Essential Portuguese Grammar

Alexander da R. Prista

• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9780486113371
• Topic: Langues et linguistique
• Subtopic: Langues

This is the first Portuguese grammar designed specifically for adults with limited learning time, who have as their objective simple, everyday communication. The author covers the most important points of Portuguese grammar in the clearest possible way, concentrating upon the expressions that you would be most likely to use. All grammatical rules are illustrated with phrases and sentences that you can incorporate directly into your working vocabulary, and hints are generously sprinkled throughout, showing you how to replace difficult constructions with simpler ones.
Constantly drawing comparisons with English construction, it presents in logical order all the major aspects of Portuguese grammar: word order, forming questions, nouns and articles, adjectives and adverbs, possessives, demonstrative adjectives and pronouns, how to form negatives, personal pronouns, conjunctions and prepositions, how to conjugate verbs in the major tenses, prepositions and infinitives, and so on.
This grammar does not assume prior knowledge of either Portuguese grammar or of grammatical terms: one section is devoted to the definition of all grammatical terms used in the book.
This is not a simplified study, but rather a selected grammar for adult use that points out many time-saving short cuts. It can be used alone either as a beginner or as a refresher course in Portuguese grammar or it can be an ideal supplement to a phrase book or record course for home study or class use. Contains four appendices covering regular conjugations, orthographic-changing verbs, and irregular verbs. Glossary of grammatical terms. Index.

VERBS

Before proceeding to study this section, you should become acquainted with the material covered in pages 102 to 105 of the Glossary of Grammatical Terms. Although you may not remember everything at a first reading, this material will help you to understand special constructions and expressions as you come to them.

Comparison of English and Portuguese Verbs

Portuguese verbs are more complicated than English ones. In English there are very few changes in endings, and those that do occur are relatively uniform: I walk, he walks; I hope, he hopes. In Portuguese, each person has its own distinctive ending: eu falo (I speak), o senhor fala (you speak). Since the subject pronoun is very often omitted in Portuguese, failure to employ the correct ending results in misunderstanding: falo (I speak), fala (you speak).

Another aspect in which Portuguese verbs are more complicated than English is the greater number of tenses used in Portuguese. You will notice this when we speak of the various past tenses and of the subjunctive mood. Though it is possible to avoid some dif- ficulties by using short, simple sentences, it is necessary to be acquainted with the various features of the Portuguese verb for understanding the spoken and the written language. In the pages which follow, we shall always distinguish between those forms which must be memorized from the start and those which you can study at a later date.

The Three Conjugations

Every Portuguese verb belongs to one of three conjugations. Since the various endings which a particular verb takes are determined by the conjugation to which it belongs, you must pay special attention to this point. By classifying verbs into conjugations it is easier to remember their many forms.

The conjugation to which a Portuguese verb belongs is determined by the ending of its infinitive (that is, of the form which corresponds to the English “to run,” “to believe,” etc.).

All verbs which belong to the same conjugation (except irregular ones) are conjugated like the model verb of that conjugation. Our model verbs are:

falar (to speak)	first conjugation
vender (to sell)	second conjugation
partir (to depart)	third conjugation

Regular verbs ending in -ar will therefore take the same endings as the model verb falar. Regular verbs in -er and -ir will take the same endings as the models vender and partir, respectively.

Irregular verbs will be treated separately in Appendix D.

The Present Tense

Comparison of Present Tense in English and Portuguese

In English we have three different ways of expressing an action in the present. We can say “I laugh,” “I am laughing” or “I do laugh.” The three forms are distinguished by slight differences in meaning. In Portuguese, on the other hand, a single present tense conveys all three meanings of the English.

First Conjugation

Memorize the present tense of the model verb falar (to speak):

(eu) falo	I speak, am speaking, do speak
(tu) falas	you (fam. sing.) speak, are speaking, do speak
(ele) fala	he (she, it) speaks, is speaking, does speak; you (polite sing.) speak, are speaking, do speak ^18
(nós) falamos	we speak, are speaking, do speak
(vós) falais	you (formal fam. pl.) speak, are speaking, do speak

(eles) falam

they speak, are speaking, do speak; you (polite pl.) speak, are speaking, do speak

Second Conjugation

Memorize the present tense of the model v...