Learn about sentence structure in European Portuguese. These lessons include typical word order (Subject–Verb–Object). How sentences are formed. And how elements like pronouns, questions and negation affect the structure of a sentence. This tag also includes lessons on language usage in Portugal.
These two Portuguese structures, Estar a fazer vs andar a fazer, don’t exactly mean the same thing. If you’re learning European Portuguese, you’ve probably seen both of these: They both look like “to be doing” in English. But they are not interchangeable. And if you use them randomly, you’ll sound slightly… off. Let’s fix that … Read more
Portuguese prepositions can be tricky, especially when several expressions seem to mean “below” or “under.” In this lesson, you’ll learn the difference between debaixo, por baixo, and abaixo and how to use them naturally in European Portuguese. We’ll break down each expression with clear explanations, practical examples, and common mistakes learners make. In this grammar-focused … Read more
Portuguese prepositions can be tricky, especially when several expressions seem to mean “above” or “over.” In this lesson, you’ll learn the difference between acima, em cima, and por cima and how to use them naturally in European Portuguese. We’ll break down each expression with clear explanations, practical examples, and common mistakes learners make. In this … Read more
One of the first verbs people meet in Portuguese is ser, and it can feel intimidating straight away. But at the beginner level, you really don’t need all the theory. Let’s keep it practical. At its core, ser is used to express three very basic things. 1️⃣ QUEM alguém é (WHO someone is) We use … Read more
After ser, the next verb learners usually meet is estar. And again: no need to overcomplicate it. At the beginner level, estar is mainly used to talk about two things: 👉 how someone is👉 where someone is👉 the weather That’s it. 1️⃣ COMO alguém está (HOW someone is) We use estar to talk about states, … Read more
Both “há” and “existe” can be translated as “there is” or “there are” in English, but they’re used slightly differently and carry different tones. Let’s find out more about the diffrences in this post. ✅“Há” This comes from the verb haver, which is used impersonally (it doesn’t change with singular or plural in this context). … Read more
Anchor Words in Portuguese⚓is not an official term. It’s something that I call words that “anchor” the clitics before the verbs. If that just now didn’t make sense, you may want to catch up on Object Pronouns in Portuguese before you continue. What are Anchor Words in Portuguese⚓? Firstly, clitic placement in European Portuguese can … Read more
The Object Personal Pronouns in Portuguese are the words for me, you, him, her, it, us, and them. They are divided into three categories in Portuguese: These are also referred to as Pronomes Pessoais Oblíquos Átonos. These are the famous clitic pronouns in Portuguese (or should I say infamous). They are a little trickier to … Read more
You may have heard me say before that Portuguese is a Null-Subject Language. But what does that mean? This means that Portuguese grammar allows us to create a full sentence without an explicit subject (doer) even though it follows the SVO sequence. This is not possible in English, as we always need to include who … Read more
How do you string a sentence in Portuguese? So you’ve been learning different words and maybe some sentences, but now you’re stuck when you want to make your own sentence? Have you been wondering if there is a formula you can follow that will allow getting this right the majority of the time? In short, … Read more