Adjective Agreement
Adjective Agreement
Portuguese adjectives change their ending to match the noun they describe — something English adjectives never do — and, as the sentence-structure lesson mentioned, they usually trail behind the noun.
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Adjectives match gender AND number
alto, alta, altos, altas
tall
An English adjective like "tall" never changes, no matter what it describes. Most Portuguese adjectives have four forms: -o (masculine singular), -a (feminine singular), -os (masculine plural), -as (feminine plural) — um homem alto (a tall man), uma mulher alta (a tall woman), homens altos, mulheres altas.
-e adjectives only change for number, not gender
grande, grandes
big
Adjectives that end in -e in their dictionary form — like grande — don't distinguish gender at all: grande works for both um carro grande (a big car, masculine) and uma casa grande (a big house, feminine). They only change for number, adding -s in the plural — one fewer form to keep track of than -o/-a adjectives.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
- English
- tall (m)
- English
- tall (f)
- English
- small (m)
- English
- small (f)
- English
- big (m/f singular)
- English
- big (m/f plural)
- English
- pretty (m)
- English
- pretty (f)
- English
- good (m)
- English
- good (f)