Summary p242

242 CONYERSATIONAL PORTUGUESE

seu can also be used to translate “his,” “her,” “their.” For greater clarity the prepositional form with de may be used:

£łes falaram de seu amigo.

They spoke of your (his, her, their) friend.

£les falaram do amigo dele; do amigo dela; do amigo

dełes.

They spoke of his friend; of her friend; of their friend.

16. ADJECTWES

1. Singular and plural

singular

urn menino alto urna menina aha

a tali boy a tali girl

PLURAL

dois meninos altos duas meninas ałtas

two tali boys two tali girls

Notice that the adjective agrees with the noun it modifies in gender and number.

2. Feminine endings

a.    a for o of the masculine form;

MASCULINE    FEMININE

antigo    old, ancient    antiga

rico    rich    rica

baixo    short,    Iow    baixa

b.    masculine form ends in u, feminine, in a:

MASCULINE    FEMININE

nu    nudę,    bare    nua

mau    bad    md

c. no change if masculine form ends in e:

FEMININE

contente

esta

aguela

MASCULINE

contente    happy, content

Common exceptions:

este¹    this

aguełe²    that

d.    a for do of the masculine form:

MASCULINE.    . FEMININE

alemao    German    atemd

cristao    Christian    cristd

Common exception: augmentatives (see GS23), in which ona replaces do:

bonitdo    handsome,    bonitona

pretty

e.    Adjectives ending in a consonant tend to have the same form for the masculine and the feminine:

FEMININE

capaz

comum

formidóvel

simples

MASCULINE

capaz    capable

comum    common

formiddveł formidable simples    simple

Examples:

Ela nao e capaz de fazi-lo. She is not able to do it.

A liędo e muito simples.

The lesson is quite simple.

1

   este (J).

2

   aąuele ®.