Learning Notes

As is the case with most languages, the same letter can be associated with different phonemes — that is to say, the same letter can be pronounced in many different ways. You’ve probably noticed that Portuguese is no exception. In this guide, we’ll focus on S, Z, C, and Ç. We’ve grouped these together because […]

Unlike English, most Portuguese words have a gender: ♂ masculine or ♀ feminine. Sometimes you’ll notice patterns, such as the -o ending in many masculine words and the -a ending in many feminine words. There are many, many exceptions, however, so you can’t always rely on that rule. You can start by using the patterns […]

Have you heard of Minimal Pairs? A minimal word pair consists of two words that vary by only a single sound. For example, and – the only difference is in the final sound (the vowel sounds represented by a and o). Practicing with Portuguese minimal pairs is a great way to perfect your pronunciation and […]

You have been learning to speak and write proper Portuguese, but not every Portuguese person speaks perfectly 100% of the time. Depending on the context, we might prefer using simpler terms to save time, explain something in a different way, joke around, or even fit in with a group. That’s where gíria popular – or just – […]

, or idioms, are expressions that you shouldn’t interpret literally. Portuguese idioms have a symbolic meaning, which is rarely maintained upon literal translation into other languages. These expressions reflect the customs and history of the country and are part of all conversations of the Portuguese, rich or poor, from North to South of Portugal. They […]

Interjections are words with an emotive function. They are used to express emotions, sensations, and moods. They can be just simple vowel sounds, like and , but most are either a free word or a phrase, in which case we call them . The same can have different meanings depending on the context in which […]

In this Learning Note, we’ll discuss a verb tense called the pretérito imperfeito do indicativo. That’s a pretty long name, so for simplicity, let’s refer to it as the ! This tense is known by a number of different names in English: past continuous, past progressive, or imperfect past. The imperfeito refers to something that […]

The verb can also be used to suggest that something will happen eventually. To use it this way, we conjugate the verb in the present tense and add the preposition de before the infinitive of the main verb. Most often, it expresses a personal aspiration or goal, describing something you expect or intend to do […]

The Portuguese often use the verb to discuss the past, whether it be minutes, hours, days, months, or years. In these contexts, haver is an impersonal verb, meaning that it doesn’t take a particular subject and is always used in the present tense form of the third-person conjugation: Normally há means there is or there are. However, […]

The first and easiest of the many meanings of is to exist. That is to say, the verb indicates that something “is” or “exists” somewhere. In English, the verb there to be would typically be used in these contexts. When used in this sense, the verb haver is impersonal and has very few usable forms. […]

If you’ve been learning Portuguese for a while, and if you’ve done our unit on -ER Verbs, you may have noticed a glaring absence: the verb haver, one of the most essential Portuguese verbs. Haver may be common, but it’s an odd beast, as we shall see in the next two lessons. The verb haver […]

Portuguese bureaucracy can be very complicated, but applying for a NIF is at least a relatively gentle introduction. If you are going to live and/or work in Portugal, this number will chase you around, as you’ll need it for any kind of contract (opening a bank account, buying or renting a house, setting up utilities, […]