Image by Leandro Santos Léo from Pixabay
In this post we’ll learn some basic Portuguese vocabulary and grammar that you can use to describe things.
Qual é a cor de…? What color is the…?
Let’s start with colors: preto/a black; branco/a white; vermelho/a red; azul blue; amarelo/a yellow; verde green; marrom brown; cinza gray.
- O cachorro é preto. / A cachorra é preta.
The dog is black. (f./m.) - O gato é branco. / A gata é branca.
The cat is white. (m./f.) - O carro é azul. / Os carros são azuis.
The car is blue. / The cars are blue. - A bandeira brasileira é verde, amarela, azul e branca.
The Brazilian flag is green, yellow, blue and white.
GRAMMAR TIP! Notice that azul (blue) becomes azuis in the plural, for both genders. Marrom ends in -m, so it changes to –n before –s: um cachorro marrom, dois cachorros marrons (one brown dog, two brown dogs).
Muito bom! Very good!
Now let’s look at several other important basic adjectives: bom/boa good; ruim, mau/má bad; grande big; pequeno/a small; lindo/a beautiful; feio/a ugly; velho/a old; novo/a new; comprido/a long; curto/a short; alto/a high; baixo/a low; vazio/a empty; cheio/a full; largo/a wide; estreito/a narrow; duro/a hard; macio/a soft; difícil difficult; fácil easy.
Notice that there are two ways to say bad: ruim and mau. Ruim is usually used to refer to things, while mau is used to refer to people and animals: um livro ruim, um filme ruim (a bad book, a bad film) um homem mau, um cão mau (a bad man, a bad dog).
- Este restaurante é bom / ruim.
This restaurant is good/bad. - Esses restaurantes são bons / ruins.
These restaurants are good/bad. - O filme é velho / novo.
The film is old/new. - A cidade é linda / grande.
The city is beautiful/big. - A rua é larga / estreita.
The street is wide/narrow. - A cama é dura / macia.
The bed is hard/soft. - O copo está cheio / vazio.
The glass is full/empty.
GRAMMAR TIP! A few common Portuguese adjectives are a bit irregular. Bom (good) has the forms bom, boa, bons, boas: um bom homem (a good man), uma boa mulher (a good woman), bons homens (good men), boas mulheres (good women). Mau (bad) is also irregular, with the forms mau, má, maus, más: um homem mau (a bad man), uma mulher má (a bad woman), homens maus (bad men), mulheres más (bad women). Fácil (easy) and difícil (difficult) change to –eis in the plural: perguntas fáceis (easy questions), perguntas difíceis (difficult questions).
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