For all of you English speaking members who are struggling to learn or improve your Portuguese, believe it or not you can learn over 1000 Brazilian Portuguese words in under ten minutes if you understand a few of the basic rules of the language.
PLEASE REFER BACK TO THIS POSTING FROM-TIME-TO-TIME BECAUSE IT WILL BE CONSTANTLY UPDATED WITH NEW MATERIAL AT THE END.
English words ending in AL
These words do not change at all, they are just pronounced differently and usually there is a bit more stress on that syllable ( use the OW sound in WOW NORMAL = NORM-OW, TERMINAL = TERMIN-OW)
NORMAL = NORMAL, CULTURAL = CULTURAL, SOCIAL = SOCIAL, ETC.
English words that end with ITY
Use IDADE (pronounced = ida-dgee) in place of TY or ITY - CITY = CIDADE, SOLIDARITY = SOLIDARIDADE, DIFFICULTY = DIFICULDADE, ETC.
English words that end in TION
Except for the word VACATION (which translates to FERIAS) you use ÇÃO (pronounced like SOUND without the "D") in place of TION - ACTION = AÇÃO, NATION = NAÇÃO,
Pronuncing the plural of these words (pronounced like COINS with an "S" sound on the front)
INFORMATION = INFORMAÇÃO, ETC. in the plural use ÇÕES ACTION = AÇÕES, NATION = NAÇÕES, INFORMATION = INFORMAÇÕES, ETC.
NOTE: In English we consider the word information as plural even though we write it in the singular. In Portuguese this is not the case it can be pluralized informações)
English words that end in SION (EXCEPT PASSION)
We use SÃO (pronounces ZAUN) in place of SION. CONFUSION = CONFUSÃO, CONCLUSION = CONCLUSÃO, EROSION = EROSÃO, ETC.
English words in IBLE or ABLE
Use ÍVEL or ÁVEL (in these words the "I" or "A" is stressed) in place of IBLE or ABLE. HORRIBLE = HORRÍVEL, TERRIBLE = TERRÍVEL, COMFORTABLE = CONFORTÁVEL, RESPONSIBLE = RESPONSÁVEL, ETC. (pronounced HORH-I-VEL / TERH-I-VEL / CON-FOR-TA-VEL / RE-SPON-SA-VEL)
English words that end in ENCY or IENCE
Use ÊNCIA (pronounced - EN-SEE-YA) instead of ENCY. EMERGENCY = EMERGÊNCIA, FLUENCY = FLUÊNCIA, TRANSPARENCY = TRANSPARÊNCIA, SCIENCE = CIÊNCIA, PATIENCE = PACIÊNCIA, ETC.
English words ending in LY or LLY
Use MENTE (pronounced - MEN-TCHEE) instead of LY or LLY. USUALLY = USUALMENTE, TOTALLY = TOTALMENTE, ORIGINALLY = ORIGINALMENTE, ETC.
Portuguese Gerunds
Usually we just add ANDO or INDO (pronounced - AN-DOUGH or IN-DOUGH) to the end of the Portuguese verb.
WALK = ANDAR WALKING = ANDANDO, LAUGH = RIR LAUGHING = RINDO, ETC.
When the Gerund expresses an abstract concept, a process or activity then we add MENTO (pronounced - MEN-TOW) to the end of the verb.
PROGRESS (andar)= ANDAMENTO KNOW = CONHECER, KNOWING = CONHECENDO but the concept KNOWLEDGE = CONHECIMENTO / CLOSE = FECHAR, CLOSING = FECHANDO, CLOSING(of the)... [as in contract,for example] = FECHAMENTO
Portuguese Diminutives and Augmentatives
We add the diminutive INHO or INHA (pronounced EEN-YO or EEN-YAH) to the end of the Portuguese noun depending on its gender, so can say CHILD = CRIANÇA or we can say LITTLE CHILD = CRIANÇINHA, RAIN = CHUVA or LITTLE (FINE) RAIN = CHUVINHA, SON = FILHO or LITTLE SON = FILINHO, DOG = CACHORRO or LITTLE DOG = CACHORRINHO, ETC.
We add the augmentative ÃO or RÃO (pronoucing the "ow" like we do instead of saying ouch! and giving it a nasal sound on the end OW-N or ROW-N) regardless of gender of the noun. RAIN = CHUVA or BIG RAIN = CHUVÃO, HOUSE = CASA or BIG HOUSE = CASARÃO, CAR = CARRO or BIG CAR = CARRÃO
Portuguese Suffix EIRO/EIRA
The Portuguese suffix EIRO (masc.)/ EIRA (fem.) (pronounced EH-ROW or EH-RAH) is used in several different ways. The suffix can be added to either a noun or verb.
One of the most common uses is to talk about where a person works or what his/her profession is: carta (letter) - carteiro (letter carrier / postman) ; faxina (clean) - faxineiro(a) (housekeeper / cleaning lady); porta (door) - porteiro (doorman); padaria (bakery) - padeiro (baker); cozinha (kitchen) - cozinheiro(a) (cook); etc.
It can also be used to describe what a person does or character traits: bagunça (mess) - bagunceiro(a) (messy person); encrenca (trouble) - encrenqueiro (troublemaker); fofoca (gossip) - fofoqueiro(a) (a gossip);etc.
It also is used to describe what something is used for (or in some cases produces): cinza (ash) - cinzeiro (ashtray); lixo (garbage) - lixeira (wastebasket or garbage can); chá (tea) - chaleira (teapot); laranja (orange) - laranjeira (orange tree); limão (lime) - limeira (lime tree); fogo (fire) - fogueira (fire pit or bonfire);lanche (snack) - lancheira (lunchbox);etc.
BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE PRONUNCIATION
In Portuguese words beginning with R have an H sound. ROSA is pronounced HO-ZA, RIO is pronounced HIO, RICARDO is pronounced HI-CAR-DO, RIBANCEIRA is pronounced HI-BAN-CEI-RA, ETC. but in any other position R has the sound we are used to.
Portuguese words that have a double R (RR) also have the H sound. CACHORRO is pronounced CA-CHO-HO, HORROROSO is pronounced HO-HO-RO-SO
Portuguese words beginning with DI in many cases have a DGEE sound. DIA is pronounced DGEE-A, DIAMANTE is pronounced DGEE-A-MAN-CHE, ETC.
Portuguese words ending in TE have a CHEE sound. NOITE is pronounced NOI-CHEE, GENTE is pronounced GEN-CHEE, ETC.
Portuguese words ending in B (uncommon), ending in D, K or P (usually acronyms) have a BEE, DGEE , KEY or PEE sound respectively. BOB is pronounced BO-BEE, BAND (the TV network) is pronounced BAN-DGEE, VASP (the now defunct airline company) is pronounced VAS-PEE, ETC. So don't go trying to find your ice skates whe a Brazilian says "HOCKEY" he's talking about music, ROCK. (hockey e hole = rock and roll)
Articles- Use of an article o/a is obligatory in the Portuguese language unlike in English where we often do not use an article. Even when using names, if you are talking about a third person you use the article when saying his or her name.
Example: I saw Tom last week. (Eu vi o Tom na semana passada.)
Will Maria come to the meeting? (A Maria vai vir para a reunião?)
Dropping pronouns - Dropping the pronoun in the spoken language is quite common in the Portuguese language because the conjugation of the verb makes the pronoun obvious. Sometimes this may confuse you, but you will get used to it.
I arrived this morning at 7:00 am. (Cheguei hoje das 07h00. instead of Eu cheguei hoje das 07h00.)
Agreement between articles and possessive pronouns/adjectives with the noun (subject object agreement Articles and pronouns/adjectives must agree with the noun's number and gender - o cachorro (singular masc. noun)- the dog, os cachorros (plural masc. noun) the dogs, meu cachorro - my dog, meus cachorros - my dogs, nosso cachorro - our dog, nossos cachorros - our dogs; a casa - the house (singular fem. noun) as casas - the houses (plural fem. noun), sua casa - your house, as suas casas - your houses, nossa casa - our house, nossas casas - our houses.
Masculine and Feminine Nouns One thing that is difficult for English speakers to adapt to, unless they have previous experience with some Latin based language, is the concept of nouns having a gender. It is not always easy to determine if a noun is masculine or feminine, but in many cases nouns ending in A are feminine and those ending in O are masculine.
The concept of "it" to refer to inanimate objects simply does not exist in the Portuguese language since everything is either masculine or feminine. So you might have to understand the context of the entire spoken phrase in order to understand what o/a/ele/ela refers to.
Example suitcase (mala) is feminine so it takes the article "a" - a mala.
I had a beautiful suitcase, but I lost it.
Eu tinha uma linda mala, mas eu a perdi.
Eu tinha uma linda mala, mas perdi ela.
Thankyou - Unlike in "Continental" Portuguese here MEN always say OBRIGADO and WOMEN always say OBRIGADA no matter who they are speaking to. This is different in Portugual where you say OBRIGADA to women and OBRIGADO to men regardless of the speaker's gender.
Good morning - Bom dia! (BON DGEEAH)
Good afternoon - Boa tarde! (BOA TAR-DGEE)
Good evening/ Goodnight - Boa noite! (BOA NOI-CHEE) note that unlike in English where we use Good evening upon meeting someone and Goodnight only on bidding them farewell or going to bed, in Brazil only the single term is used both ways.