Portuguese A2: Basics

Time arrives at this level. You can report what happened and announce what you mean to do. Sentences get longer because they join up: the first linking words — and, but, because, when — come into play.

The vocabulary covers daily life — work, housing, travel, health, weather. Anything unfamiliar is still hard, anything familiar runs smoothly.

Tenses and if-sentences6

Verbs: ser, estar, subjunctive9

The imperative

A2The imperative for tuYour bare verb; here it is the « he speaks » form.A2Formal imperative: vocêOne form for asking, telling and the instructions on a packet.A2Pronouns with the imperativeTwo pronouns can fuse into one word: dá-mo.

Can, want, must

A2The three ways of saying « must »« Have to », « must » and « need » — the same three, cut along a different line.A2To know: saber or conhecerAnd in the past they stop meaning know and start meaning found out and met.A2Asking politelyWhere English reaches for « would », this reaches for a past tense.

Reflexive verbs

A2The reflexive verbs« I wash myself » is a strange thing to say; lavo-me is not.

The passive

A2The participle: falado, feito, escrito-ado and -ido — and a good dozen verbs that do it differently.

Verb + infinitive

A2Infinitive without preposition« Can » is three different verbs here.

Articles, nouns and pronouns14

The article

A2Articles where English has none« The my car » is the ordinary way to say it here.A2Articles with countries and namesPortugal takes none and Brazil takes one — and the exceptions are a short list.

The noun

A2Nouns in -ão and their pluralsThree plurals for one ending — and mãos and mães are not the same word.A2Diminutives: -inho, -inhaIt reaches adverbs too — and sozinho no longer means « a bit alone ».A2Possession with de: do Pedro« Pedro's car » is o carro do Pedro — with an article inside the fusion.

The adjective

A2Where the adjective standsYour one position is the marked one here.A2Comparisons: mais … do queEverything takes mais — except the four words you use most.A2Absolute superlative: -íssimoOne of the two compares with somebody; the other compares with nobody.A2Adverbs in -mente« Drive fast » has no counterpart here — and -mente hangs on the feminine.

The pronouns

A2Demonstratives: este, esse, aqueleYou have two distances; here there are three, and the middle one belongs to the person you are talking to.A2Object pronouns: o, a, lheIt hangs on the back with a hyphen — and the verb loses a letter to make room.A2Pronouns after prepositionscomigo is one word, and you cannot see the com in it.A2todo and tudo, algum and nenhumtodo goes with a noun, tudo stands alone — one letter apart.

The prepositions

A2Verbs with a fixed preposition« I like fish » has no preposition; gosto de peixe cannot do without one.

Sentence structure2

Questions and negation

A2Double negatives: não … nadaWhere the negative word stands decides whether não is there at all.

Subordinate clauses

A2Relative pronouns: que, quemThe same word introduces « that he came » and « the man that came ».

Politeness, style, fine points5

Formal and informal you

A2Polite verb forms: queriaPoliteness is a verb form here, not a word added to the end.

Fine points and style

A2gostar de and similar verbs« I like » keeps its subject here; « I need » and « I feel like » lose theirs.A2The verb ficar: stay, become, beWhere the station is, and what you became — one verb for both.A2Written accentsThe accent writes a different word, and both words exist.A2Capitals and punctuationYour quotation marks are not used here, and dialogue opens with a dash.

Word lists at level A2

Lists: 15 · words: 670

Reading texts at level A2

Sentences from this level’s topics

Durmo pouco durante a semana.I sleep little during the week.

Está a chover outra vez.It is raining again.

O meu apartamento fica no centro.My flat is in the centre.

A minha irmã estuda na Alemanha.My sister studies in Germany.

Practise level A2 only