “once a month” and “twice a day,” which use special words for one and two.

sujeito verbo de atividade número vez/vezes por período.

Words for enough and too much

“Suficiente” means enough. “Demais” can mean either “too much” with an uncountable noun or “too many” with a plural countable noun; the word itself stays the same. Portuguese uses earlier quantity words for other amounts, so focus here on this contrast.

Saying there is enough

Put “suficiente” after the noun; use “suficientes” with a plural noun: “Tem cadeiras suficientes pra todo mundo.” For a negative, put “não” before the verb: “Não tenho tempo suficiente pra ler.” English puts “enough” before a noun, so the Portuguese word order may feel reversed.

forma afirmativa ou negativa de ter substantivo suficiente/suficientes pra finalidade.

Saying there is too much or too many

Put “demais” after the noun to say there is more than needed: “Tem água demais no meu copo” and “Tem cadeiras demais aqui.” It works with both uncountable nouns such as “água” and plural countable nouns such as “cadeiras.” English changes “too much” to “too many” for countable plural nouns; Portuguese uses “demais” in both cases.

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