In this lesson, we’ll be looking at advérbios de lugaradverbs of place . These adverbs tell us where something happens or where something is, so they’re pretty essential for building up your Portuguese sentences.
Placing Adverbs of Place
Portuguese adverbs of place are quite versatile as they can be placed before or after the verb they’re modifying. Unlike other adverbs, adverbs of place don’t modify adjectives or other adverbs; they only modify verbs. Sounds simple, right? Let’s see a few of them in action:
Onde
OndeWhere
Onde está a minha camisola?Where’s my jumper?
Está onde a deixaste.It’s where you left it.
Longe
LongeFar
A minha casa fica longe da praia.My house is far from the beach.
Braga é longe de Lisboa.Braga is far from Lisbon.
Perto
PertoClose, near
Estamos perto.We’re close.
Ela disse para a encontrarmos perto do banco.She told us to meet her near the bank.
Adiante
AdianteAhead, forward
O castelo fica adiante.The castle lies ahead.
Nós já vamos, ele vai adiante.We’ll go in a minute, he’ll go ahead (of us) .
Antes*
AntesBefore, in front
O museu fica logo antes da padaria.The museum is just before the bakery.
Ela é a que está antes do João na fotografia.She’s the one in front of João in the picture.
Depois*
DepoisAfter
A câmara municipal fica depois do posto de correios.The town hall is (located) after the post office.
*Just like before and after in English, antes and depois do double duty as adverbs of time.
I’m trying not to let my brain explode when you include things like “Ela é a que está antes do João na fotografia” (é a que está!??!) because I have a suspicion you’re trying to familiarise us with that sort of construction by introducing it sneakily now and then! Hopefully you are right and eventually it will seem quite natural…
Haha, guilty! We can be sneaky like that… It may help a little bit to break it up like this:
Ela é – She is
a que – the one that
está – is
antes do João – in front of João
na fotografia. – in the picture
the above is great thanks.
As for my comprehension, I have grown into translating while reading to a direct English word counterpart. So, to my mind: -She is the that is before of the João in the photo.- Im finding its preferable for me to leave it this way than to rely on the translations too much. I don’t know why? Perhaps this quirk of mine will help me transfer to thinking in Portuguese in the future……
I absolutely do it this way, too, and I find that I almost always land on the meaning of what is being said. I do it a lot with “ficar”, which I direct-translate as “stay.” If I read “A casa dela fica perto da praia” as “The house of her stays near the beach” I know exactly what is being conveyed and I don’t waste time turning it into “her house is close to the beach.”
Good tip😊
Thank you, Molly!
I suppose it’s like saying “Ela é a PESSOA que está antes do João na fotografia” — only with “pessoa =” taken out. It surprises me, though, because in English you’d have to substitute with another noun like “one” … I’ll get my head around it eventually!!
No problem! Yes, or even better, it’s basically like saying “She is the FEMALE that is in front of João”. You could think of the “a” in “a que” as just standing in for a female person/noun. And, if we were talking about a male, it would be “o que” with “o” standing in for a male person/noun.
How do you get “We’ll go in a minute, ” out of “Nós já vamos, ele vai adiante”?
Is it just a colloquial saying?
This is a more natural translation, rather than a direct one 🙂 But “Nós já vamos” does mean “We’ll go soon/in a bit/in a minute”. It’s one of the idiomatic uses of the word “já” (which usually just means “already”).
Perhaps the same way that people in South Wales say, “I’ll be there now in a minute”
Is there any real difference between “se calhar” and “talvez”?
No, not really 🙂 They can generally be used as synonyms, as long as you structure the rest of the sentence accordingly.
For example:
– Se calhar vou à praia. = Talvez vá à praia. (Maybe I’ll go to the beach) -> Note the different verb tenses.
I remember being told that it is easier to use se calhar, since when you use talvez you have to use the subjunctive.
Precisely!
Why is it encontrarmos and not encontrarnos? Is is something to do with an “m” after an “r” instead of an “n”?
Olá, Patrícia. There is encontrarmos, which is a future subjunctive and personal infinitive verb form, and there’s encontrar-nos, which is the standard infinitive (impersonal) + the clitic pronoun nos (“us”). So, both forms exist, but with different uses 🙂
Ok. Are you saying that in the sentence “Ela disse para a encontrarmos perto do banco”, “encontrarmos” is being used in the personal infinitive verb form rather than in the standard infinitive? Could you use either in this sentence? Sorry if I am being thick!
Yes, ‘encontrarmos’ is in the personal infinitive here. It is more correct to use the personal infinitive here instead of the impersonal because there are two different subjects: Ela (her) and the implicit nós (we). “Ela disse para (nós) a encontrarmos perto do barco”
Now I understand. Thanks. This is an excellent website and I love the fact that we can ask questions when we do not understand something.
Thanks! This adverb lesson is definitely going to help me improve a lot!
One question.. Which I’ve been discussing about with a Portuguese friend of mine. In one of the lessons the words “se calhar” are used. For maybe. So my question is when to use “se calhar” and when to use “talvez”??
Olá, Jonathan! Another commenter posted a similar question here, and what I told him was that they can generally be used as synonyms, as long as you structure the rest of the sentence accordingly.
For example:
– Se calhar vou à praia. = Talvez vá à praia. (Maybe I’ll go to the beach) -> Note the different verb tenses.
Ok thanks a lot for the reply.
I don’t know exactly how to use this difference though for talvez
So se calhar seems to have the normal present verb tense here. So talvez is then always used in a different tense? Talvez vou a praia is not correct? How would I apply talvez in different sentences?
You’re welcome. Yes, ‘se calhar’ usually asks for the indicative mood (simple present, simple past…), while ‘talvez’ asks for the subjunctive mood`(present subjunctive, imperfect subjunctive – not the future, though). That’s why “Talvez vou à praia” is incorrect – the verb is in the present indicative instead of the present subjunctive.
– Se calhar, tu sabes isto. [present indicative] = Talvez tu saibas isto. [present subjunctive] (Maybe you know this)
– Se calhar, ela trabalhava muito. [imperfect indicative] = Talvez ela trabalhasse muito. [imperfect subjunctive] (Maybe she worked a lot)
Ok it’s clear thanks!
It’s also clear that I need more verb mood practice.
I’ll stick mostly to se calhar to avoid mistakes for now. And throw in a talvez every now and then to try, while I work on the subjunctive mood.
Olá!
About this sentence:
O museu fica logo antes da padaria.
couldn’t it mean “the museum is in front of the bakery” as well as “the museum is before the bakery”? (before, in the meaning: on the same side of the street but closer to me)
Then what would the difference be with “O museu fica logo adiante da padaria.” ?
I guess I’m a bit confused about adiante / antes because I’m French and both look like the French “devant” or “en face”…
Olá, Matthieu! In French, “antes” means “avant”, not “devant”. It can translate as “in front” in English, but more in the context of a line up, not quite something face to face. So, only your second option would apply (The museum is before the bakery – closer to you). “Adiante da padaria” means that the museum is further ahead, after the bakery.
Obrigado!
Olá Joseph.
Se calher/ talvez = maybe/ perhaps. With both using the subjunctive after talvez? I tend to use perhaps over maybe in english. Is there a subtle difference in translation to portuguese of the two words?
Olá, David. Yes, you can put it like that 🙂 No translation subtleties to consider.
After reading all questions and answers, I got the answers to my questions. Thank you all!!
In the sentence ‘Está onde a deixaste’, is ‘onde a’ used instead of ‘aonde’, or is there a difference in meaning between the two? Cheers 🙂
“Onde a” and “aonde” are NOT interchangeable!
The word “a” in the sentence “Está onde a deixaste” refers to “it” (It’s where you left it) – my jumper (a minha camisola), in this case.
It is a clitic pronoun which replaces the direct object in this sentence.
In this case, we assumed that the object being mentioned is feminine, which is why we have “…a deixaste”. If the object were masculine, we would have “…o deixaste”.
As for the adverb “aonde” – which results from the contraction of the preposition “a” and the adverb “onde” – it’s used when referring to movement (to a particular place).
Hi
what is the difference and when should i use se calhar and talvez ?
thank you
“Se calhar” and “talvez” is like “perhaps” and “maybe”. In general they mean the same; both give a sense of hypothesis, of an hypothetical condition. It’s not clear to say when to use one or the other. It’s a question of mastering the language and understanding what’s best within context. Anyway, it’s safe to say that you can use any of them to give the same idea.
They’re just not entirely interchangeable, since sentences are written in different ways wether you use one or the other.
Examples:
Se calhar não está ninguém em casa (Perhaps there’s no one home)
Talvez não esteja ninguém em casa (Maybe there’s no one home)
When using “se calhar”, this is the first part of a conditional structure, where SE is a conditional subordinating conjunction and CALHAR is the future subjunctive (futuro do conjuntivo) of the verb calhar. The second part has no particular rule.
When using “talvez” the whole structure of possibility has to be constructed using the present subjunctive (presente do conjuntivo).
Just use whichever you feel like, making sure the whole sentence makes sense!
I like these comments very much. It gives more and more insights and understanding of the use of words, et cetera. Thank you all.
Quick question about the post office. The phrase above is “A câmara municipal fica depois do posto de correios”, but there is another flashcard for “Ela leva a carta aos correios”. Is the word “posto” optional for a post office, or is there a subtle difference between the two sentences?
Olá! There’s no difference between the two, other than ‘posto de correios’ being the full term and ‘correios’ being the usual abbreviated term that people use in daily life 🙂 So, indeed, you generally don’t need to use ‘posto’ – you can consider it optional.
Muito obrigado Joseph