History UsefulNotes / PortugueseLanguage

Last but not least, there’s the grave, or “`” . It’s only placed above the letter A, and it indicates a contraction with the preposition ''a''. Like in English, Portuguese relies heavily on prepositions, since there’s no case marking on the nouns themselves, but unlike English, Portuguese contracts prepositions with articles and some pronouns extensively. The grave accent is used to indicate a contraction between the preposition ''a'' with an article or pronoun that begins with A. So the word ''àquela'', is ''a + aquela'', (to + that one). In Brazilian Portuguese there’s no difference in pronunciation between à and a; both sound like the a in ''father''. European Portuguese, however, does distinguish them; ''à'' sounds like the a in ''father'', while ''a'' sounds a little like the ''u'' in ''duck''.

Last, but not least, agreement varies depending on the dialects. Most Brazilian dialects make no, or almost no, distinction between the second and third person verb forms, either because the pronoun ''tu'' is simply not used, or because the second and the third-person singular verb forms have collapsed and now are either completely identical or mostly identical. So, while a Portuguese would say ''tu cantas'', most Brazilians would say either ''cê''[[hottip:note:contracted form of ''você'']] ''canta'', or ''tu canta'', which explains why Brazilians use subject pronouns much more often, as it’s not always possible to guess the subject through the conjugation alone.

* ''Infinitivo Pessoal'' (Personal Infinitive): This one is pretty much unique to the Galician-Portuguese languages. It's an infinitive that agrees in person with the subject. It has several uses, and it's possibly one of the trickiest elements of the Portuguese grammar. Ex: ''Ele pediu para '''ires''' para a festa'' (He asked you '''to go''' to the party).

* ''Imperativo'' (Imperative): Like in English, it's used for orders or commands. The main difference here is that the imperative agrees in number and it may also indicate formality. '''''Compra''' o livr! (informal)/'''Compre''' o livro! (formal)'' ('''Buy''' the book!)

Originally spoken in {{Portugal}}, it spread throughout the world with the Portuguese Empire and is now the official language of nine different countries in four different continents, Portugal, Mozambique, and {{Brazil}} being the major Portuguese-speaking countries, the latter having more native Portuguese speakers than all the other countries combined. Being no small language, dialectal differences abound, the two main varieties being Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese, each with their own sets of dialects themselves.

--> --Ollavo Billac

As for the pronoun ''vós'', nowadays the only places where this pronoun is still used are parts of northern Portugal, although mostly by older people. Everywhere else, it has fallen out use, and the pronoun “vocês” is used instead. It’s only used in extremely formal situations, for archaism, and in the church.

However, the distance between BR and EU Portuguese can't really be compared to that between English and Spanish dialects. While their standard grammars are indeed very similar, their spoken varieties can, and do, [[SeparedByACommonLanguage differ quite a lot]]. This has made some linguists conclude that Br-Pt and Eu-Pt may have even become different languages already, even if closely related ones. While that view isn't held by everyone, it's become increasingly more common over time. It's also a very, ''very'' heated topic for some, and a common source for [[FlameWar Flame Wars]], so it's better not to dwell in it for too long.

However, the distance between BR and EU Portuguese can't really be compared to that between English and Spanish dialects. While their standard grammars are indeed very similar, their spoken varieties can, at times, differ quite a lot. This has made some linguists conclude that Br-Pt and Eu-Pt may have even become different languages already, even if closely related ones. While that view isn't held by everyone, it's become increasingly more common over time. It's also a very, ''very'' heated topic for some, and a common source for [[FlameWar Flame Wars]], so it's better not to dwell in it for too long.

** ''Presente'' (Present): An extremely common tense, it’s pretty much the same as in English. Portuguese also has a continuous construction, which behaves similarly to the one found in English, but is not used as often. Ex: ''Eu '''compro''' um livro'' (I '''buy''' a book).

* ele/ela/você [[hottip:note: despite being semantically a second-person singular pronoun, it's grammatically third-person, so verbs agreeing with it are always in the third-person singular]]: canta, bebe, parte

* eles/elas/vocês [[hottip:note: same as ''você'', but in the plural]]: cantam, bebem, partem

Last, but not least, agreement varies depending on the dialects. Most Brazilian dialects make no, or almost no, distinction between the second and third person verb forms, either because the pronoun ''tu'' is simply not used, or because the second and the third-person singular verb forms have collapsed and now are either completely identical or mostly identical. So, while a Portuguese would say ''tu cantas'', most Brazilians would say either ''cê[[hottip:note: contracted form of ''você'']] canta'', or ''tu canta'', which explains why Brazilians use subject pronouns much more often, as it’s not always possible to guess the subject through the conjugation alone.

Portuguese is, at least in terms of native speakers, the seventh most spoken language in the world, the second most spoken Romance language, and the most spoken language in the Southern Hemisphere. It’s an Ibero-Romance language, and closely related to Spanish.

Originally spoken in Portugal, it spread throughout the world with the Portuguese Empire and is now the official language of nine different countries in four different continents, Portugal, Mozambique, and Brazil being the major Portuguese-speaking countries, the latter having more native Portuguese speakers than all the other countries combined. Being no small language, dialectal differences abound, the two main varieties being Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese, each with their own sets of dialects themselves.

* R: OK, this one will be a little lengthy. There are two “r sounds”, a “hard r” and a “soft r”. The “soft r” is pronounced like the way some English speakers pronounce the t in city, an alveolar tap, and it remains the same everywhere. The “hard r”, on the other hand, varies a lot from place to place, but originally it was pronounced like the trilled r in Spanish. That pronunciation can still be found in parts of Portugal and Brazil, but the most common “hard r’s” nowadays are pronounced in the back of the mouth or the throat. In Portugal this guttural r is usually very much like the French r, while in Brazil it tends to sound more like a stronger form of the English h. The letter R is pronounced as a soft r when it’s found between two vowels, as in ''hora'' (hour). The same pronunciation happens when the R is part of a consonant cluster, like the one found in the word ''pedra'' (stone). However, when the letter R is found in the beginning of a word (ex: ''rato'', rat) and after the consonant N (ex: ''enredo'', plot), it’s realized as a “hard r”. Word and syllable final R might be pronounced as either a “soft r” or as “a hard r”, depending on the dialect. Oddly enough, in a few Brazilian dialects, word and syllable-final R sounds just like the English r. Finally, Brazilian Portuguese in general tends to drop the R in the end of words.

Last, but not least, agreement varies depending on the dialects. Most Brazilian dialects make no, or almost no, distinction between the second and third person verb forms, either because the pronoun ''tu'' is simply not used, or because the second and the third-person singular verb forms have collapsed and now are either completely identical or mostly identical. So, while a Portuguese would say ''tu cantas'', most Brazilians would say either ''cê [[hottip:note: shortened form of ''você'']] canta'', or ''tu canta'', which explains why Brazilians use subject pronouns much more often, as it’s not always possible to guess the subject through the conjugation alone.

Last, but not least, agreement varies depending on the dialects. Most Brazilian dialects make no, or almost no, distinction between the second and third person verb forms, either because the pronoun ''tu'' is simply not used, or because the second and the third-person singular verb forms have collapsed and now are either completely identical or mostly identical. So, while a Portuguese would say ''tu cantas'', most Brazilians would say either ''cê[[hottip:note: shortened form of ''você'']] canta'', or ''tu canta'', which explains why Brazilians use subject pronouns much more often, as it’s not always possible to guess the subject through the conjugation alone.

És, a um tempo, esplendor e sepultura."'' [[hottip:*:"Last flower of Latium, rustic and beautiful. You are, at the same time, splendour and grave."]]

->''"Última flor do Lácio, inculta e bela. És, a um tempo, esplendor e sepultura."'' [[hottip:*:"Last flower of Latium, rustic and beautiful. You are, at the same time, splendour and grave."]]

->''"Última flor do Lácio, inculta e bela,
És, a um tempo, esplendor e sepultura."'' [[hottip:*:"Last flower of Latium, rustic and beautiful. You are, at the same time, splendour and grave."]]

\\És, a um tempo, esplendor e sepultura."'' [[hottip:*:"Last flower of Latium, rustic and beautiful. You are, at the same time, splendour and grave."]]

\\
És, a um tempo, esplendor e sepultura."'' [[hottip:*:"Last flower of Latium, rustic and beautiful. You are, at the same time, splendour and grave."]]

->''"Última flor do Lácio, inculta e bela. És, a um tempo, esplendor e sepultura."'' [[hottip:*:"Last flower of Latium, rustic and beautiful. You are, at the same time, splendour and grave."]]

--> --Creator/Ollavo Billac

Diacritic marks are those little things placed on top of some vowels. Portuguese has four diacritics, two accent marks, the tilde, and the grave. Let’s start with the accents. Just like in Spanish, Portuguese accents indicate the stressed vowel; they are the circumflex ''ô'', and the acute ''ó''. Those accent marks do more than just that, though. They also serve to tell you the quality of the marked vowel, particularly in the case of the letters E and O. The circumflex indicates a closed vowel, while he acute indicates an open vowel. This distinction in vowel quality may be the only difference between two words, like the case with avó (grandmother) and avô (grandfather). The open E is pronounced like the e in ''bed'', while the closed E sounds a little like the ay in ''say''. As for the open O, it sounds like the o in ''soft'', while the closed O sounds like the o in ''open''.

Last but not least, there’s the grave, or “`” . It’s only placed above the letter A, and it indicates a contraction with the preposition ''a''. Like in English, Portuguese relies heavily on prepositions, since there’s no case marking on the nouns themselves, but unlike English, Portuguese contracts prepositions with articles and some pronouns extensively. The grave accent is used to indicate a contraction between the preposition ''a'' with an article or pronoun that begins with A. So the word ''àquela'', is ''a + aquela'', (to + that one”). In Brazilian Portuguese there’s no difference in pronunciation between à and a; both sound like the a in ''father''. European Portuguese, however, does distinguish them; ''à'' sounds like the a in ''father'', while ''a'' sounds a little like the ''u'' in ''duck''.

Last but not least, there’s the grave, or “`” . It’s only placed above the letter A, and it indicates a contraction with the preposition ''a''. Like in English, Portuguese relies heavily on prepositions, since there’s no case marking on the nouns themselves, but unlike English, Portuguese contracts prepositions with articles and some pronouns extensively. The grave accent is used to indicate a contraction between the preposition ''a'' with an article or pronoun that begins with A. So the word àquela, is ''a + aquela'', (to + that one”). In Brazilian Portuguese there’s no difference in pronunciation between à and a; both sound like the a in ''father''. European Portuguese, however, does distinguish them; ''à'' sounds like the a in ''father'', while ''a'' sounds a little like the ''u'' in ''duck''.

Lastly, they also at the very least ''used'' to have different orthographies. In 1990, a treaty was signed by the Portuguese Speaking countries in order to create an unified orthography. Until then, there were two different orthographies. One used by Brazil, and one used by everyone else. The new, unified, orthography was indeed created, but it's still not widely accepted. Many people still oppose it, claiming that such a goal is not even possible, while others think it's brilliant. Whether the Orthographic Agreement will be successful or not, it remains to be seen. For now, it's yet another heated topic.