User:Inventorfrog/Language reference
This is the subpage where I'm keeping tables and excerpts for my own personal reference, copied from Wikipedia articles about the grammar of my target languages (mostly Portuguese, at the moment). If this somehow breaks a rule I wasn't aware of, please inform me rather than deleting it -- I spent a lot of time editing it!
Sources:
- Portuguese verb conjugation
- Personal pronouns in Portuguese
- Portuguese phonology
- Portuguese profanity
- Portuguese proverbs
- Differences between Brazilian and European Portuguese dialects
- Gender neutrality in Portuguese
- Portuguese language
- Portuguese grammar
Portuguese
Notes
- The Portuguese conditional is sometimes replaced with a periphrasis or with the imperfect indicative in the spoken language. Some authors regard it as a mood of its own, others treat it as a tense of the indicative mood.
- The pluperfect indicative can also be expressed with an equivalent periphrasis.
- The future indicative is usually replaced with a periphrasis or the present indicative in the spoken language.
- In regular verbs, the future subjunctive and the personal infinitive are identical.
- See the section on the imperative, below.
- The present participle is not in common use today except for some adjectives or nouns that are typically replaced by the corresponding agent nouns ("-dor(a)", "-ista", etc.) or the standard gerund.
- The Portuguese conditional is sometimes replaced with a periphrasis or with the imperfect indicative in the spoken language. Some authors regard it as a mood of its own, others treat it as a tense of the indicative mood.
The tenses correspond to:
- Present (presente): "I do" or "I am doing".
- Preterite (pretérito, or pretérito perfeito): "I did" or "I have done".
- Imperfect (imperfeito, or pretérito imperfeito): "I did", "I used to do", "I was doing".
- Pluperfect (mais-que-perfeito, or pretérito mais-que-perfeito): "I had done".
- Future (futuro, or futuro do presente in Brazilian Portuguese): "I will do", "I am going to do".
- Conditional (condicional, or futuro do pretérito in Brazilian Portuguese): "I would do". Used in some types of conditional sentences, as a form of courtesy, or as a future-in-the-past.
The five non-finite forms generally correspond to:
- (Impersonal) infinitive (infinitivo, or infinitivo impessoal): equivalent to English "to do".
- Past participle (particípio, or particípio passado): equivalent to English "done".
- Present participle (particípio presente): Uncommon in modern speech. Somewhat equivalent to English "doer", or used as an adjective relating to an ongoing action, or that action in general. For example, "falante" can mean "talking (+ noun)", "talkative" or "speaker". See notes above.
- Gerund (gerúndio): equivalent to English "(is) doing". Used to actually show/describe ongoing action.
- Personal infinitive (infinitivo pessoal): "(for me) to do", an infinitive which inflects according to its subject; a rare feature that Portuguese shares with Galician.
The moods are used roughly as follows:
- Indicative (indicativo): for factual statements or positive beliefs. Example of an English equivalent: "I have done".
- Subjunctive (subjuntivo, or conjuntivo): mostly used when speaking of unreal, uncertain, or unassumed conditions: "Were I to do".
- Imperative (imperativo): for direct commands or requests; equivalent to the English "Do!"
Pronouns
- Pronouns are omitted whenever they can be inferred from the ending of the conjugated verb or the context.
- object pronouns are clitics, which must come next to a verb, and are pronounced together with it as a unit. They may appear before the verb (proclisis, lhe dizer), after the verb, linked to it with a hyphen (enclisis, dizer-lhe), or, more rarely, within the verb, between its stem and its desinence (mesoclisis, dir-lhe-ei). In spoken Brazilian Portuguese, where proclisis is nearly universal, mesoclisis never occurs.
- When a verb conjugated in the 1st person plural, ending in -s, is followed by the enclitic pronoun nos or vos, the s is dropped: Vamo-nos [vamos + nos] embora amanhã ("We are leaving tomorrow"), Respeitemo-nos [respeitemos + nos] mutuamente ("Let's respect each other"), Vemo-vos [vemos + vos] ("We see you"), etc.
- The possessive pronouns are identical to possessive adjectives, except that they (which "they"???) must be preceded by the definite article (o meu, a minha, os meus, as minhas, etc.) For the possessive adjectives, the article is optional, and its use varies with dialect and degree of formality.
- In Brazil, the weak clitic pronouns -o(s) and -a(s) are used almost exclusively in writing or in formal speech (e.g. TV newscasts). In colloquial speech, ele(s) and ela(s) replace the clitics as direct objects (e.g. Vi eles na praia ontem versus Vi-os na praia ontem; in English, "I saw them on the beach yesterday"). The standard written variants -lo(s) and -la(s) (used after an infinitive ending in r) are more frequent though in the speech of polite speakers, but seem to be losing ground as well. Note, however, that ele(s) or ela(s) are never used as direct objects in formal writing, such as newspaper articles, academic papers, or legal documents. The use of -lo, -la, etc. replacing "você" as direct object is restricted mostly to the written language (in particular, movie subtitles) although it occurs frequently in a few fixed expressions like Prazer em conhecê-lo ("Pleased to meet you") or Posso ajudá-lo? ("May I help you?").
- In standard written BP, it is common to use lhe(s) as indirect object forms of ele(s)/ela(s) ("[to] him / her / it / them"), e.g. O presidente pediu que lhe dessem notícias da crise na Bolívia. In the colloquial language, 'lhe' in that context is frequently replaced by para ele, etc., although educated speakers might use lhe in speech as well.
- The use of lhe and lhes as indirect object forms of você and vocês ("[to] you", plural and singular) is currently rare in General BP, where lhe is often replaced as noted above by te or, alternatively, by para você. On the other hand, lheísmo, i.e. the use of lhe not only as an indirect object, but also as a direct object, is frequent in Northeastern dialects.
Third person direct object clitic pronouns have several forms, depending on their position with relation to the verb and on the verb's ending. If the pronoun is enclitic and the verb ends with a consonant, or if the pronoun is mesoclitic and the root of the verb ends with a consonant, then that consonant is elided, and an l is added to the beginning of the pronoun. If the pronoun is enclitic and the verb ends with a nasal diphthong (spelled -ão, -am, -em, -ém, -êm, -õe, or -õem), an n is added to the beginning of the pronoun. The same happens after other clitic pronouns, and after the adverbial particle eis.
| default | after a consonant (-r, -s, -z) | after a nasal diphthong (-m) |
|---|---|---|
| o | lo | no |
| a | la | na |
| os | los | nos |
| as | las | nas |
The third person forms o, a, os, and as may present the variants lo, la, los, las, no, na, nos, and nas:
- The variants lo, la, los, and las are used after verbal forms ending with a consonant, which is elided. Examples: seduz + a = sedu-la, faz + o = fá-lo, diz + o = di-lo, destróis + os = destrói-los (different from destrói-os, in which the verb is conjugated in the imperative mood), comes + a = come-la (different from come-a = come + a), apanha-las (apanhas + as), amá-lo (amar +o), fazê-lo (fazer + o), partire-lo (partires +o), tem-la (tens + a—the n changes to m). Exceptionally, quer + o gives quere-o, rather than *qué-lo (qué-lo is still permitted, but uncommon).
- This also occurs when the pronoun is in mesoclitic position: matá-lo-ás (matarás + o), fá-lo-ias (farias + o), feri-lo-ias (feririas + o), comê-lo-ias (comerias + o).
- The variants no, na, nos and nas are used after a verbal form ending with a nasal diphthong. Examples: põe-no (põe + o), tem-na (tem + a), comeram-nos (ambiguous, can mean comeram + os "they ate them", or comeram + nos "they ate us").
- The pronouns o, etc. present the same forms as above when they follow other clitic pronouns, such as nos and vos, or the adverbial particle eis. Examples: ei-lo aqui (eis + o), deram-no-lo (deram + nos + o), "Não vo-lo [vos + o] quero dar a entender."
The usual pattern in Romance languages is for clitics to precede the verb; e.g. Sp. Yo te amo, Fr. Je t'aime "I love you"; Fr. Tu m'avais dit "You had told me" (proclisis). The opposite order occurs only with the imperative: Sp. Dime, Fr. Dis-moi "Tell me" (enclisis). Spoken Brazilian Portuguese has taken more or less the same route, except that clitics usually appear between the auxiliary verb and the main verb in compound tenses, and proclisis is even more generalized: Eu te amo "I love you", but Me diz "Tell me", and Você tinha me dito "You had told me".
Still, in formal Portuguese the clitic pronouns always follow the verb in the infinitive (Brazilian too?).
| Formal | Colloquial | Nonstandard | English | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple affirmative sentence | Ele viu-nos hoje. | Ele viu a gente hoje./Ele nos viu hoje. | Ele viu nós hoje./Ele hoje viu nós. | He saw us today. |
| Affirmative future tense | Ele irá aprendê-lo na escola. | Ele o aprenderá na escola. | Isso aí ele vai aprender na escola./Ele vai aprender isso aí na escola. | He will learn it in school. |
| Affirmative conditional tense | Ele dar-me-ia o livro. | Ele me daria o livro./Ele iria me dar o livro. | Ele iria dar o livro pra mim/eu. | He would give me the book. |
| Affirmative imperative | Diga-me o que aconteceu. | Me fala/fale/diz/diga o que aconteceu. | Fala/diz pra mim o que aconteceu. | Tell me what happened. |
| (1) Negative sentences | Não a vi hoje. | Não vi ela hoje. | I did not see her today. | |
| (2) Interrogative sentences | Onde é que ele os comprou? (ex. os sapatos) | Onde é que ele comprou eles? (ex. os sapatos) | Where did he buy them (ex. those shoes)? | |
| (3) Conjunctions/dependent clauses | Quero que me digas a verdade. | Quero que tu/você me digas/diga a verdade. | Quero que tu fale/diga a verdade p'ra mim/eu. | I want you to tell me the truth. |
| (4) Adverbs | Ele sempre nos vê na igreja. | Ele sempre vê a gente na igreja./Ele sempre nos vê na igreja. | Ele vê nós na igreja sempre./Ele sempre vê nós na igreja. | He always sees us at church. |
| (5) Indefinite pronouns | Todos me dizem a verdade. | Todo mundo me fala/diz a verdade. | Todo mundo fala/diz a verdade p'ra mim/eu. | Everyone tells me the truth. |
Contractions with the preposition com
The following prepositional pronouns contract with the preposition com.
| pronoun | contracted form |
|---|---|
| mim | comigo |
| nós | conosco |
| si | consigo |
Verbs
The rest of this section contains Portuguese verb conjugation tables edited to include only features of Brazilian Portuguese.
Forms marked by an asterisk (*) are derived directly from the infinitive. The PLUPERFECT, FUTURE, CONDITIONAL, and PERSONAL INFINITIVE of a regular verb is always derived directly from its infinitive (except for the subjunctive pluperfect).
Regular verbs
First conjugation (-ar)
| CANTAR | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| number | person | Indicative mood | *Conditional[a] | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | *Pluperfect[b] | *Future[c] | |||
| singular | 1st | canto | cantei | cantava | *cantara | *cantarei | *cantaria |
| 3rd | canta | cantou | cantava | *cantara | *cantará | *cantaria | |
| plural | 1st | cantamos | cantamos | cantávamos | *cantáramos | *cantaremos | *cantaríamos |
| 3rd | cantam | *cantaram | cantavam | *cantaram | *cantarão | *cantariam | |
| number | person | Subjunctive mood | *Personal infinitive[d] | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Pluperfect | *Future[d] | |||
| singular | 1st | cante | tenha cantado | cantasse | tivesse cantado | *cantar | *cantar |
| 3rd | cante | tenha cantado | cantasse | tivesse cantado | *cantar | *cantar | |
| plural | 1st | cantemos | tenhamos cantado | cantássemos | tivéssemos cantado | *cantarmos | *cantarmos |
| 3rd | cantem | tenham cantado | cantassem | tivessem cantado | *cantarem | *cantarem | |
| Past participle | cantado | Imperative (3p. sing.) | cante | ||||
| Present participle[e] | cantante | Imperative (3p. plural) | cantem | ||||
| Gerund | cantando | Imperative (1p. plural) | cantemos | ||||
Second conjugation (-er)
| COMER | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| number | person | Indicative mood | *Conditional[a] | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | *Pluperfect[b] | *Future[c] | |||
| singular | 1st | como | comi | comia | *comera | *comerei | *comeria |
| 3rd | come | comeu | comia | *comera | *comerá | *comeria | |
| plural | 1st | comemos | comemos | comíamos | *comêramos | *comeremos | *comeríamos |
| 3rd | comem | *comeram | comiam | *comeram | *comerão | *comeriam | |
| number | person | Subjunctive mood | *Personal infinitive[d] | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Pluperfect | *Future[d] | |||
| singular | 1st | coma | tenha comido | comesse | tivesse comido | *comer | *comer |
| 3rd | coma | tenha comido | comesse | tivesse comido | *comer | *comer | |
| plural | 1st | comamos | tenhamos comido | comêssemos | tivéssemos comido | *comermos | *comermos |
| 3rd | comam | tenham comido | comessem | tivessem comido | *comerem | *comerem | |
| Past participle | comido | Imperative (3p. sing.) | coma | ||||
| Present participle[e] | -- | Imperative (3p. plural) | comam | ||||
| Gerund | comendo | Imperative (1p. plural) | comamos | ||||
Third conjugation (-ir)
| PARTIR | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| number | person | Indicative mood | *Conditional | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | *Pluperfect | *Future | |||
| singular | 1st | parto | parti | partia | *partira | *partirei | *partiria |
| 3rd | parte | partiu | partia | *partira | *partirá | *partiria | |
| plural | 1st | partimos | partimos | partíamos | *partíramos | *partiremos | *partiríamos |
| 3rd | partem | *partiram | partiam | *partiram | *partirão | *partiram | |
| number | person | Subjunctive mood | *Personal infinitive | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | *Pluperfect | *Future | |||
| singular | 1st | parta | tenha partido | partisse | tivesse partido | *partir | *partir |
| 3rd | parta | tenha partido | partisse | tivesse partido | *partir | *partir | |
| plural | 1st | partamos | tenhamos partido | partíssemos | tivéssemos partido | *partirmos | *partirmos |
| 3rd | partam | tenham partido | partissem | tivessem partido | *partirem | *partirem | |
| Past participle | partido | Imperative (3p. sing.) | parta | ||||
| Present participle | -- | Imperative (3p. plural) | partam | ||||
| Gerund | partindo | Imperative (1p. plural) | partamos | ||||
Irregular verbs
fazer
| FAZER | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| number | person | Indicative mood | Conditional | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Pluperfect | Future | |||
| singular | 1st | faço | fiz | fazia | fizera | farei | faria |
| 3rd | faz | fez | fazia | fizera | fará | faria | |
| plural | 1st | fazemos | fizemos | fazíamos | fizéramos | faremos | faríamos |
| 3rd | fazem | fizeram | faziam | fizeram | farão | fariam | |
| number | person | Subjunctive mood | *Personal
infinitive | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Pluperfect | Future | |||
| singular | 1st | faça | tenha feito | fizesse | tivesse feito | fizer | *fazer |
| 3rd | faça | tenha feito | fizesse | tivesse feito | fizer | *fazer | |
| plural | 1st | façamos | tenhamos feito | fizéssemos | tivéssemos feito | fizermos | *fazermos |
| 3rd | façam | tenham feito | fizessem | tivessem feito | fizerem | *fazerem | |
| Past participle | feito | Imperative (3p. sing.) | faça | ||||
| Present participle | faciente | Imperative (3p. plural) | façam | ||||
| Gerund | fazendo | Imperative (1p. plural) | façamos | ||||
| Tense | Basic | Progressive | Perfect | Perfect progressive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present | faço | estou fazendo | tenho feito | tenho estado fazendo |
| Past | fiz | estava fazendo | tinha feito | tinha estado fazendo |
| Future | farei | estarei fazendo | terei feito | terei estado fazendo |
ter
| TER | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| number | person | Indicative mood | *Conditional | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Pluperfect | *Future | |||
| singular | 1st | tenho | tive | tinha | tivera | *terei | *teria |
| 3rd | tem | teve | tinha | tivera | *terá | *teria | |
| plural | 1st | temos | tivemos | tínhamos | tivéramos | *teremos | *teríamos |
| 3rd | têm | tiveram | tinham | tiveram | *terão | *teriam | |
| number | person | Subjunctive mood | *Personal
infinitive | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Pluperfect | Future | |||
| singular | 1st | tenha | tenha tido | tivesse | tivesse tido | tiver | *ter |
| 3rd | tenha | tenha tido | tivesse | tivesse tido | tiver | *ter | |
| plural | 1st | tenhamos | tenhamos tido | tivéssemos | tivéssemos tido | tivermos | *termos |
| 3rd | tenham | tenham tido | tivessem | tivessem tido | tiverem | *terem | |
| Past participle | tido | Imperative (3p. sing.) | tenha | ||||
| Present participle | ? | Imperative (3p. plural) | tenham | ||||
| Gerund | tendo | Imperative (1p. plural) | tenhamos | ||||
ser
| SER | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| number | person | Indicative mood | *Conditional | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Pluperfect | *Future | |||
| singular | 1st | sou | fui | era | fora | *serei | *seria |
| 3rd | é | foi | era | fora | *será | *seria | |
| plural | 1st | somos | fomos | éramos | fôramos | *seremos | *seríamos |
| 3rd | são | foram | eram | foram | *serão | *seriam | |
| number | person | Subjunctive mood | *Personal
infinitive | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Pluperfect | Future | |||
| singular | 1st | seja | tenha sido | fosse | tivesse sido | for | *ser |
| 3rd | seja | tenha sido | fosse | tivesse sido | for | *ser | |
| plural | 1st | sejamos | tenhamos sido | fôssemos | tivéssemos sido | formos | *sermos |
| 3rd | sejam | tenham sido | fossem | tivessem sido | forem | *serem | |
| Past participle | sido | Imperative (3p. sing.) | seja | ||||
| Present participle | ente (sente????? typo?) | Imperative (3p. plural) | sejam | ||||
| Gerund | sendo | Imperative (1p. plural) | sejamos | ||||
estar
| ESTAR | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| number | person | Indicative mood | *Conditional | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Pluperfect | *Future | |||
| singular | 1st | estou | estive | estava | estivera | estarei | estaria |
| 3rd | está | esteve | estava | estivera | estará | estaria | |
| plural | 1st | estamos | estivemos | estávamos | estivéramos | estaremos | estaríamos |
| 3rd | estão | estiveram | estavam | estiveram | estarão | estariam | |
| number | person | Subjunctive mood | Personal
infinitive | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Pluperfect | Future | |||
| singular | 1st | esteja | tenha estado | estivesse | tivesse estado | estiver | estar |
| 3rd | esteja | tenha estado | estivesse | tivesse estado | estiver | estar | |
| plural | 1st | estejamos | tenhamos estado | estivéssemos | tivéssemos estado | estivermos | estarmos |
| 3rd | estejam | tenham estado | estivessem | tivessem estado | estiverem | estarem | |
| Past participle | estado | Imperative (3p. sing.) | ? | ||||
| Present participle | Imperative (3p. plural) | ? | |||||
| Gerund | estando | Imperative (1p. plural) | ? | ||||
haver
| HAVER | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| number | person | Indicative mood | Conditional | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Pluperfect | Future | |||
| singular | 1st | hei | houve | havia | houvera | haverei | haveria |
| 3rd | há | houve | havia | houvera | haverá | haveria | |
| plural | 1st | havemos | houvemos | havíamos | houvéramos | haveremos | haveríamos |
| 3rd | hão | houveram | haviam | houveram | haverão | haveriam | |
| number | person | Subjunctive mood | Personal
infinitive | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Pluperfect | Future | |||
| singular | 1st | haja | tenha havido | houvesse | tivesse havido | houver | haver |
| 3rd | haja | tenha havido | houvesse | tivesse havido | houver | haver | |
| plural | 1st | hajamos | tenhamos havido | houvéssemos | tivéssemos havido | houvermos | havermos |
| 3rd | hajam | tenham havido | houvessem | tivessem havido | houverem | haverem | |
| Past participle | havido | Imperative (3p. sing.) | ? | ||||
| Present participle | -- | Imperative (3p. plural) | ? | ||||
| Gerund | havendo | Imperative (1p. plural) | ? | ||||
pôr
| PÔR | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| number | person | Indicative mood | Conditional | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Pluperfect | Future | |||
| singular | 1st | ponho | pus | punha | pusera | porei | poria |
| 3rd | põe | pôs | punha | pusera | porá | poria | |
| plural | 1st | pomos | pusemos | púnhamos | puséramos | poremos | poríamos |
| 3rd | põem | puseram | punham | puseram | porão | poriam | |
| number | person | Subjunctive mood | Personal
infinitive | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Pluperfect | Future | |||
| singular | 1st | ? | tenha X | ? | tivesse X | ? | ? |
| 3rd | ? | tenha X | ? | tivesse X | ? | ? | |
| plural | 1st | ? | tenhamos X | ? | tivéssemos X | ? | ? |
| 3rd | ? | tenham X | ? | tivessem X | ? | ??? | |
| Past participle | posto | Imperative (3p. sing.) | ? | ||||
| Present participle | ? | Imperative (3p. plural) | ? | ||||
| Gerund | pondo | Imperative (1p. plural) | ? | ||||
?
| BLANK TEMPLATE | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| number | person | Indicative mood | Conditional | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Pluperfect | Future | |||
| singular | 1st | ||||||
| 3rd | |||||||
| plural | 1st | ||||||
| 3rd | |||||||
| number | person | Subjunctive mood | Personal
infinitive | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Pluperfect | Future | |||
| singular | 1st | tenha X | tivesse X | ||||
| 3rd | tenha X | tivesse X | |||||
| plural | 1st | tenhamos X | tivéssemos X | ||||
| 3rd | tenham X | tivessem X | |||||
| Past participle | Imperative (3p. sing.) | ||||||
| Present participle | Imperative (3p. plural) | ||||||
| Gerund | Imperative (1p. plural) | ||||||
BLANK TEMPLATE
| BLANK TEMPLATE | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| number | person | Indicative mood | Conditional | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Pluperfect | Future | |||
| singular | 1st | ||||||
| 3rd | |||||||
| plural | 1st | ||||||
| 3rd | |||||||
| number | person | Subjunctive mood | Personal
infinitive | ||||
| Present | Preterite | Imperfect | Pluperfect | Future | |||
| singular | 1st | tenha X | tivesse X | ||||
| 3rd | tenha X | tivesse X | |||||
| plural | 1st | tenhamos X | tivéssemos X | ||||
| 3rd | tenham X | tivessem X | |||||
| Past participle | Imperative (3p. sing.) | ||||||
| Present participle | Imperative (3p. plural) | ||||||
| Gerund | Imperative (1p. plural) | ||||||
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).