When you want to describe somebody or something
you use words to indicate size, color, length, age, etc. These words are
adjectives.
Adjectives (adjetivos) in Portuguese change according to the gender and the number of the noun they are related to:
Um
homem bom – A good man
Alguns homens bons – Some good men
Uma
mulher boa – A good woman
Algumas mulheres boas – Some good women
Normally only adjectives that end in –o have a different form in the feminine, –o is replaced by –a:
O
menino esperto – The smart boy
A menina esperta – The smart girl
Ending in –e, –l, –r and –z it is the same for masculine and feminine, but it changes if the noun is in the plural form:
O café quente – The hot coffee
A água quente – The hot water
Os copos quentes – The hot glasses
As panelas quentes – The hot pots (The hot pans)
Ending in –e you only add –s to make the plural; ending in –r or –z, you must add –es:
Um
trabalho eficaz – An effective work.
Uma
estratégia eficaz – An effective strategy.
Trabalhos
eficazes – Effective works
Estratégias eficazes – Effective strategies
Ending in –l you must remove –l and add –is:
Assuntos pessoais – Personal matters.
Adjetivos sobre o tamanho (adjectives about the size):
Grande – big, large
Pequeno – small, little
Enorme – very big, enormous
Sobre a cor (about the color):
Preto – black
Branco – white
Azul – blue
Vermelho
– red
Amarelo
– yellow
Laranja
– orange
Marrom
– brown
Cinza,
cinzento – grey
Roxo
– purple
Violeta
– violet
Rosa,
cor-de-rosa – pink
Verde – green
Sobre a quantidade (about the amount):
Pouco
– little
Muito
– much
Poucos
– few
Muitos – many
Sobre a aparência (about the look):
Feio – ugly
Belo – beautiful
Bonito – beautiful, pretty
Lindo – beautiful (more emphatic than “bonito”)
Horrível – horrible, very ugly
Sobre a temperatura (about the temperature)
Fresco – fresh, cool
Quente – warm, hot
Morno – warm (something you can feel the heat but you don’t get burnt)
Sobre a velocidade (about the speed):
Lento
– slow
Rápido
– fast, quick
Veloz – fast, quick
Sobre o caráter (about the character):
Bom – good (feminine: boa; masuline plural:
bons)
Ruim – bad (same for masculine or feminine;
plural: ruins)
Mau – bad (feminine: má; for plural just add –s)
Honesto – honest
Desonesto – dishonest
Péssimo – very bad
Ótimo – very good, great
Horrível – very bad (yeah, it can mean this and “very ugly”)
Sobre a idade ou o tempo:
novo - new
velho - old
idoso - old (person)
jovem - young (same form for masculine and feminine;
plural: jovens)
