Portuguese vs. English Grammar: Key Differences & Similarities

Wondering how Portuguese grammar compares to English? While both languages have Indo-European roots, they belong to different language families—Portuguese is a Romance language, and English is Germanic. This divide shapes key aspects of their grammar, from verb conjugation to sentence structure.

This guide explores the most important grammatical distinctions between Portuguese and English. Let’s dive in.

Common Features

Portuguese and English both stem from the Indo-European language family, which means they share a common linguistic heritage. While their similarities may not always be obvious, they do have more in common than one might think.

SVO-Languages

Both Portuguese and English follow the SVO (Subject-Verb-Object) sentence structure. Here’s a simple example:

S > V >O
O Pedro comprou um carro.
Pedro bought a car.

In the examples above, Pedro is the subject (S), bought/comprou is the verb (V), and car/carro is the object (O). As you can see, both languages follow the same word order.

While there are exceptions where sentences deviate from the SVO structure, SVO remains the dominant and standard word order in both Portuguese and English.

Terminology

If you’re already familiar with basic English grammar terminology, you’ll have a head start in learning Portuguese grammar. Both languages follow similar grammatical concepts and structures.

Just like in English, Portuguese categorizes most words into four main “open classes”: nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. These groups are called “open” because new words are continually added, while older ones gradually disappear.

Similarly, both languages share the same set of “closed classes,” also known as function words. These include articles, prepositions, pronouns, numerals, and conjunctions—word types that remain relatively fixed over time.

S-Plural

English and Portuguese follow the same basic rule for forming plurals—adding an -s to the end of nouns. This is known as the s-plural. However, Portuguese introduces a few more exceptions and irregularities compared to English. Despite these variations, the s-plural remains the most common way to form plurals in Portuguese.

Learn more about plural-forming patterns: How to Form Plurals in Portuguese.

Distinct Features

Verbs

The Portuguese verb system is much more complex than its English counterpart. It features a wider range of conjugations within each tense, capturing subtle contextual nuances. Additionally, each verb tense has distinct forms for each grammatical person.

Take the present tense of ter (to have) as an example:

	Ter	Have
Eu (I)	tenho	have
Tu (you)	tens	have
Ele, ela (he, she)	tem	has
Nós (we)	temos	have
Vocês (you)	têm	have
Eles, elas (they)	têm	have

Preterite vs Imperfect

Speaking of a wider variety of conjugations, one challenge many language learners face is distinguishing between the Preterite and Imperfect tenses in Portuguese. While the Preterite is used for completed and specific past actions, the Imperfect conveys continuity, habitual actions, or background descriptions.

Preterite
Ontem comi um bolo.
Yesterday I ate a cake.

Imperfect
Atigamente, comia um bolo todos os dias.
Before, I used to eat a cake every day.

Understanding and mastering these nuances can be tricky and takes time.

Learn more about the Preterite vs Imperfect: Portuguese Perfect vs. Imperfect Tense: Know When to Use Either.

2 To-Be Verbs

Portuguese, like several other Romance languages, has two verbs that correspond to the English verb “to be”—ser and estar.

In simple terms, ser is used for permanent or inherent qualities, while estar refers to temporary states or conditions:

Permanent State
Tu és uma pessoa alegre. (ser)
You are a happy person.

Temporary State
Tu hoje estás alegre. (estar)
You seem happy today.

Learn more about “ser” and “estar”: Portuguese Verbs ‘Ser’ and ‘Estar’- When to Use Either.

Subjunctive Mood 

English and Portuguese differ significantly in their use of the Subjunctive Mood, which expresses desires, hypotheticals, or uncertainties.

Over time, English has largely simplified the subjunctive by using the same verb forms as the indicative mood. In fact, many native speakers may not even recognize it. For example, in the sentence “I suggest you go home,” the verb “go” is actually in the subjunctive mood.

In contrast, Portuguese has preserved a distinct subjunctive mood with unique verb conjugations that differ from the indicative. As a result, learners need to memorize additional verb forms to master this aspect of Portuguese grammar.

Learn more about the Subjunctive: Portuguese Present Subjunctive.

Possession Marker

English and Portuguese use a reversed word order to indicate possession, as shown below:

O carro da Sara. (~ the car belonging to Sara)
Sara’s car.

In Portuguese, we use the preposition de to show possession, placing it between the possessed item and the possessor.

Learn more about “de”: Portuguese Preposition “De”: A Usage Guide.

Articles

In Portuguese, possessive pronouns are normally preceded by a definite article:

A minha casa é branca.
My house is white.

O meu casaco is castanho escuro.
My jacket is dark brown.

The same happens with proper nouns:

A Joana ficou em casa.
Joana stayed home.

Olá, eu sou o Ricardo.
Hi, I’m Ricardo.

Learn more about Portuguese Possessives: Portuguese Possessive Pronouns and Adjectives.

Prepositions

Portuguese prepositions often contract with articles and other words. Here are a few examples:

Preposition “a”

Eu vou ao cinema. (ao= a + o cinema)
I am going to the cinema. 

Preposition “de”

Eu venho da cidade. (da= de +a cidade)
I come from the city. 

Preposition “em”

Ela está no quarto de banho. (no = em + o quarto de banho)
She is in the bathroom.

Learn more about Portuguese prepositions: Basic Portuguese Prepositions and Contractions: An Inclusive Usage Rundown.

Subject Omission

In Portuguese, it’s common to omit the subject in sentences. Since the verb forms already indicate the subject, it becomes implicit. For example:

(Eu) Gosto de música > I like music
(Tu) Gostas de música > You like music

Moreover, the subject is often omitted in impersonal sentences, where there is no specific subject. In these cases, the verb is conjugated in the third person (singular or plural). For example:

(As pessoas) dizem que os eventos climáticos extremos acontencerão com maior frequência no futuro.
People say that extreme weather events will be more frequent in the future.

Finally, Portuguese doesn’t have an it equivalent to refer to things in the same way as English. Sentences that begin with it in English usually don’t require a subject in Portuguese. For example:

Está a chover!
It is raining!

Não é justo!
It is not fair!

Gender 

Portuguese, like other Romance languages, is gendered. Nouns are either masculine or feminine, and this affects other parts of the language.

For example, pronouns, adjectives, and articles change their endings to agree with the gender of the noun they refer to. Here’s an illustration:

(1) A minha cadeira é vermelha. (cadeira is feminine)
(2) O meu carro é vermelho. (carro is masculine)

(1) My chair is red.
(2) My car is red.

As you see above, only the verb (“é”) is kept unchanged. Otherwise, all other words will adjust to match the noun’s gender.

Learn more about gender: Gender of Portuguese Words.

Diminutive/Augmentative

The use of diminutives and augmentatives is common in Portuguese, serving not only to suggest size but also to convey emotions like affection or, sometimes, irony to belittle something.

The most common way to form a diminutive is by changing the noun’s ending to -inho (or -inha for feminine nouns). For example:

Que gatinha bonito! (gata)
What a cute little cat!

Onde está o nosso Joãozinho? (João)
Where is our little John?

Conversely, we often use the suffix –ão to form the augmentative:

Que tigrão! (tigre)
What a big tiger!

No Auxiliary Verb

In Portuguese, yes-or-no questions have the same word order as declarative sentences. What differs is only the intonation.

In English, on the other side, yes-or-no questions are often formulated with the auxiliary verb to do:

(1) Gostas gelado?
(2) Gostas de gelado.

(1) Do you like ice cream?
(2) You like ice cream.

Learn more about questions and interrogatives: Asking Questions in Portuguese: Question Words and Beyond