5.2. Choose the right verbform

We will discuss all this things in detail later. Right know our goal is to form complete sentences as soon as possible, that's why in the following sentences appear constructions we have not already seen, but the didactical motivated construction allows us to understand more or less the Portuguese construction. We discuss some grammar structures that appear in the following sentences. Right now there is no need to understand that in detail.

1) The adjective agrees in gender and number with the noun it refers to.

a flor vermelha as flores vermelhas
the red flower the red flowers
o carro azul os carros azuis
the blue car the blue cars


2) The comparative (good => well => best) is formed in Portuguese in general with more (better => ~more good) and the thing it is compared with is added with do que. The optional do doesn't have any semantic value.

Ele corre rapido.
He runs fast.
Ele corre mais rapido do que ela.
He runs more fast than she.
He runs faster than her.


3) A relative clause (The man who crosses the street) is added with (do) que, wherin the do is optional.

Euconheço a mulher que cruza a rua.
I know the woman who crosses the street.
   


We dont care about the relative pronoun right now. We will discuss this issue in chapter 10.1.

4) Double negation is not positive in roman languages. The meaning of "Ele não faz nada" is "She doesn't do anything".


5) Another tip. The third person plural present is normaly -am if the infinitive of the verbs ends in -ar or -em, if the infinitive of the verbs ends in -er. However the most frequent verbs, the most used verbs, are in general, in all languages, irregular. The verb to be for instance, together with to have the most important verb in any language, forms the third person plural with ão. This is a little bit confusing, because normally the future has this ending. Below a list of three irregular verbs. (Both estar and ser are to be translated with to be, but this is another issue we don't care right no. Estar is used for transitional states, "He is nervous", ser is used for inherent properties, "He is intelligent".)

to be ser eles / elas / vocês são
to be estar eles / elas / vocês estão
to give dar eles / elas / vocês dão

6) Before a possessive pronoun / adjective a definite article is optional.
7) In one sentence appears a conjunctive, see 12.We don't care about right now.

Choose the corresponding verb form.

Os meus amigoscomprar uma casa.
The my friends want buy a house.
My friends want to buy a house.

Eles mais importantes do que o ar que respiro.
You are more important than the air that breath.
You are more important than the air that I breathe.

Aqueles que não nada estão sempre dispostos a criticar os que fazem algo.
Those who not make anything are always ready to criticise those who make something.
Thos who doesn't do anything are always ready to criticise those who do something.

Eles o tempo todo mas não tem nada a dizer.
They talk the time whole but not have nothing to say.
They don't stop talking without having something to say.

Elas contentes agora?
They are satisfied know?
 

Vocês como fazer isso?
You know how to do this?
You know how to do that?

O amanhã.
Him see tomorrow.
I see him tomorrow.

Eles fazer um bolo se querem.
They can make a cake if want.
If they want, they can make a cake.

Eu muitas coisas, mas nada que tenha um uso prático.
I know many things but nothing that has a practical use.
I know many things, but nothing of any practical use.






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