· 24 lists · 1301 words

The groundwork

The words no sentence can stand without.

What holds these lists together

These lists belong to no single area, which means they belong to all of them: pronouns, numbers, question words, the commonest verbs. Portuguese gives them two jobs that English handles otherwise. The subject pronoun is often left out, so the verb ending alone says who is speaking — falo is «I speak» with no «I» in sight. And the commonest prepositions fuse with the article that follows: no, da, pelo. One tense needs a warning of its own. Tenho comido muito does not mean «I have eaten a lot» but «I have been eating a lot lately», because the compound past describes something that keeps happening; the plain «I have eaten» is comi.

The 24 lists

B2Giving a text its structureThe words that hold a paragraph together: conceding, inferring, qualifying, closing.50 words B2Arguing and objectingThesis, objection, concession, rebuttal — the words of a debate that has moved past « eu acho ».50 words B2Precise adjectivesNot « good » and « bad » but proven, open to challenge, hasty, negligible.50 words A2Words for AnythingThe connectives, the quantity words and the set phrases that turn up in every other sentence.50 words A2What a thing is likeShape, surface, condition and taste — the words you use to describe an object.50 words A2Doing thingsGripping, pushing, pouring, pressing — the verbs for handling things and for moving about.50 words A2Words for thinkingMeasure and amount, cause and consequence, choice and opportunity — the nouns that name no object.50 words A1Greetings and introductionsThe sentences that come before all the others.39 words A1People and question wordsWho is speaking, who is meant, and what is being asked about.41 words A1Numbers and TimeCounting, the days of the week, the months, and when something happens.78 words A1The Most Important VerbsThe words every sentence hangs on.55 words A1Words That Turn Up EverywhereWhat turns up everywhere and belongs nowhere.73 words B1Words with no subject IIIWhat you need in order to talk about reasons, consequences and conditions, whatever the subject happens to be.148 words B1Measures, amounts, changeHow much, how strongly, how fast — and which way it is moving.44 words B2Words without a subject IVThe words for claiming something carefully and narrowing it precisely.90 words B2Verbs of movementWalking, throwing, pulling, turning — a different word for each kind.50 words B2Describing how things changeWhat a line does, and how strongly it does it.44 words B2Material and conditionSturdy, brittle, worn in, made to measure — describing a thing exactly.52 words C1Words that belong nowhere VThe negatives and the derived forms that belong to no field at all.30 words C2Degrees and gradationsHow strongly something is meant — from barely to completely.41 words C2Projects and how they runStarting, keeping going, stopping — and how an ending is named.33 words C2Cause and effectHow a text links two things — and how strongly.48 words C2Time relationsBefore, meanwhile, ever since — and how long something lasts.40 words C2Verbs that replace a clauseOne word for what would otherwise take eight.45 words

Spread across the levels

The category runs across the levels — it is an area, not a difficulty. If you practise it, you can also choose a level at the top of the practice page and then get only the part that sits there.

Level	Words	Share
A1	272	21 %
A2	215	17 %
B1	184	14 %
B2	394	30 %
C1	31	2 %
C2	205	16 %

Practise this category

Multiple choice and gaps, across all 24 lists and all 1301 words. Whatever you get wrong comes back tomorrow.