Brazilian portuguesePronouns, Adjectives In Brazilian Portuguese, we use indefinite pronounsNo definition set for 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. and adjectivesNo definition set for adjectivesLorem 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., words like “someone,” “some,” “everything,” or “all,” to replace or point out a nounNo definition set for nounLorem 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. in an indeterminate and vague way. For instance, in the example below, the indefinite pronoun alguém(somebody) replaces 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. João, making the sentence more general and less specific.
João te ligou. → Alguém te ligou.
João called you. → Somebody called you.
Now, take a look at this other example with an indefinite adjective, which comes before and points out or describes some underspecified hora(time).
Hoje estou ocupada. Vou à academia outra hora.
I am busy today. I will go to the gym another time.
In Brazilian Portuguese, indefinite pronouns and adjectives can be variable (with more than one form, agreeingNo definition set for agreeingLorem 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. with the noun) or invariable (with only one form), though indefinite adjectives are more often variable. In this post, we will review the forms and meanings of Brazilian Portuguese indefinite pronouns and adjectives, along with how to use them in Brazilian Portuguese. Let’s get started!
What are the invariable indefinite pronouns and adjectives in Brazilian Portuguese?
The indefinite pronouns alguém(somebody), ninguém (nobody)(nobody), tudo(everything), nada(nothing), and algo(something) and the indefinite adjective cada(each) are invariable in Brazilian Portuguese, meaning that they do not agree with the noun they replace or modify in genderNo definition set for genderLorem 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. or numberNo definition set for numberLorem 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..
Notice that cada is the only invariable indefinite adjective in Brazilian Portuguese.
| alguém | |
ninguém | |
tudo | |
nada | |
algo | |
| cada | |
Remember, because the indefinites above are invariable, their form will always stay the same!
The invariable indefinite pronouns alguém and ninguém are always used to refer to people.
Alguém(someone) is used when you want to refer to an unspecified person or to talk about the existence of a person without identifying who that person is.
Você conhece alguém que fala francês?
Do you know someone who speaks French?
Ninguém(no one) is used when you want to refer to the absence of any person, indicating that there is no one present or available.
Ninguém está trabalhando hoje.
The invariable indefinite pronouns algo(something), nada(anything, nothing), and tudo(everything) are used to refer to things in an imprecise or non-specific way.
I didn't hear anything yesterday.
A festa estava maravilhosa. Tudo estava tão lindo.
The party was wonderful. Everything was so beautiful.
The indefinite pronoun algo(something) has the same meaning as alguma coisa(something).
Paulo comprou algo durante a viagem.
Paul bought something during the trip.
Paulo comprou alguma coisa durante a viagem.
Paul bought something during the trip.
lit. Paul bought some thing during the trip.
Remember that algo is a pronoun that, all alone, replaces a noun. While alguma(some) can also be an indefinite pronoun, it only means “some” so to mean “something” it must be used with the noun coisa(thing). We’ll talk more about alguma in the section on variable indefinites below!
How to use the indefinite adjective ‘cada’?
The word cada(each) is an invariable indefinite adjective, meaning that it only takes the form cada. Cada can only be used with singular nouns, but they can belong to any gender.
feminine singular
Cada pessoa tem uma função aqui.
Each person has a function here.
masculine singular
Cada país tem uma capital.
Each country has a capital.
Check out our list of the invariable indefinites in Brazilian Portuguese! Now, let’s take a look at the variable indefinites!
What are variable indefinites in Brazilian Portuguese?
Variable indefinite words have more than one form, and they agree with the nouns they replace/modify. All variable indefinite words except certo(certain) can be used either as pronouns or adjectives. The variable indefinite adjectives and pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese are:
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | all, everything, everyone |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | |
| | |
Variable indefinites agree with the noun that they modify or the noun they replace. For example:
feminine singular
Vou à academia outra hora.
I will go to the gym another time.
As you can see in the table above, most variable indefinites agree with the noun in both gender (masculine and feminine) and number (singular and plural), two of them, qualquer/quaisquer and bastante(s) agree in number only.
Let’s go through some examples to see how to use each of these indefinite words!
algum, alguma, alguns, algumas | Speaker A:Você tem alguma caneta para me emprestar? Do you have any pen I can borrow? |
nenhum, nenhuma, nenhuns, nenhumas | Nenhum jogador compareceu à entrevista. No player attended the interview. Speaker A:Você quer a camisa verde ou vermelha? Do you want the green or red shirt?
|
all, the whole, everything, everyone | Será que todos querem ver o mesmo filme que nós? Does everybody want to see the same movie as us? Quero convidar todo mundo para a festa. I want to invite everybody to the party. lit. I want to invite the whole world to the party
|
outro, outraoutros, outras | O menino sempre olhava para o outro antes de falar. The boy always looked to the other before speaking. O Carlos acabou comprando outras mercadorias para a loja. Carlos ended up buying other merchandise for the store.
|
muito, muitamuitos, muitas | Muitas estão ainda viajando. Many are still traveling. Conheço muitos países, e você? I know many countries, and you?
|
pouco, poucapoucos, poucas | Poucos vieram para a aula inaugural. Few came to the inaugural class. O filme tem pouca duração. The movie is short. lit. The film has little length
|
certo, certa, certos, certas | Certos documentos são importantes. Certain documents are important. → Remember, certos cannot be used as a pronoun! |
vário, váriavários, várias | Vieram pessoas de várias idades para a apresentação. People of various ages came to the presentation. Speaker A:Você tem um short para me emprestar? Do you have a short for me to borrow? Speaker B:Sim, tenho vários. Qual você quer? Yes, I have many. Which one do you want?
|
tanto, tantatantos, tantas | Nossa, tanta gente veio ao cinema hoje! Wow, so many people came to the cinema today!
|
quanto, quantaquantos, quantas | Quantas alunas vieram à aula? How many (female) students came to class? Quanto custou a sua viagem para Portugal? How much did your trip to Portugal cost?
|
| Eles estão dispostos a enfrentar quaisquer desafios. They are willing to face any challenges.
|
| Assistimos a bastantes filmes quando crianças. We watched a lot of movies when we were kids.
|
A couple of notes about some of the words in the table above:
The words vário and vária exist in Brazilian Portuguese, but they are not often used. In everyday language, people prefer their plural forms: vários and várias(many). They are commonly used as indefinite adjectives, accompanying a noun.
Já aprendi várias palavras novas no meu curso de português.
I’ve already learned many new words in my Portuguese course.
When used as an indefinite word the word bastante(a lot, enough) must agree in number with the noun it describes or replaces. However, in everyday language, the plural form bastantes is rare, and muitos(many) is usually used instead.
Assistimos a bastantes filmes quando crianças.
We watched a lot of movies when we were kids.
Assistimos a muitos filmes quando crianças.
We watched many movies when we were kids.
Just like the English “certain,” the Brazilian Portuguese adjective certo can also mean “sure” or “confident in one’s beliefs,” but in this use it is not an indefinite adjective. It’s just like the word “certain” in English, which can also be an indefinite adjective (e.g. “a certain person”) or a regular descriptive adjective (e.g. “I am certain about this.”)
What are the indefinites with opposite meanings in Brazilian Portuguese?
There are several pairs of indefinite words with opposite meanings in Brazilian Portuguese. For example:
algum(anybody) vs. nenhum(not anybody)
Speaker A:A Maria conhece alguém nesse prédio?
Does Maria know anybody in this building?
Speaker B:Eu acho que ela não conhece ninguém.
I don't think she knows anybody.
alguém(anything) vs. ninguém(not anything)
Speaker A:Carlos, você comprou algo para a viagem?
Carlos, have you bought anything for the trip?
Speaker B:Não, ainda não comprei nada.
No, I haven't bought anything yet.
algo(any) vs. nada(not any)
Speaker A:Você tem algum livro de gramática para me emprestar?
Do you have any grammar books to lend me?
Speaker B:Não, não tenho nenhum aqui.
No, I don't have any here.
tudo(everything) vs. nada(nothing)
Vamos terminar tudo antes do meio-dia.
We will finish everything before midday.
Não vamos terminar nada antes do meio-dia.
We will finish nothing before midday.
todo(all) vs. nenhum(none, any)
Vamos terminar todo o trabalho antes do meio-dia.
We will finish all the work before midday.
Não vamos terminar nenhum trabalho antes do meio-dia.
We won’t finish any work before midday.
certo(certain) vs. qualquer(any)
Certas músicas são lembradas para sempre.
Certain songs are remembered forever.
Qualquer semelhança é mera coincidência
Any similarity is purely coincidental.
What are some phrases that can be used as indefinite pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese?
In addition to the words we’ve reviewed above, there are also some phrases that can be used as indefinite pronouns. Let’s take a look at the table below to see some examples:
Here are a few examples:
Qualquer um pode aprender a andar de bicicleta.
Anyone can learn to ride a bike.
Cada qual sabe onde lhe aperta o sapato.
Each one knows where the shoe pinches.
What are some common expressions that use indefinites in Brazilian Portuguese?
There are many common expressions that use indefinite pronouns and adjectives in Brazilian Portuguese. Let’s have a look at some of the most common and important ones to know by having a look at some tricky distinctions!
When to use the expressions ‘outro dia’ vs. ‘no/ao outro dia’?
There is a difference in meaning between outro dia and no outro dia:
(o) outro dia means “the other day”
Outro dia vi a Marina passando aqui pela rua.
The other day I saw Marina passing by on the street.
no/ao outro dia is used like the English phrase “the following/next day,” but it literally means “at/to the other day”:
Chegamos de viagem no domingo e no outro dia já fomos trabalhar.
We arrived from a trip on Sunday and the next day we went to work.
How to say “each other” using the word ‘outro’ (other)?
You can say “each other” in Brazilian Portuguese in cases where the actors are doing things at each other, to each other, from each other, for each other, etc. You can do this by using the word outro(other), or one of its other forms, in the following structure:
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.
The prepositionNo definition set for prepositionLorem 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. you use will be whatever preposition would come before any other noun in the same context. For example:
O amor pelo Brasil nos ligou a ele.
The love for Brazil bound us to him.
→ nos ligou + a + the thing we are bound to
O amor pelo Brasil nos ligava uma à outra.
The love for Brazil bound us to each other.
lit. The love for Brazil bound us one to the other.
→ Here the thing we are bound to is “each other”.
Remember that prepositions in Brazilian Portuguese often combine with the definite article that follows them!
Let’s look at a few more examples:
um do outro
Use this when you would use “each other” after the preposition de(from):
Aqueles colegas de sala moram a uma pequena distância uns dos outros.
Those classmates live a short distance from each other.
lit. Those classmates live a short distance one from the other.
um para o outro
Use this when you would use “each other” after the preposition para(to):
Eles ficaram olhando um para o outro antes de se cumprimentarem.
They stared at each other before shaking hands.
lit. They stared one at the other before shaking hands.
um no outro
Use this when you would use “each other” after the preposition em(in):
Eles confiavam um no outro.
They trusted in each other.
lit. They trusted one in the other.
Eles tinham confiança um no outro.
They had trust in each other.
lit. They had trust one in the other.
If you are curious about reflexive and reciprocal pronouns in Brazilian Portuguese, take a look at our post! Or, check our post about confusing Brazilian Portuguese prepositions to find out more about verbs and nouns that “work together” with prepositions!
When to use the expressions ‘qualquer um/uma’ vs. ‘um/uma qualquer’?
Qualquer in the singular form, when accompanied by the indefinite article um/uma(a, an) , can portray different meanings depending on whether you use the expression qualquer um(a) or um(a) qualquer.
qualquer um(a)
Use qualquer um(a) for people or things in any context with the meaning of “anyone,” “any of them,” etc.
Qualquer um consegue aprender a nadar.
Anyone can learn to swim.
Speaker A:Qual dessas blusas você quer?
Which of these blouses do you want?
um qualquer or uma qualquer
Um(a) qualquer refers to people and has the pejorative meaning of “nobody.”
Such a negative meaning can be intensified when a person’s name is placed between the indefinite article and qualquer.
Aquele rapaz é um José qualquer.
That boy is a José-nobody.
If you’re curious to know more about indefinite articles in Brazilian Portuguese, take a look at our post!
When to use the expressions ‘todo dia’ vs. ‘todo o dia’ vs. ‘o dia todo’?
These expressions with todo can provide different meanings, depending on which is used.
todo dia
Todo dia means “every day,” as does todos os dias.
Acordo todo dia às 7h da manhã.
I wake up every day at 7 am.
todo o dia
Todo o dia means “the entire day” or “all day”, just like o dia inteiro or o dia todo:
Esse passarinho fica todo o dia / o dia todo no meu quintal.
This bird stays all day in my backyard.
The expressions todo mundo and todo o mundo have the same essential meaning, which is “everyone” or “everybody.” However, todo mundo is a more common and informal way of expressing this meaning, whereas todo o mundo is slightly more formal and often used in written or formal spoken language. Todo o mundo also adds a touch of emphasis on "the entire world."
Na minha opinião, todo mundo / todo o mundo ama sorvete.
In my opinion, everybody loves ice cream.
The phrase o mundo todo means “the whole world” or “everyone worldwide” and it is used as a broader way to say “everybody” or “everyone.”
O mundo todo está preocupado com as mudanças climáticas.
The whole world is preoccupied with climate change.
Summary
In this post, we reviewed indefinite pronouns and adjectives. Indefinite pronouns and adjectives are used to provide a vague and indefinite idea of something or someone, and they can be invariable or variable. We also saw that:
Indefinite pronouns are used to replace a noun or another pronoun.
Indefinite adjectives accompany a noun, adding a non-precise meaning to it.
There are variable and invariable indefinite pronouns and indefinite adjectives.
Indefinite words can have opposite meanings.
Indefinite pronouns can be formed by multiple words.
And, finally, we saw the meaning of some expressions made with indefinite words.
Now that you know your grammar, why don’t you practice what you’ve learned with our exercises on indefinite pronouns and indefinite adjectives in Brazilian Portuguese?
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