LinguaA casa dela: dele and dela
In Brazil seu already means “your”, so o seu carro would be unclear for “his car”. Instead, Brazilians put dele (de + ele) or dela (de + ela) after the noun: o carro dele – his car, a casa dela – her house. For several owners: deles (men or a mixed group), delas (women only). Unlike meu and minha, these words agree with the owner, not with the thing: a casa dele, o carro dela. And the noun keeps its article.
| Owner | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ele | dele | o carro dele |
| ela | dela | a casa dela |
| eles | deles | os filhos deles |
| elas | delas | a mãe delas |
A Clara mora com o marido dela e com os pais dele.Clara lives with her husband and with his parents.
O livro do Pedro, a bolsa da Maria
Portuguese has no “Pedro’s”: the thing comes first, then de and the owner. The owner’s article melts into de: o livro do Pedro (de + o), a bolsa da Maria (de + a), o carro dos meus pais (de + os), a casa das minhas tias (de + as). In much of Brazil names take an article; in the Northeast and in formal writing they often don’t, so o livro de Pedro is also correct.
Tenho, tem, temos, têm: ter in the present
| Pronoun | ter (to have) |
|---|---|
| eu | tenho |
| você / ele / ela / a gente | tem |
| nós | temos |
| vocês / eles / elas | têm |
tem and têm sound the same in most of Brazil; only the circumflex in writing shows the plural: Ela tem um filho, Eles têm dois filhos. Family by marriage: o sogro and a sogra are your spouse’s parents (together os sogros), o cunhado / a cunhada your spouse’s brother or sister – or your sibling’s husband or wife – and o sobrinho / a sobrinha your sibling’s children. On forms, the estado civil (marital status) is solteiro, casado or divorciado.
Words in this lesson
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| dele | his, of him | O Marcos adora o carro dele. Marcos loves his car. |
| dela | her, of her | A Júlia mora com a avó dela. Júlia lives with her grandmother. |
| deles | their (men or a mixed group) | Os vizinhos viajam muito, e a casa deles fica vazia. The neighbours travel a lot, and their house stays empty. |
| delas | their (women only) | As meninas estão na praia com a mãe delas. The girls are at the beach with their mother. |
| ter | to have | Vocês têm tempo amanhã? Do you (all) have time tomorrow? |
| o sobrinho | nephew | Meu sobrinho tem dez anos. My nephew is ten. |
| a sobrinha | niece | A sobrinha da Rita mora no Canadá. Rita’s niece lives in Canada. |
| o sogro | father-in-law | O sogro do Caio é muito simpático. Caio’s father-in-law is very nice. |
| a sogra | mother-in-law | A minha sogra faz um feijão ótimo. My mother-in-law makes great beans. |
| o cunhado | brother-in-law | O cunhado da Lúcia é médico. Lúcia’s brother-in-law is a doctor. |
| casado | married | O Pedro é casado com uma argentina. Pedro is married to an Argentinian woman. |
| divorciado | divorced | O pai da Nina é divorciado e mora sozinho. Nina’s father is divorced and lives alone. |
Exercises
This lesson has 10 exercises in the app:
- multiple choice: 3
- match the pairs: 1
- fill the gap: 2
- build the sentence: 1
- translate the sentence: 2
- listen and type: 1
Try the first one
Ana has a new car. How do you say “her car” so that nobody can misunderstand?
The answer, the other exercises, the audio and your progress are in the app – free at A0 and A1.