LESSON 3
INTERROGATIVE, AFFIRMATIVE AND NEGATIVE SENTENCES The normal structure of sentences in Portuguese does not require an auxiliary, no matter the verb tense or what kind of sentence we are talking about. Basically, the structure of a sentence is SUBJECT+VERB+COMPLEMENT, and the complement can be a combo of article+noun+adjective and many others, or just one of them. The main sentence form we know are below. In the table, you will be able to visualize the difference in the structure between English and Portuguese. INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES: Different from English, what matters here is the intonation used when speaking. That will define if you are questioning, affirming or denying your statement. See as follows:
VOCAS QUER UMA COCA-COLA ?
Subject Verb Article Noun
DO YOU WANT A COKE?
Auxiliar Subject Verb Article noun
AFFIRMATIVE SENTENCES: In this case, the sentence has the same structure. There is no other sentence term apart from the subject, verb and complement. To emphasize the action, we just use the intonation when speaking the verb. Again, there is no auxiliary to use in such case as in English.
Eles comem comida chinesa.
Subject Verb Noun Adjective
They eat Chinese food.
Quero ver o pA?r-do-sol.
Main Verb Second verb Article Noun Hidden Subject
I Want to see the sunset.
NEGATIVE SENTENCES: For this kind of sentence, we follow the same pattern as the above ones. No auxiliary is used together with NO. We just place the word NA?O in front of the verb, no matter if it is to be or any other verb.
Eles NA?O comem comida chinesa.
Subject NO without auxiliary Verb Noun Adjective
NA?O quero ver o pA?r-do-sol.
NO, hidden subject Main Verb Second verb Article Noun
They DON’T eat Chinese food.
I DON’T want to see the sunset.
Subject AUXILIARY Verb complement
*It doesn’t matter if the sentence has no shown subject, the NA?O particle still comes before the verb, even in the beginning of the sentences.

Need this in or out of Portuguese? We provide Portuguese document translation for corporate, legal, and technical content.

You May Also Like -

Error: Contact form not found.

Error: Contact form not found.