Coordinating conjunctions (conjunções coordenativas) link elements of equal grammatical rank: two nouns, two adjectives, two phrases, or two independent clauses that could each stand on their own. They are the simplest connectors in the language — none of them touches the verb's mood — and they're among the first words you learn. This page sorts the whole set into the five traditional classes, gives the comma rules, and flags the one place where your Spanish or English instincts will mislead you. For the contrast group specifically, see the dedicated Adversative Conjunctions page.
The five classes at a glance
| Class | Job | Members |
|---|---|---|
| Additive (aditivas) | add one thing to another | e, nem, não só…mas também |
| Adversative (adversativas) | set up a contrast | mas, porém, contudo, todavia, no entanto |
| Alternative (alternativas) | offer a choice | ou, ou…ou, ora…ora, quer…quer |
| Conclusive (conclusivas) | draw a conclusion | logo, portanto, pois (postposed) |
| Explicative (explicativas) | justify what was just said | pois, que, porque |
Additive: e, nem
e ("and") is the workhorse. It joins any two equal elements.
Comprei pão e leite.
I bought bread and milk.
Ela estuda de dia e trabalha à noite.
She studies during the day and works at night.
nem means "and not / nor" — it is e plus a built-in negative. Use it to add a second negative element. Note that the main verb still carries its own negation; nem reinforces it.
Não comi nem dormi.
I didn't eat or sleep. (literally 'neither ate nor slept')
Ela não me ligou nem mandou mensagem.
She didn't call me or text me.
For doubled-up emphasis, nem…nem brackets both items:
Nem o João nem a Maria apareceram.
Neither João nor Maria showed up.
The structure não só…mas também ("not only…but also") adds with extra emphasis:
Ela não só canta mas também compõe.
She not only sings but also composes.
The Spanish trap: e never becomes y (or changes shape)
If you come to Portuguese from Spanish, unlearn one reflex immediately. Spanish swaps y → e before a word starting with the i- sound (padre e hijo), and o → u before o- (siete u ocho). Portuguese does none of this. The conjunction is always e, and it never changes before a vowel.
pai e irmão
father and brother (Spanish would force 'padre e hermano'; Portuguese keeps 'e' before 'irmão')
mãe e filha
mother and daughter
sete ou oito pessoas
seven or eight people (no change to 'ou' before 'oito')
There is no y in this role in Portuguese at all, and no euphonic u. One form, always: e and ou.
Alternative: ou
ou ("or") offers a choice. Doubled as ou…ou it means "either…or"; ora…ora means "now…now / sometimes…sometimes."
Você prefere café ou chá?
Do you prefer coffee or tea?
Ou você estuda, ou você reprova.
Either you study, or you fail.
Ora ri, ora chora — é imprevisível.
Now she laughs, now she cries — she's unpredictable. (ora…ora, literary/formal)
Conclusive: logo, portanto, pois (postposed)
These draw a conclusion from what came before — "therefore, so, consequently." Portanto and logo are the everyday choices; pois, when it comes after the verb, also reads as conclusive.
Penso, logo existo.
I think, therefore I am. (logo — the classic conclusive)
Estava cansada, portanto fui dormir cedo.
I was tired, so I went to bed early.
Choveu muito; deve, pois, haver alagamentos.
It rained a lot; there must, therefore, be flooding. (postposed 'pois' = conclusive, formal)
For text-level cause-and-effect connectors that span sentences, see Cause-Effect Markers.
Explicative: pois, que, porque
These justify or explain the preceding clause — close to English "for" / "because" / "since." Crucially, when pois comes before the verb it is explicative (gives a reason), not conclusive — position changes its meaning.
Vista o casaco, pois está frio lá fora.
Put on your coat, for it's cold outside. (pre-verb 'pois' = reason)
Não vá, que é perigoso.
Don't go, because it's dangerous. (colloquial explicative 'que')
Fiquei em casa porque estava doente.
I stayed home because I was sick.
Comma rules
The mechanics are simple but differ from English habits:
- Before e / ou / nem joining the last two items of a list: no comma (Portuguese has no Oxford comma). Comprei pão, queijo e leite.
- Before mas, porém, contudo, todavia, logo, portanto, pois: use a comma. Estava cansado, mas continuei.
- A comma can appear before e when the two clauses have different subjects or the e shifts to a contrastive sense: Ele falou, e ninguém o ouviu.
Comprei pão, queijo e presunto.
I bought bread, cheese, and ham. (no comma before the final 'e')
Tentei avisá-lo, mas ele já tinha saído.
I tried to warn him, but he had already left. (comma before 'mas')
English comparison
English coordinators ("and, but, or, nor, so, for") map fairly cleanly, with two gaps. First, English "nor" is rare and stilted, while Portuguese nem is everyday and frequently doubled — não comi nem dormi is utterly ordinary. Second, English freely uses the Oxford comma; Portuguese does not place a comma before the final e in a simple list. And of course the Spanish y/e and o/u alternations have no counterpart here at all.
Common Mistakes
❌ pai e hijo… digo, e irmão
Spanish interference — Portuguese never changes 'e' to 'y' or anything else before i-.
✅ pai e irmão
father and brother
❌ Não comi e não dormi.
Clunky — use 'nem' to add a second negative element.
✅ Não comi nem dormi.
I didn't eat or sleep.
❌ Comprei pão, queijo, e leite.
Incorrect — Portuguese has no Oxford comma before the final 'e.'
✅ Comprei pão, queijo e leite.
I bought bread, cheese, and milk.
❌ Estava cansado portanto fui dormir.
Incorrect — conclusive 'portanto' needs a comma before it.
✅ Estava cansado, portanto fui dormir.
I was tired, so I went to sleep.
❌ Ou você estuda o você reprova.
Incorrect — 'ou' never reduces to 'o'; that's Spanish.
✅ Ou você estuda, ou você reprova.
Either you study, or you fail.
Key Takeaways
- Coordinating conjunctions join equals and never change the verb's mood.
- Five classes: additive (e, nem), adversative (mas, porém), alternative (ou), conclusive (logo, portanto), explicative (pois, que, porque).
- nem = "and not / nor," with a negation built in; double it as nem…nem.
- Unlike Spanish, e and ou are invariable — no y, no u before vowels.
- No Oxford comma before the final e; but do put a comma before mas, porém, portanto, logo.
- pois is explicative before the verb, conclusive after it — position decides.
Now practice Portuguese
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Adversative Conjunctions (Mas, Porém, Contudo)A2 — The full set of contrast conjunctions in Brazilian Portuguese — mas, porém, contudo, todavia, no entanto, entretanto — graded by register, plus the mobile-adverbial behavior of porém and the special word senão.
- Conjunctions: OverviewA2 — How Brazilian Portuguese conjunctions split into coordinating and subordinating types, what they join, and how the subordinating ones control verb mood.
- Coordination StructuresA2 — How Brazilian Portuguese links equals — words, phrases, and clauses — with copulative, adversative, disjunctive, conclusive, and explicative conjunctions, plus comma rules and ellipsis in coordination.
- Addition Markers (Além Disso, Ainda)B1 — How Brazilian Portuguese adds and reinforces points — além disso, também, não só... mas também — plus the false friend 'inclusive' that means 'even', not English 'inclusive'.
- Cause-Effect Markers (Por Isso, Portanto)B1 — The two sides of causal linking in Brazilian Portuguese — cause connectors like 'porque' and 'já que' versus effect connectors like 'por isso' and 'portanto' — sorted by register.