To build a sentence in Brazilian Portuguese, you will put the subjectNo definition set for subjectLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. first, then the verbNo definition set for verbLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., then the objectNo definition set for objectLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.. This means that, like English, Brazilian Portuguese, is an SVO (Subject-Verb-Object) language. For example:
Maria comprou flores.
Maria bought flowers.
However, there are ways to vary this sentence structure. For example:
A subject pronounNo definition set for subject pronounLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. can be omitted, as in:
Falamos com a Maria.
We talked to Maria.
Some sentences may have no subject at all, as in:
Está ensolarado.
It is sunny.
In this post, we will focus on the main differences between word order in Brazilian Portuguese and English. We’ll focus especially on:
the position of object pronouns
the omission or inexistence of the subject pronoun
the placement of adjectives and adverbs
the structure of relative clauses
If you are curious about sentence structure in Brazilian Portuguese, this is the perfect post for you. So, what are we waiting for? Let’s start!
As we stated above, the most basic sentence structure in Brazilian Portuguese is the subject + verb + object sentence structure.
However, there are three different kinds of verbs in Brazilian Portuguese: linking verbs, transitive verbs, and intransitive verbs. The exact structure of your sentence will depend on which type of verb you use. Let’s take a look at them one by one!
To build a sentence using a linking verb, follow this general structure:
subject
verb
complement
O Brasil é um país gigantesco.
Brazil is a giant country.
Linking verbs are words which connect the subject of a sentence to a complement, which is a word or phrase that describes someone’s or something’s condition or state. The main linking verbs in Brazilian Portuguese are ser and estar, which both translate to “to be.”
Take a look at this chart to see other linking verbs in Brazilian Portuguese and their meanings.
A transitive verb is a verb that is followed by an object, so sentences like these typically use the classic subject-verb-object word order.
However, some transitive verbs can be followed by two objects:
a direct object → the noun directly affected by the action of the verb
an indirect object → a noun that is helped by the action, often by receiving the object of the verb.
If a sentence has two objects, the sentence structure looks like this instead:
subject
verb
direct object
indirect object
Rodrigo preparou uma festa para Maria.
Rodrigo prepared a party for Maria.
When a verb has both a direct and indirect object, it is more common for the direct object to precede the indirect object.
According to the official Brazilian Portuguese grammar, object pronounsNo definition set for object pronounsLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. should be placed after the verbs, attached to the verb with a hyphen:
Rodrigo preparou-a para Maria.
Rodrigo prepared it for Maria.
Rodrigo preparou-lhe uma festa.
Rodrigo prepared a party for her.
However, despite the official grammar rules, many Brazilian Portuguese speakers tend to follow a different pattern in informal, everyday written and spoken language. You’re likely to hear people do one of the following instead:
Place the direct or indirect object pronouns before the verb, without the use of a hyphen:
Quem preparou uma festa para a Maria?
Who prepared a party for Maria?
Rodrigo lhe preparou uma festa.
Rodrigo (for) her prepared a party.
Omit the object pronoun, if the noun it refers to can be known from the context.
Quem preparou uma festa para a Maria?
Who prepared a party for Maria?
Rodrigo preparou.
Rodrigo prepared.
If you want to know more about direct and indirect object pronouns and their position or omission in Brazilian Portuguese sentences, take a look at our post!
Intransitive verbs don’t require objects to complete their meanings. The most common sentence structure is simply:
subject
verb
O bebê dormiu.
The baby slept.
In informal and everyday Brazilian Portuguese, though, people often invert the subject and the verb to emphasize the action. Therefore, the word order can also be:
verb
subject
Sofia ficou espantada com a apresentação de ballet e falou:
- Como dançam bem essas meninas!
Sofia was amazed by the ballet performance and said:
- How well these girls dance!
The subject of a sentence in Brazilian Portuguese can be left out in two circumstances:
when the subject is a (subject) pronoun
in impersonal expressions
Let’s review the structures for both cases!
Subject pronouns can almost always be omitted in Brazilian Portuguese, because the form of the verb and the context makes the subject pronoun that would have been there clear. For example:
É um país gigantesco.
It is a huge country.
Preparou uma festa para a irmã.
He/she prepared a party for his/her sister.
Dormiu.
He/she slept.
Want to know more about the forms and uses of subject pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese? Take a look at our post!
Impersonal sentence structures have indeterminate subjects and are usually used to highlight ideas or actions. In this case, the verb is placed at the beginning of the sentence because there is no subject that precedes it.
Está sol.
It is sunny.
Têm muitas lojas nesta rua.
There are many shops in this street.
Have a look at our post on impersonal expressions in Brazilian Portuguese to learn more!
Adverbs are words that are used to modify verbs, adjectives, or really any word or phrase that is not a noun or noun phrase. In Brazilian Portuguese they are usually placed:
before adjectives:
Maria está muito feliz.
Maria is very happy.
before another adverb:
Ele terminou o trabalho muito rapidamente.
He finished the job very quickly.
after verbs:
Carolina viaja pouco ao Brasil.
Carolina rarely travels to Brazil.
However, the position of adverbs that modify verbs can vary, depending on the type of verb or adverb being used.
In everyday spoken language, there is often a lot of flexibility around the placement of adverbs — they can even be put at the beginning or end of the sentence. For example:
(Agora) ele (agora) está falando (agora) ao telefone (agora).
(Now) he (now) is speaking (now) on the phone (now).
However, these alternate positions are mostly used for emphasis.
Let’s talk about some special cases in which the position of the adverb may not quite match the positions outlined above.
Generally, adverbs that modify verbs are placed after verbs. Classic adverbs of mannerNo definition set for adverbs of mannerLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., will almost always follow this pattern, as in:
Emilia correu rapidamente para abrir a porta.
Emilia quickly ran to open the door.
However, other kinds of adverbs may allow more flexibility or follow different rules altogether. Let’s look at a few different types of adverbs:
Adverbs of timeNo definition set for Adverbs of timeLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. and adverbs of placeNo definition set for adverbs of placeLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. can be placed before or after the verb:
✅ Nós agora estamos no Brasil.
✅ Nós estamos agora no Brasil.
We are now in Brazil.
Adverbs of frequencyNo definition set for Adverbs of frequencyLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. like nunca(never) and sempre(always), are not as flexible as others, should usually be placed before the verb:
Emilia nunca corre, porque prefere caminhar.
Emilia never runs, because she prefers to walk.
Adverbs of negationNo definition set for Adverbs of negationLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Negation adverbs, such as não(no), are always placed before the verb:
Eu não sou brasileiro.
I am not Brazilian.
Unlike in English, where two negatives make a positive, adding multiple negatives to the same Brazilian Portuguese sentence just makes the statement more negative. For example:
Eu não conheço ninguém aqui.
I don’t know anybody here.
lit. I don't know nobody here.
Check out our post on the use of negative words in Brazilian Portuguese to learn more!
In compound tenses, most types of adverbs will go between the auxiliaryNo definition set for auxiliaryLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. and the main verbNo definition set for main verbLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum., as in:
auxiliary
adverb
main verb
Ele está sempre falando ao telefone.
He is always speaking on the phone.
However, it you will probably sometimes hear people place most common adverbs before the auxiliary verb or after the main verb as well:
Ele (sempre) tem falado (sempre) ao telefone.
He (always) has spoken (always) on the phone.
Adverbs of negation, though, are much less flexible. These will almost always come before the auxiliary verb:
Catarina e José nunca tinham viajado para fora do país.
Catarina and José had never traveled outside the country.
Adverbial phrases are groups of words that work together to act like an adverb in a sentence. Like basic adverbs, they can provide information about words like verbs, adjectives, or other adverbs:
time → em breve(soon), à tarde(in the afternoon), ...
place → em cima(on top, up there), ao lado(next to here, on the side), ...
affirmation → com certeza(with certainty), de fato(in fact), ...
negation → de forma alguma(no way), de modo algum(not at all), ...
manner → às pressas(in a rush), em silêncio(in silence), ...
quantity → em excesso(in excess)
Adverbial phrases are commonly placed at the beginning or at the end of a sentence:
✅ À tarde nós iremos te visitar.
In the afternoon we will visit you.
✅ Nós iremos te visitar à tarde.
We will visit you in the afternoon.
Unlike in English, in Brazilian Portuguese the adjective is often placed after the noun it modifies, as in:
Marcos é um profissional eficiente.
Marcos is an efficient professional.
In some circumstances, the adjective in Brazilian Portuguese can also be placed before the noun. However, this change of position also implies a change of meaning. Let’s take a look a the two examples below:
Ele é um amigo velho.
He is an old friend.
Ele é um velho amigo.
He is an old friend.
Check out our longer post on the position of adjectives in Brazilian Portuguese to learn more!
Possessive adjectives are words like “my” or “their” which are placed before a noun and used to indicate ownership or relationship.
Possessive adjectives in Brazilian Portuguese are most often placed before the nouns to which they refer, just like English:
O Carlos é meu amigo.
Carlos is my friend.
However, it is also possible to place the possessive adjective after the noun, for emphasis. This structure can be used in written language, but it is often seen in everyday informal, spoken language.
O Carlos é amigo meu.
Carlos is a friend of mine.
lit. Carlos is friend my.
In Brazilian Portuguese, the possessive adjectives seu, sua, seus, suas(his, her, their) can be replaced by dele(s)(of him / of them) and dela(s)(of her / of them). In this case, they are always placed after the noun.
Carlos é amigo do Paulo. = Carlos é amigo dele.
Carlos is Paulo’s friend. = Carlos is his friend.
In Brazilian Portuguese, unlike in English, you can optionally place a definite articleNo definition set for definite articleLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. before the possessive adjective.
O Carlos é o meu amigo.
Carlos is (the) my friend.
When you place the possessive adjective after the noun it refers to, the definite article cannot be used before either the noun or the possessive adjective.
❌ O Carlos é o amigo meu.
❌ O Carlos é amigo o meu.
However, it is possible, in this case, to use an indefinite article before the noun, as in:
O Carlos é um amigo meu.
Carlos is a friend of mine.
If you want to learn more about possessive adjectives in Brazilian Portuguese, take a look at this post.
Relative clauses are subordinate clausesNo definition set for subordinate clausesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. that we use to describe a noun or pronoun. An English example might be: “I saw a man who was walking his dog.”
In Brazilian Portuguese, as in English, relative clauses typically come after the noun they describe, but there are some differences between the structure of relative clauses in English vs. Brazilian Portuguese.
Let’s look at the two main types of relative clauses: defining relative clauses and non-defining relative clauses. Each has a slightly different meaning and structure. Let’s have a look!
Defining relative clauses are used to restrict or delimit the meaning of the noun they modify.
In Brazilian Portuguese, defining relative clauses are always introduced by the relative pronoun que(that, who). These types of relative clauses are not separated out by commas.
As pessoas que praticam esportes costumam ser mais saudáveis.
People who practice sports tend to be healthier.
Os animais que vivem neste zoológico são bem tratados.
The animals that live in this zoo are treated well.
In English, we often drop the relative pronoun from a defining relative clause:
The room that we meet in was locked. → The room we meet in was locked.
This is not allowed in Brazilian Portuguese. The pronoun que(that, who) must always be included!
Non-defining relative clauses are used to better explain or clarify the term to which they refer. They are also introduced by the relative pronoun que(which, who), but are most often separated by commas:
São Paulo, que é a cidade mais populosa do Brasil, fica no sudoeste do país.
São Paulo, which is Brazil's most populous city, is located in the southwest of the country.
In this post we talked about sentence structure in Brazilian Portuguese. We saw that the most common word order is: subject + verb + object. We also saw that:
Subject pronouns can be omitted in Brazilian Portuguese, and some sentences do not have a subject at all, as in:
É importante falar a verdade.
It is important to speak the truth.
Adverbs are placed before adjectives and adverbs, but can come either before or after verbs, depending on the type of adverb.
Most kinds of adverbs can or must follow the verb, but negation always comes before.
Adverbial phrases are placed at the beginning or end of the sentence.
Adjectives are commonly placed after nouns, but can also be put before them to change the meaning of the sentence.
Possessive adjectives are normally placed before the noun they refer to, but sometimes they are put after the noun for emphasis. It is also optional to place a definite article before possessive adjectives.
Relative clauses are introduced by the relative pronoun que(that, who, which), and the type of relative clause used determines the sentence structure.
Want to read about other kinds of sentences in Brazilian Portuguese? Check out our posts on…
Now it is time to practice what you know about sentence structure in Brazilian Portuguese with some exercises.
