What this is about
Adjectives describe nouns — and in Portuguese they are team players: they change their ending to MATCH the noun's gender and number, and they usually stand AFTER the noun. o carro novo, a casa nova, as casas novas. This chapter also gives you comparisons: better, worse, bigger than.
Agreement — the four forms
| o carro novo | masc. sg. |
| a casa nova | fem. sg. |
| os carros novos | masc. pl. |
| as casas novas | fem. pl. |
Move one in front and it starts judging: um homem velho = an old man, his age · um velho homem = the man he is, his character · um homem grande = a big man, his size · um grande homem = a great man, a man with a legacy. Default to after; the front position is a small set of adjectives doing something deliberate.
-e and consonant adjectives don't mark gender: grande, feliz, fácil — one form for both (o carro grande, a casa grande), they only pluralize (grandes, felizes, fáceis).
Position — usually after the noun
| um restaurante bom | default: noun first, quality second |
| uma pessoa feliz | a happy person |
| but: bom dia! · boa noite! | a few very common ones live before the noun in set phrases |
Comparisons
| Meu irmão é mais alto do que eu. | more … than = mais … (do) que |
| O ônibus é menos caro do que o táxi. | less … than = menos … (do) que |
| Ela é tão alta quanto ele. | as … as = tão … quanto |
| São Paulo é a maior cidade do Brasil. | the most… = o/a mais…; maior = biggest |
The four specials — never "mais bom"!
| bom → melhor | good → better (never mais bom) |
| ruim/mau → pior | bad → worse |
| grande → maior | big → bigger (never mais grande) |
| pequeno → menor | small → smaller |
do que vs que: both fine after comparatives — mais alto que eu = mais alto do que eu. Brazilians use both freely.
Practise this chapter
4 pool questions plus generated ones — 20 fresh practice questions, reshuffled every visit, inside the grammar library.
Practise Adjectives & comparisons — 20 questions →This chapter is taught in Lição 7 of the course — free, no account needed. Rumo is a complete Brazilian Portuguese course, A1 to B2; level A1 is free.
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