Olá. Let’s talk about indefinite pronouns, namely those variable. So in Portuguese, pronomes indefinidos variáveis. Because we have indefinite pronouns that are invariable and those that are variable. So today, variable.

What are pronouns? So those words replacing nouns, basically. All right? To avoid repetition and to make sentences smoother. She, them, it, these are all pronouns. She, subject pronoun, this is object pronoun, this is subject pronoun for things. But again, today we are talking about indefinite pronouns, and those are used to refer to people or things in a nonspecific manner,

like someone or something. So they are nonspecific.

So again, we are talking about those variable, and the difference is that variable pronouns, they will change their endings to agree in number and gender with the noun they are referring to. Whereas invariable, they keep the same form, so they don’t need to agree in number and gender. That’s the difference. And also, before we go through some examples of indefinite pronouns,

let’s distinguish between these two concepts, pronouns and determiners. In Portuguese, pronomes determinantes. So let’s look at this example here. “Tens medo? Sim, tenho algum.” Do you have any fear?

Well, this is a literal translation. In English, it’s more common to say,

“Are you afraid?” But, “Do you have any fear?” Just to keep the same structure, I have some. So

this some, “algum,”

it’s referring to fear, to medo, and it’s replacing the noun, and therefore, it’s a pronoun. “Tens medo? Sim, tenho algum.” Algum medo. So this is a pronoun, whereas, “Tenho algum medo,” if we keep the noun in the sentence, technically algum, it’s not a pronoun, it’s a determiner. It’s determining, it’s quantifying, in this case, some fear. You see the difference? So here, algum, in terms of grammar, it’s considered a determiner, algum medo, whereas here is a pronoun because it’s replacing the noun altogether. But for the purpose of this video, I’m not distinguishing between those two, and I

just go with pronomes, pronouns. It’s all pronouns here. Let’s look at a few variable indefinite pronouns. Starting with algum, alguma, alguns, algumas, some. But as you see, we have all these variations because we have masculine, feminine, singular, and plural. So algum, masculino singular, alguma, feminino singular, and then the plurals, masculino plural, alguns, feminino plural, algumas. All right. All these endings and patterns, how do we go from masculine to feminine, singular to plural? There are videos about those spelling patterns. Now, the example, “Estou com algumas dúvidas.” I have some doubts. Dúvidas, feminine, a dúvida, plural, and therefore, algumas. You see? Variáveis, variable. They agree in gender and number with the noun they are referring to. In this case, dúvidas is the noun. And so feminine plural, and therefore, algumas. Another example with

none, not a single in Portuguese, that will be nenhum, nenhuma, nenhuns, nenhumas. “Não há nenhuma pergunta.” There are no questions.

And here it’s a case where we are using a double negation, which is very common in romance languages, such as Portuguese. You see, I have a double negation, noun and nenhuma, whereas in English, I just have one negation. There are no questions. So the equivalent in English would be, there aren’t no questions, but that’s not the way it goes in English. Just a single negation, whereas in Portuguese, this is very common. Okay? Double negation. Okay, so we have none, not a single, nenhum, nenhuma, nenhuns, nenhumas. Again, the noun, pergunta, feminine, a pergunta, singular, and therefore, nenhuma, feminino singular. Another pronoun, all, every, everyone in Portuguese will be todo, toda, todos, todas. The example, “Estamos todos aqui?” Are we all here? Another one is muito, muita, muitos, muitas. Many, much, a lot in English. This here, many, much, is interesting because in English, we have in Portuguese too, count nouns and mass nouns. So for example, cidades is a count noun. We can count one city, two cities, three cities. And regardless of we have a count noun or a mass uncountable noun, in Portuguese, we always use muito, muita, muitos, muitas. Whereas in English, with count nouns, we use many. With mass nouns or uncountable nouns, we use much or a lot. A lot is a little bit a jack of all trades. But, so our example, “Vivi em muitas cidades.” In English, we use, because it’s a count noun, we go with many. I’ve lived in many cities.You see? “Cidades” count noun. One city, two cities, three cities. But then, “Bebi muito café”, I drank too much coffee. Coffee here is the more broad sense of coffee. I had too much coffee. You see? It’s not one cup, two cups, three cups. It’s just the concept of coffee. And then it’s a mass noun. All right? And therefore much. I had, I drank too much coffee. In Portuguese, we stick to “muito”, “bebi muito café”. We just make sure that it will agree in number and gender. So “café”, “o café”, masculine, singular, therefore “muito” here, “cidades” feminine, plural, therefore “muitas”. That’s the difference. And the same goes for “pouca” regarding to count nouns and mass nouns. It’s the same principle. In English, we have few to count nouns, little to mass nouns. But in Portuguese, we always use

“pouco”, “pouca”, “poucos”, “poucas”. So example, “Estou com pouca paciência”, I have little patience. So patience, this concept is a mass noun. We don’t count one patience, two patiences, and therefore little patience in English. All right, so, several, this only makes sense to use in plural, so we have “vários”, “várias”, several. “Temos várias alternativas”, we have several alternatives. And I think this is the last one, the last example. Other, another in Portuguese is “outro”, “outra”, “outros”, “outras”. “Isso é outro assunto”, that’s another matter. All right.

This is it. These were common examples of indefinite pronouns, variable pronouns, and I’m linking an article here below where just take it easy and read at your pace. Everything is in English and you have more time to digest all this information, and soon I will be making a video on

invariable indefinite pronouns. All right. “Até breve”.