Adjectives

The adjective is the word class that ascribes a quality, a state or a property to a noun: uma casa branca (“a white house”), um problema difícil (“a difficult problem”), gente simpática (“nice people”). In Portuguese the adjective is defined above all by two things — it agrees with the noun it modifies, and it takes degrees. These give it great flexibility, but they also demand constant care with form.

Agreement in gender and number

The basic rule is simple: the adjective inflects for gender (masculine / feminine) and number (singular / plural) to agree with its noun.

Not every adjective has distinct forms for the two genders. With respect to gender inflection, there are two broad types:

• Two-gender adjectives (biform): a separate masculine and feminine form — bonito / bonita (“pretty”), português / portuguesa (“Portuguese”), trabalhador / trabalhadora (“hard-working”).
• Single-gender adjectives (uniform): one form serves both — um homem feliz / uma mulher feliz (“a happy man / woman”), um gesto simples / uma ideia simples, um aluno inteligente / uma aluna inteligente.

The plural is formed by the same rules as for nouns: add -s (verde → verdes), -es after stressed -r, -z or -s (maior → maiores, feliz → felizes), and changes in those ending in -l and -ão (azul → azuis, são → sãos).

Agreement with several nouns

When a single adjective qualifies two or more nouns, agreement follows well-defined principles. If the nouns are of the same gender, the adjective takes the plural of that gender; if they differ in gender, the masculine plural prevails.

When the adjective precedes several nouns, it often agrees only with the nearest one: a sua reconhecida competência e dedicação (“her acknowledged competence and dedication”).

The position of the adjective

Unlike English, where the adjective almost always precedes the noun, Portuguese typically places the qualifying adjective after the noun: um carro vermelho (“a red car”), uma decisão importante (“an important decision”). Pre-position is possible and common, but it is not neutral: it tends to carry a subjective, emotive or stylistic value, belonging especially to literary register.

With some adjectives, position actually changes the meaning:

Before the noun	After the noun
*um **grande** homem* (a great man)	*um homem **grande*** (a big, tall man)
*um **velho** amigo* (a long-standing friend)	*um amigo **velho*** (an aged friend)
*um **pobre** homem* (a pitiable man)	*um homem **pobre*** (a man without money)
*uma **simples** pergunta* (a mere question)	*uma pergunta **simples*** (an easy question)

Adjectives expressing objective, classifying properties — colour, shape, nationality, relation — occur almost only after the noun: vinho tinto (“red wine”), mesa redonda (“round table”), escritor português (“Portuguese writer”), energia solar (“solar energy”).

The degrees of the adjective

The adjective also varies in degree, expressing the intensity of the quality. Portuguese grammar recognises a comparative and a superlative degree.

Comparative

The comparative sets two terms against each other and has three values:

• of superiority: mais … (do) que — Ela é mais alta do que o irmão. (“She is taller than her brother.”)
• of equality: tão … como/quanto — Ela é tão alta como o irmão.
• of inferiority: menos … (do) que — Ela é menos alta do que o irmão.

Four very frequent adjectives have synthetic comparatives inherited from Latin, which replace the forms with mais:

Adjective	Comparative
*bom* (good)	*melhor* (not “mais bom”)
*mau* (bad)	*pior* (not “mais mau”)
*grande* (big)	*maior*
*pequeno* (small)	*menor* (or *mais pequeno*)

Superlative

The superlative expresses the quality at its highest, and comes in two kinds.

The relative superlative places the being at the top (or bottom) of a set, with definite article + mais/menos: o aluno mais dedicado da turma (“the most dedicated pupil in the class”), a opção menos dispendiosa (“the least costly option”).

The absolute superlative expresses high intensity without comparison. It may be analytic, with an adverb (muito caro “very expensive”, extremamente raro), or synthetic, with the suffix -íssimo — the learned form par excellence.

Some synthetic absolute superlatives are likewise inherited straight from Latin and coexist with the regular forms: bom → ótimo, mau → péssimo, grande → máximo, pequeno → mínimo.

Adjective and noun: a porous boundary

Many adjectives also work as nouns (os ricos e os pobres, “the rich and the poor”; um velho, “an old man”), and many nouns qualify others as if they were adjectives (cor-de-rosa “pink”, uma reunião relâmpago “a lightning meeting”). This mobility between classes is one of the hallmarks of Portuguese grammar, and explains why agreement — knowing when, and with what, a word inflects — is the decisive skill in handling the adjective.