What’s up? In today’s Dica, we are going talk about the use of Portuguese conjunctions and we are going to study all of them.
Conjunctions are used to connect sentences. They are divided into Coordenativas and Subordinativas. Let’s understand how they work. To begin with let’s take a look at the most used Portuguese conjunctions, and then we’ll learn all of them separately.
| E | And |
| Mas | But |
| Ou | Or |
| Se | If |
| Por isso | That’s why |
| Porém | However |
| Porque | Because |
| Logo | Therefore |
To understand more, let’s take a look at some examples:
Hoje vou beber caipirinha e cerveja.
Today I’m drinking caipirinha and beer.
Eu quero ir à praia, mas está chovendo.
I want to go to the beach, but it’s raining.
Você prefere caipirinha ou cerveja?
Would you prefer caipirinha or beer?
Se o clima estiver bom amanhã, vamos sair.
If the weather is nice tomorrow, let’s go out.
Não tenho dinheiro, por isso não vou à festa.
I don’t have money, that’s why I’m not going to the party.
Eu li o livro, porém não me lembro da história.
I read the book, however I don’t remember the story.
Ele não vai na praia porque está cansado.
He isn’t going to the beach because he is tired.
Elas querem aprender Português, logo precisam de aulas particulares.
They want to learn Portuguese, therefore they need private classes.
Let’s start with the Coordenativas. These are the ones used to connect sentences and have the same nature and structure such as verb tenses. Let’s see which ones they are:
We use them to add a new idea in the text.
| e | and |
| nem | nor |
| mas também | but also |
| como também | as also |
| bem como | as well as |
Eu e você queremos ir à praia.
You and I want to go to the beach.
Ele não quer comer nem estudar.
He neither wants to eat nor to study.
We use these conjunctions to connect opposite ideas.
| mas | but |
| porém | however |
| todavia | yet |
| contudo | nevertheless |
| entretanto | however |
| no entanto | however |
Eu quero ir à praia, mas está muito frio.
I want to go to the beach, but it’s very cold today.
Pablo estudou muito, todavia não passou no teste.
Pablo studied a lot, yet he didn’t pass the exam.
We use these conjunctions to represent two possible options.
| ou | or |
| ou…ou | either…or |
| quer…quer | either…or |
| ora…ora | sometimes…sometimes |
| já…já | sometimes…sometimes |
| seja…seja | be…be |
Ou vamos à praia ou vamos ao Cristo Redentor.
Either we go to the beach or to Cristo Redentor.
Você precisa tomar o remédio seja bom, seja ruim.
You need to take the medicine be it good, be it bad.
We use these conjunctions to explain something.
| que | that |
| porque | because |
| porquanto | for |
| pois | because |
Eu quero ir à praia porque está calor.
I want to go to the beach because it’s very hot today.
Ela não foi à festa pois precisava dormir.
She didn’t got to the party because she needed to sleep.
These conjunctions are used to represent a conclusion.
| logo | therefore |
| portanto | so |
| por isso | that’s why |
| assim | so |
| por conseguinte | then |
Está calor demais hoje. Por isso, vou à praia.
It’s too hot today. That’s why I’m going to the beach.
Maria se casou no fim de semana. Logo, estava muito feliz.
Maria got married on the weekend. Therefore, she was really happy.
Now let’s talk about the Subordinativas. When we use these conjunctions we’ll see that one sentence depends on the other. Let’s see which ones they are:
These are the conjunctions used to determine the cause of something:
| uma vez que | once |
| visto que | since |
| já que | as |
| como | as |
Já que está chovendo, o que acha de ficarmos em casa?
As it’s raining, how about we stay home?
Como você se comportou, vai ganhar um presentinho.
As you behaved well, you will get a little gift.
The ones that show the idea of a sequence of facts.
| tal que | so that |
| tanto que | so much that |
| de tal maneira que | in such a way that |
| de modo que | so that |
| de forma que | so that |
| sem que | without |
Não compre o vestido sem que eu veja antes.
Don’t buy the dress without showing it to me.
Nós dançamos tanto que mal podemos andar hoje.
We danced so much that we can barely walk today.
We use these conjunctions to make comparisons in Portuguese.
| como | like |
| tal qual | just like |
| assim como | as |
| mais que | more than |
| menos que | less than |
| tanto quanto | as much as |
Você fala tal qual seu pai. Meu Deus!
You speak just like your father. My God!
Diogo come tanto quanto Carlos.
Diogo eats as much as Carlos.
These conjunctions in Portuguese represent the idea of conformity.
| conforme | as |
| segundo | according to |
| consoante | according to |
| de acordo com | according to |
Ele anota tudo conforme lhe falam.
He writes everything downs as they tell him.
Segundo Paulo Coelho, não devemos ter medo de buscar nossos sonhos.
According to Paulo Coelho, we must not be afraid of pursuing our dreams
They indicate an action opposite to the main idea, but that can’t be stopped.
| embora | though |
| mesmo que | even though |
| por mais que | although |
| ainda que | even if |
Embora esteja cansado, ele vai estudar até tarde.
Though he is tired, he is going to study until late.
Por mais que o ame, ela decidiu terminar com seu namorado.
Although she loves him, she decided to break up with her boyfriend.
These conjunctions are used to represent a condition.
| se | if |
| caso | in case |
| contato que | as long as |
| a menos que | unless |
| salvo se | unless |
João será demitido, a menos que pare de faltar o trabalho.
João will be fired, unless he stops taking days off work.
Se tivermos tempo, vamos visitar o Rio de Janeiro.
If we have time, we’ll visit Rio de Janeiro.
We use these conjunctions to talk about actions that happen at the same time.
| à medida que | as |
| à proporção que | to the extent that |
| quanto mais | the more |
| quanto menos | the less |
| enquanto | while |
Quanto mais você falar Português, mais rápido vai aprender.
The more you speak Portuguese, the faster you will learn.
Ela estuda e trabalha enquanto ele dorme e joga video games.
She studies and works while he sleeps and plays video games.
Conjunctions used to introduce a conclusion for earlier sentences.
| a fim de que | in order to |
| para que | so that |
A fim de que pudesse viajar, ele guardava muito dinheiro.
In order to travel, he saved a lot of money.
Ricardo bebe muito para que esqueça seus problemas.
Ricardo drinks a lot so that he can forget his problems.
These conjunctions are used to represent time.
| quando | when |
| sempre que | whenever |
| toda vez que | every time |
| logo que | once |
| depois que | after |
| antes que | before |
| até que | until |
É melhor sairmos antes que ela chegue.
We better go out before she arrives.
Toda vez que eu entro no banho o telefone toca.
Every time I get in the shower, the phone rings.
Now, let’s see a small text in which we use conjunctions in Portuguese.
Olá, meu nome é João e sou carioca. Moro no Rio, a cidade maravilhosa e sou muito feliz por viver aqui. Todos os dias, acordo bem cedo e vou trabalhar. Gosto muito do meu trabalho, sou professor da Rio & Learn, mas não gosto muito do trânsito porque é muito lento aqui na cidade. Todas as pessoas costumam vir de longe e sempre vão para o mesmo lugar. Por isso, o trânsito é sempre muito lento. Mas, isso não é nenhum problema: depois do trabalho, todos os dias, ou vou para a praia de Copacabana para pegar um sol ou tomo uma caipirinha e aproveito a vida na cidade. Gosto muito das coisas belas que temos aqui. Por isso nunca vou me mudar do Rio de Janeiro, minha cidade maravilhosa.
Hello, my name is João and I am a carioca. I live in Rio, the wonderful city and I am very happy to live here. Every day, I wake up very early and I go to work. I really like my job, I am a teacher at Rio & Learn, but I don’t like the traffic very much because it moves very slow here in the city. Everybody usually travels from distant neighborhoods all going to the same place. That’s why the traffic is always slow. But, this isn’t a big deal: after work, I either go to Copacabana’s beach to catch some sun or drink a caipirinha and enjoy life in the city. I like the beautiful things we have here. That’s why I will never move from Rio de Janeiro, my wonderful city.
Now, it’s up to you! Complete the sentences using the correct conjunction:
Completing it was too easy for you? We also have another challenge.
Write a short text in which you introduce yourself and talk about your routine just like our teacher João did. Share with us your ideas. Our Facebook is an open channel for all of you!
That’s it! We have just studied how to use conjunctions in Portuguese.
Hugs and kisses from Rio & Learn!
See you soon!
Click in the links below to see more related Dicas
Usage of Embora in Portuguese
Difference between Mas and Mais in Portuguese
In order to in Portuguese
Conjunctions of the Subjunctive in Portuguese
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