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Change the Gender
You may change the gender of many nouns by:
- Varying the final vowel to make a masculine noun feminine:
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Masculine
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Feminine
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English
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| o amigo |
a amiga |
the male/female friend |
| o filho |
a filha |
the son/ daughter |
- Adding a to the masculine noun:
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Masculine
|
Feminine
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English
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| o espanhol |
a espanhola |
the Spanish guy/lady |
| o compositor |
a compositora |
the male/female composer |
| o cantor |
a cantora |
the male/female singer |
- In Portuguese there are suffixes which can change the size of a noun:
- poeta = poet (m) / poetisa = poetess (f)
- Diminutive (a structure not used in English)
The diminutive is regularly used in Brazil. It is generally used to show a small version of something, but depending on the context, it is also used for stressing, expressing affection, irony and even in idiomatic words. Diminutives are very, very generally used in informal language.
It is principally used generally when one talks to small children or refers to their things. Diminutive suffixes can also be used with adjectives (e.g., só/sozinho, denotation alone or, perhaps, "all alone") and adverbs (e.g., depressa/depressinha, "quickly").
The most frequent diminutive suffixes are -inho and -inha, replacing -o and -a, respectively. Words with the stress in the last syllable usually have -zinho or -zinha added, such as café and cafezinho (the small coffee). In writing, a "c" (but not a "ç") becomes a "qu" in some terms, like "pouco" (few or a few) and "pouquinho" (very few), in order to conserve the /k/ pronunciation. Popular diminutives may have diverse structures: e.g., "poucochinho" (very few, a very small portion).
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The most frequent diminutive suffixes -inho(a)
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Ending
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Regular form
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Diminutive
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English
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| inha |
a mesa |
a mesinha |
the small table |
| inho |
barato |
baratinho |
very cheap |
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pouco |
pouquinho |
a little bit |
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Probable endings other than -inho(a)
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| ito(a): |
copo |
copito |
glass |
| ico(a) |
burro |
burrico |
donkey |
| (z)ete |
palácio |
palacete |
palace |
| ote |
saia |
saiote |
skirt |
| oto |
lebre |
lebroto |
hare/leveret |
| ejo |
lugar |
lugarejo |
place |
| acho |
rio |
riacho |
river |
| ola |
aldeia |
aldeola |
village |
| el |
corda |
cordel |
rope |
It is also possible to form a diminutive of a diminutive, example "burriquito" (burro + -ico + -ito)
- Augmentative (a form not used in English)
The augmentative is less used than the diminutive and very infrequently used in the plural form. It is generally used to show a large version of something, but sometimes it can also be used for emphasizing, expressing admiration or contempt.
The most frequent augmentative suffixes used in colloquial Portuguese are the masculine -ão and the feminine –ona.
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The most frequent augmentative suffixes –ão/-ona
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Ending
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Regular form
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Aumentative
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English
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ão
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um carro
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um carrão
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a big car
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um tempo
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um tempão
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a long time
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ona
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uma mesa
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uma mesona
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a big table
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grande
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grandão/grandona
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big, huge
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Probable endings other than –ão/-ona
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aço(a)
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mulher
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mulheraça
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woman
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eirão
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voz
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vozeirão
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voice
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Occasionally, the masculine augmentative can be useful to a feminine noun, which then becomes grammatically masculine, but with a feminine denotation (example: a mulher "the woman", o mulherão" the big woman"). Augmentative suffixes can also be used with adjectives.
- Modifying the article preceding the noun (many nouns can be both masculine and feminine, these nouns are known like: common gender nouns)
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Masculine
|
Feminine
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English
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| o jornalista |
a jornalista |
the male/female journalist |
| o chefe |
a chefe |
the male/female boss |
| um ginasta |
uma ginasta |
the male/female gymnast |
| o estudante |
a estudante |
the male/female student |
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