Adjectives (e.g.: bom, grande, pequeno, inteligente, excelente, etc.)

An Overview of Adjectives

Adjectives are used to describe nouns. They must agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify (e.g.: as flores bonitas). Most adjectives come after the noun.

To use adjectives correctly, you need to know:
a) common adjectives
b) how to form masculine, feminine and plural forms
c) how agreement works
d) where to place the adjective

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Forms of Adjectives

Masculine and Feminine

Many adjectives vary according to gender:

• alto / alta

• rápido / rápida

• bonito / bonita

Adjectives ending in a consonant often add -a for feminine:

• trabalhador / trabalhadora

• inglês / inglesa

Some adjectives have the same form:

• pobre, fácil, jovem, interessante

Adjectives ending in -ista are invariable:

• otimista, realista

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Plural Forms

• vowel → add -s:

  • alto → altos

• consonant → add -es:

  • fácil → fáceis

• final -z → -c:

  • feliz → felizes

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Colours

Colour adjectives agree like other adjectives:

• vestidos azuis

• blusas brancas

Exceptions:

• colour from noun → invariable:

  • guardanapos laranja

• compound colours → often invariable:

  • camisas azul-claro

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Adjective Agreement

Adjectives agree with the noun in:

• gender

• number

• a casa pequena

• as casas pequenas

Agreement holds even at a distance:

• A pessoa que viaja comigo é portuguesa.

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Adjective Placement

Most adjectives follow the noun:

• um livro interessante

• um exame difícil

• uma camisa branca

Some may appear before the noun:

• um grande dia

• um bom amigo

👉 Before the noun:

• often more subjective/emotional
  👉 After the noun:

• more descriptive/objective

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Position and Meaning

Some adjectives change meaning depending on position:

• grande / grande

  • um edifício grande = physically big

  • um grande edifício = impressive

• pobre

  • um homem pobre = no money

  • um pobre homem = unfortunate

• falso

  • documento falso = fake

  • falsa identidade = not genuine

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🔑 Key points

• Agreement = gender + number

• Default position = after the noun

• Before noun = often subjective/emphatic

• Some adjectives change meaning with position