Género (Gender)
At first glance, there's one big obvious difference between Portuguese and English: words can vary according to gender as well as number. There are some cases in English where this happens too, but they are rare and falling out of use, it seems (for example, the French-borrowed words 'blond/blonde' and 'brunet/brunette').
The second big difference that stands out is that there is no neutral gender (no equivalent to 'it'). As curious as it may seem, our lamps and chairs are male and female, respectively. I'm sorry to say that, as you learn vocabulary, you'll have to memorise which gender is attributed to each particular object (inanimate objects only have one), but don't worry. The words usually have endings that can help tell them apart.
The general rule is:
Words ending with 'O' are masculine.
Words ending with 'A' are feminine.
For example, the word for lamp is 'candeeiro'. It ends with an 'O', therefore it's masculine. The word for chair is 'cadeira', ending in 'A', which makes it feminine. There are a lot of exceptions to this rule, but you will find out about them as you learn more vocabulary.
How to form the feminine of each noun:
1. If a word ends with 'O', replace that with an 'A'.
Example 1: 'menino' (boy) becomes 'menina' (girl).
Example 2: 'amigo' (friend) becomes 'amiga'.
2. If a word ends with a consonant, add an 'A'.
Example 1: 'professor' (professor) becomes 'professora'.
Example 2: 'Português' (Portuguese) becomes 'portuguesa'. (As an additional note, if the word ends with 'ês', you also drop the circumflex on the 'e'. There is a reason for this, but we'll leave it for when we cover general pronunciation.)
3. If a word ends with 'ÃO', replace that with either 'Ã' or 'OA', depending on the word.
Example 1: 'irmão' (brother) becomes 'irmã' (sister).
Example 2: 'patrão' (boss, employer) becomes 'patroa'.
There are other ways to form the feminine, but for now I think these will do. Just a few extra notes:
1. Some nouns have identical feminine and masculine forms. The only way to tell them apart is through the words that accompany them. For example: 'chefe' (boss), 'cliente' (client), 'dentista' (dentist).
2. There are nouns that do not vary in gender (usually the ones referring to inanimate objects, but there are others too). They have either a masculine or a feminine form and that's it. It would be pretty stupid to differentiate between the lamp and the she-lamp, haha.
3. Some nouns have completely unrelated masculine and feminine forms. For instance, the words for man and woman are 'homem' and 'mulher', and cow and ox are 'vaca' and 'boi'.
4. Sometimes, the feminine and masculine forms of a word can relate to different concepts. For instance, 'melão' and 'meloa' are two different types of melon, and 'grama' (the weight unit gram) has nothing to do with 'gramo' (slang for 'I like/I'm into [something]').
Número (Number)
Varying the number of a word is very similar in Portuguese and English. Generally speaking, all you have to do to form the plural is add an 'S' to the end. There are a few nuances, however, because this language does not like it when there are two consonants in a row on the same syllable.
1. If the word ends with a vowel, add 'S'.
Example 1: 'Menino' becomes 'meninos'.
Example 2: 'Pai' (father) becomes 'pais'.
2. If the word ends with 'R', 'Z' or 'S', add 'ES'.
Example 1: 'Mar' (sea) becomes 'mares'.
Example 2: 'Luz' (light) becomes 'luzes'.
Example 3: 'Mês' (month) becomes 'meses'.
3. If a word ends with 'L', look at the previous letter. If it's an 'I', replace it with 'S', else replace it with 'IS'.
Example 1: 'Funil' (funnel) becomes 'funis'.
Example 2: 'Painel' (pannel) becomes 'paineis'.
4. If a word ends with 'M', replace it with 'NS'.
Example 1: 'Nuvem' (cloud) becomes 'nuvens'.
Example 2: 'Bem' (good, item) becomes 'bens'.
5. If a word ends with 'ÃO', replace it with either 'ÃOS', 'ÃES' or 'ÕES', depending on the word.
Example 1: 'Irmão' becomes 'irmãos'.
Example 2: 'Cão' (dog) becomes 'cães'.
Example 3: 'Questão' (question) becomes 'questões'.
As always, be mindful that there are exceptions (for example, some words don't have a singular form, only a plural), but don't worry about those for now.
One final note: mixed groups (where there are both male and female elements) are referred to in masculine form. Therefore, when you say 'irmãos', this can include brothers and sisters. On the other hand, if you say 'irmãs', there's no mistaking that you're only talking about sisters.
Vocabulário (Vocabulary)
Menino (m) - boy
Rapaz (m), rapariga (f) - boy, girl
Homem (m), mulher (f) - man, woman
Pai (m), mãe (f) - father, mother
Irmão (m) - brother
Tio (m) - uncle
Primo (m) - cousin
Amigo (m) - friend
Aluno (m) - student
Professor (m) - professor
Pintor (m) - painter
Escritor (m) - writer
Gato (m) - cat
Cão (m), cadela (f) - dog
Pássaro (m only) - bird
Peixe (m only) - fish
Casa (f only) - house, home
Quarto (m only) - room, bedroom
Sala (f only) - room, sitting room
Dia (m only) - day
Noite (f only) - night
Hear the recordings!List + gender variation
List + number variation
Exercícios (Exercises)
1. Form the feminine of the words that only have their masculine forms listed.
2. Form the plural of all the words on the vocabulary list.
3. Listen to the recordings and practice saying the words.
4. Listen to the recordings and write the words without looking at the list.
You will find all the solutions to the tricky words throughout the lesson, but feel free to post your answers if you want me to take a look at them anyway. If you have any other questions, just ask!
Good luck! wink
