The learning path
All 133 grammar topics in the order in which they support one another — numbered from 1 to 133.
Your progress at a glance
Your progress at a glanceEach petal is a category: easy topics on the inside, hard ones on the outside. Tap a petal to see only its topics.
Where are you right now?
- A1Introducing yourself, asking questions, saying everyday things.
- The alphabetTwenty-six letters, their names, and how to spell a name out loud.
- The vowelsStressed, they sound full; unstressed, hardly at all.
- Nasal vowels: ã, õ, ãoThe vowel goes through the nose — with no n to be heard.
- Consonants: s, z, r, lh, nh, chThe letters that do not sound the way English reads them.
- Stress and accentsWhere the stress falls — and when an accent shows it.
- ser — being what staysSix forms, none regular — and no article in front of your job.
- Present tense: -ar verbsYour only ending is an -s on « he » — and here the -s belongs to « you ».
- Definite article: o, a, os, asFour forms, and nothing about the next word decides which — only the noun's own gender.
- Masculine or feminineEnglish has no gender to transfer — but four words in five say theirs out loud.
- Asking a questionThe voice goes up and the sentence stays as it is.
- Place and direction: a, para, emYour single « to » is two here, and the difference is whether you come back.
- Forms of address: tu, vocêThree ways of saying « you », and the polite one conjugates like « he ».
- estar — being what passesestar a plus the infinitive is your -ing form, built out of a preposition.
- Present tense: -er, -ir verbsTwo groups, and they part company in exactly one form.
- Simple past (pretérito perfeito)No auxiliary at all — there is nothing to choose and nothing to put in front.
- Going to: ir + infinitiveGoing to, minus the to.
- ser or estar« The soup is cold » is either a recipe or a complaint, and here you have to say which.
- poder and querer: can, wantThese conjugate all the way through; « can » cannot even manage a participle.
- Contractions: do, na, ao, peloFour prepositions swallow the article — almost always.
- The pluralAdding -s is the reflex, and it fails on animal, homem and hotel.
- Adjective agreementFour forms if it ends in -o, two if it does not — and a two-word colour has one.
- Possessives: meu, teu, seuseu is not « his » — it is « your », and « his » goes behind the noun.
- Negation with nãoOne word before the verb — and « yes » is answered with the verb itself.
- Expressions with terYou are twenty; here you have twenty years.
- The prepositions a, em, deThe fusion is compulsory: there is no de o, no em o, no a o.
- Everyday polite phrases« Thank you » changes with who is speaking, not with who is thanked.
- Irregular verbs in the presentSix verbs — and one of them, with its own family, has the only infinitives in the language ending in -or.
- The indefinite article« She is a doctor » loses its article — and an adjective brings it back.
- Numbers, the time and the dateNumbers have a gender, and the time of day is plural.
- The question words« What is your name? » asks with « which » here.
- há — there is« There is » and « there are » are the same word, and it never goes plural.
- A2Talking about what happened and saying what comes next.
- Where the adjective standsYour one position is the marked one here.
- Demonstratives: este, esse, aqueleYou have two distances; here there are three, and the middle one belongs to the person you are talking to.
- gostar de and similar verbs« I like » keeps its subject here; « I need » and « I feel like » lose theirs.
- Imperfect (imperfeito)Four irregular verbs in the whole tense — and it doubles as the polite « I would like ».
- The imperative for tuYour bare verb; here it is the « he speaks » form.
- The three ways of saying « must »« Have to », « must » and « need » — the same three, cut along a different line.
- Nouns in -ão and their pluralsThree plurals for one ending — and mãos and mães are not the same word.
- Stem-changing verbsOne form changes and five do not — and the temptation is to change all six.
- Articles where English has none« The my car » is the ordinary way to say it here.
- Comparisons: mais … do queEverything takes mais — except the four words you use most.
- Object pronouns: o, a, lheIt hangs on the back with a hyphen — and the verb loses a letter to make room.
- The verb ficar: stay, become, beWhere the station is, and what you became — one verb for both.
- Perfeito or imperfeito?Length is the wrong test, and « for ten years » is the sentence that proves it.
- Present for the futureEnglish splits this between two presents; Portuguese has one.
- Formal imperative: vocêOne form for asking, telling and the instructions on a packet.
- To know: saber or conhecerAnd in the past they stop meaning know and start meaning found out and met.
- The reflexive verbs« I wash myself » is a strange thing to say; lavo-me is not.
- The participle: falado, feito, escrito-ado and -ido — and a good dozen verbs that do it differently.
- Infinitive without preposition« Can » is three different verbs here.
- Diminutives: -inho, -inhaIt reaches adverbs too — and sozinho no longer means « a bit alone ».
- Verbs with a fixed preposition« I like fish » has no preposition; gosto de peixe cannot do without one.
- Double negatives: não … nadaWhere the negative word stands decides whether não is there at all.
- Relative pronouns: que, quemThe same word introduces « that he came » and « the man that came ».
- Polite verb forms: queriaPoliteness is a verb form here, not a word added to the end.
- Absolute superlative: -íssimoOne of the two compares with somebody; the other compares with nobody.
- Pronouns after prepositionscomigo is one word, and you cannot see the com in it.
- Written accentsThe accent writes a different word, and both words exist.
- Present progressive: estar aYour -ing form is compulsory; this one is an emphasis, and using it for a habit says something odd.
- Articles with countries and namesPortugal takes none and Brazil takes one — and the exceptions are a short list.
- Irregular past: fui, tiveOne form belongs to two verbs: fui is « I was » and « I went ».
- Pronouns with the imperativeTwo pronouns can fuse into one word: dá-mo.
- Asking politelyWhere English reaches for « would », this reaches for a past tense.
- Possession with de: do Pedro« Pedro's car » is o carro do Pedro — with an article inside the fusion.
- Adverbs in -mente« Drive fast » has no counterpart here — and -mente hangs on the feminine.
- todo and tudo, algum and nenhumtodo goes with a noun, tudo stands alone — one letter apart.
- Capitals and punctuationYour quotation marks are not used here, and dialogue opens with a dash.
- B1Explaining how things connect, giving reasons, reporting.
- Verb phrases: voltar a, andar a« Again » and « these days » are not words here — they are verbs.
- Simple future (futuro simples)The future you would only ever write.
- The passive with serThe participle agrees like an adjective, which English participles never do.
- Subjunctive: the formsBuilt from the « I » form, which is why the irregular verbs come out right.
- Gender that changes meaning« Capital » is one word in English too — here the article separates the two.
- Mustn't and needn'tThe two halves differ by a preposition: não tens de against não podes.
- Impersonal se: vende-seThe verb agrees with the thing sold: vende-se casa, vendem-se casas.
- Verb + a + infinitive« Going to » is here just going, with nothing in between.
- por or paraOne English « for » where Portuguese has a reason and a destination.
- The personal infinitive« Before we leave » is one word here — an infinitive with a person on it.
- Reported statementsThe listener is hung onto the verb — and one word unhooks it.
- Conditional (condicional)« Would » does four jobs in English; this form takes two of them.
- The passive with seThis is the one you will actually hear — and it cannot name who did it.
- What triggers the subjunctiveIt is a list of trigger words, not a feeling — and « I don't think » is on it.
- Compound nounsYour two nouns swap places and a de appears between them — and it is always de.
- Verb + de + infinitive« I have just arrived » is a verb here, not an adverb.
- Spelling changes in the presentTwo of these rules add a letter and two swap one — and none of them is an irregularity.
- Pluperfect (mais-que-perfeito)There is a one-word version, falara, that you need to read and never to say.
- First conditional: se tiver« If I have time » takes a form here that English cannot even name.
- The negative imperativeThe polarity changes the form for a friend and leaves it alone for a stranger.
- Guessing with deverDuty or guess is decided by the word after it, not by the verb.
- Each other: reciprocal se« Get on well » is dar-se bem — a reflexive where English has none.
- Pronoun position: before the verbFour kinds of word pull it forward, and they are in every other sentence.
- Indirect questionsYou already know to undo the inversion; here there is none — what goes is the é que.
- Address without a pronounThe politest address contains no word for « you » at all.
- Portugal vs BrazilYou already live with lift and elevator — same split, same rule: pick one.
- Verbs that take a, de and emOne verb, three continuations — and « to give up » is none of them.
- Choosing a future formThe form nearest your grammar book is the one you will use least.
- estar + participle: the stateAfter estar it is simply an adjective — you can put « very » in front of it.
- The future subjunctiveThe one form to be learnt from nothing: no English word corresponds to it.
- Collective nouns: a gentea gente means « we » and takes the verb form of « he ».
- Adjective + infinitive« Something to drink » picks its own preposition, and « to » does not say which.
- Adjectives + prepositionThree prepositions carry nearly all of them, and yours is no guide.
- Conjunctions: embora, porque« Although » takes a subjunctive; « despite » takes an infinitive that carries its own subject.
- Reported requests« He told us to wait » leaves out who waits. Here the verb says it.
- Advising and recommendingThree weights of advice, and the heaviest is already a reproach.
- Verbs that change with seThe same verb twice: esquecer takes an object, esquecer-se takes a preposition.
- The future after quando and seEnglish forbids a future after « when »; Portuguese demands a tense of its own.
- Third person plural as passive« I was told » cannot be built here; « they told me » stands in its place.
- The conjuntivo in relative clausesWhoever is not yet known goes into the conjuntivo.
- Professions in the feminineThe -ista group behaves like every English job title: only the article moves.
- estar a and the gerúndioYou already make this difference; here it is built two different ways.
- B2Getting exact: stance, degree, subordinate clause.
- Second conditional: se tivesse« If I were » extended to every verb — and the main clause has two right answers.
- Tense shift in reported speechThree of your past forms arrive here as one.
- The future for guesses« Onde estarão as chaves? » is a question English cannot ask this way.
- Past subjunctive: fosse, tivesse« If I were » is the survivor; here that same mood has a full set of forms.
- Conditions without seOnly se takes the future subjunctive; the others take the present one.
- Perfeito composto: tenho faladoIt looks exactly like « I have spoken » and means « I keep speaking ».
- Modals in the past« Wouldn't » means refused in English too — and here it is a tense.
- mandar and deixar + infinitive« Let » and « leave » are one verb here.
- Relative pronouns: cujo, o qual« Whose » agrees with the thing owned, not the owner.
- Reported questionsOne se does two jobs, and only one of them takes that tense.
- Mixed conditionsThe condition is in the past and the consequence is now — English mixes them too.
- Future perfect (futuro composto)Two jobs: what will be done by Friday, and what probably happened yesterday.
- The conjuntivo perfeito and the sequence of tensesA main clause in the present and a subordinate clause that looks back.
- The reporting verbs« Say » and « tell » are one verb, and a pronoun carries the difference.
- Wishes and regretsThere is no verb for « I wish »: two phrases do the work, and one is Arabic.
- C1The fine grain: tone, register, rare forms.
- Subject after the verb« Your mother did » has no equivalent; here the answer is the word order.
- Third conditional: se tivesse sabido« If I had known, I would have come » — the same shape, and the participle never moves.
- Mesoclisis: dar-lhe-eiA pronoun wedged into the middle of the verb — English has nothing remotely like it.
- Rules and signs« No smoking » is a gerund; here the sign takes an infinitive.
- The nominal style« After leaving » has no form here, so the choice is a noun or a clause.
- Connectors instead of se« Provided that » is desde que — and with the wrong mood it means « since ».
- Hedging and softeningYour hedging sits in a modal verb; here it sits in which word you pick — and it changes the mood.
- C2The rest — the part native speakers look up too.
- The simple form in -raA tense you mostly read — and two phrases everybody says.
- The pronoun in elevated languageWhere the pronoun stands in careful writing — and what you need to read but hardly ever write.
The finish: the whole grammar
133 topics, from the first sentences to the finishing touches.
How to read the path. Every dot is a grammar topic; a click opens it. The colour of a dot is its category, the colour of the path is the difficulty — green and easy at the top, berry red and hard at the bottom. Within a level the categories follow one another, but you need not take them in order: you can work on a tense and on a topic from another category side by side.
On every topic page you can note how well it has sunk in — understood or not sure yet. The path shows it here and highlights the next open topic.
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