Nominalization from Verbs | Portuguese (Brazil) Grammar

Verbs name actions; nouns name things. Brazilian Portuguese converts one into the other constantly — and it does it in two completely different ways. The first is suffixation: bolt an ending onto the verb stem (educar → educação, trabalhar → trabalhador). The second is the trick that surprises English speakers most: nominalizing the bare infinitive by sticking an article in front of it (jantar "to have dinner" → o jantar "dinner"; pôr do sol → o pôr do sol "the sunset"). English does this with the gerund (the eating, the running); Portuguese does it with the infinitive itself.

Part 1: Deverbal suffixes

Each suffix tends to name a different kind of thing derived from the verb — the action/event, the result, or the agent (the doer). Knowing which is which lets you decode an unfamiliar word on sight.

-ção / -são — the action or its result (feminine)

The workhorse, equivalent to English -tion. Drop the infinitive ending and add -ção (the linking vowel mirrors the verb's conjugation).

A construção do metrô vai durar mais três anos, dizem.

The construction of the metro will take another three years, they say.

A explicação dela foi tão confusa que ninguém entendeu nada.

Her explanation was so confusing that nobody understood a thing.

From educar → educação, construir → construção, decidir → decisão, explicar → explicação. All feminine.

-mento — the action or process (masculine)

English -ment. This is the one deverbal suffix that's masculine.

O crescimento da empresa surpreendeu até os fundadores.

The company's growth surprised even the founders.

O estacionamento do shopping tá sempre lotado no sábado.

The mall's parking lot is always packed on Saturdays.

From crescer → crescimento, estacionar → estacionamento, pensar → pensamento, conhecer → conhecimento. All masculine.

-agem — the action/process (feminine)

English -age (and sometimes -ing). Names a process or activity.

A aterrissagem foi tranquila, apesar do vento forte.

The landing was smooth, despite the strong wind.

A reportagem sobre as enchentes ganhou um prêmio.

The news report on the floods won an award.

From aterrissar → aterrissagem, lavar → lavagem (washing), viajar → viagem (trip). Feminine: a aterrissagem.

-ada — a single instance of the action / a "act of" (feminine)

This suffix packages the verb into one discrete event or a blow/movement. Very Brazilian and very colloquial in many of its uses.

A chegada dos parentes sempre vira uma bagunça gostosa.

The relatives' arrival always turns into a lovely chaos.

Dei uma olhada rápida no contrato, mas vou ler com calma depois.

I took a quick look at the contract, but I'll read it carefully later.

From chegar → chegada (arrival), olhar → olhada (a look), caminhar → caminhada (a walk). Feminine. The construction dar uma + -ada ("dar uma olhada", "dar uma sentada") is a hugely productive colloquial pattern meaning to do X briefly.

-dor / -tor / -or — the agent (the doer)

This names the person or thing that performs the action — English -er / -or. It has a feminine counterpart -dora.

Meu avô foi trabalhador rural a vida inteira.

My grandfather was a rural worker his whole life.

O computador travou bem na hora de salvar o arquivo.

The computer froze right when I was saving the file.

From trabalhar → trabalhador/trabalhadora, computar → computador, vender → vendedor/vendedora (salesperson), jogar → jogador/jogadora (player). Be aware that not every verb yields a regular -dor agent: the word for "driver" is motorista, not dirigidor. Agent nouns are masculine by default and feminine with -dora.

-ante / -ente — the agent (from present-participle stem)

Drawn from the old participle, this also names a doer or participant.

O cantor subiu no palco e o estádio inteiro veio abaixo.

The singer went up on stage and the whole stadium erupted.

Os manifestantes ocuparam a avenida durante toda a tarde.

The protesters occupied the avenue all afternoon.

From manifestar → manifestante (protester), estudar → estudante (student), negociar → negociante (dealer), viajar → viajante (traveler). For "singer" BR uses the -or agent noun cantor/cantora, not cantante (which survives only in literary/poetic use). Note -ante/-ente forms are typically invariable in gender (o/a estudante, o/a manifestante).

-dura — the result/mark of the action (feminine)

Names the concrete result or mark left behind.

A queimadura do sol ardeu a noite inteira.

The sunburn stung all night long.

From queimar → queimadura (burn), rachar → rachadura (crack), assinar → assinatura (signature/subscription). Feminine.

Suffix	Names	Gender	Verb → Noun
-ção / -são	action / result	feminine	educar → educação
-mento	action / process	masculine	crescer → crescimento
-agem	process / activity	feminine	aterrissar → aterrissagem
-ada	single act / instance	feminine	chegar → chegada
-dor / -dora	agent (doer)	masc / fem	trabalhar → trabalhador(a)
-ante / -ente	agent / participant	invariable	estudar → estudante
-dura	result / mark	feminine	queimar → queimadura

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Decode by suffix family: -ção and -mento give you the abstract action; -dor and -ante give you the person doing it; -ada and -dura give you a concrete instance or result. The ending is a map of the meaning.

Part 2: The infinitive as a noun

Here is the construction with no clean English analogue. In Portuguese, the bare infinitive plus a definite article becomes a noun. Where English says "the sleeping," "the eating," "the coming and going" using gerunds, Portuguese uses the infinitive directly.

O jantar tá pronto, lava a mão e vem.

Dinner's ready, wash your hands and come.

Adoro o pôr do sol aqui da varanda no fim da tarde.

I love the sunset from this balcony in the late afternoon.

Some of these have fully lexicalized into everyday nouns, all masculine:

Infinitive	As a noun	Meaning
jantar	o jantar	dinner
almoçar → almoço*	o almoço	lunch (*has its own noun)
andar	o andar	floor / storey; gait
pôr	o pôr do sol	sunset
dever	o dever	duty
ser	o ser	being (a being)
amanhecer	o amanhecer	dawn / daybreak

Beyond these frozen nouns, the pattern is productive on the fly: you can nominalize almost any infinitive when you want to talk about the act as a thing.

O ir e vir de tanta gente na rodoviária me deixa tonto.

The coming and going of so many people at the bus station makes me dizzy.

O constante reclamar dele já cansou todo mundo no trabalho.

His constant complaining has worn everyone out at work.

Notice in that last example the infinitive reclamar takes the article o and even an adjective (constante) — it behaves like a full noun while still being a verb form.

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English uses the gerund (-ing) to turn verbs into nouns: "swimming is good for you." Portuguese uses the bare infinitive with an article: Nadar faz bem or O nadar faz bem. Do not reach for the Portuguese gerund (-ndo) here — that's a transfer error from English.

Common Mistakes

❌ O nadando faz bem pra saúde.

Incorrect — English-style gerund nominalization; Portuguese uses the infinitive.

✅ Nadar faz bem pra saúde.

Swimming is good for your health.

❌ Gosto muito do pôr do sol... a pôr do sol é linda.

Incorrect — 'o pôr do sol' is masculine; the article and adjective can't switch to feminine.

✅ O pôr do sol é lindo.

The sunset is beautiful.

❌ a crescimento da cidade

Incorrect — -mento nouns are masculine.

✅ o crescimento da cidade

the city's growth

❌ Ele é o trabalhadora da equipe.

Incorrect — agent suffix must agree: masculine -dor for a man.

✅ Ele é o trabalhador da equipe.

He's the hard worker of the team.

❌ Dei uma olhado no relatório.

Incorrect — the 'dar uma + -ada' construction needs the feminine -ada: olhada.

✅ Dei uma olhada no relatório.

I took a quick look at the report.

Key Takeaways

Portuguese nominalizes verbs by suffix (-ção, -mento, -agem, -ada, -dor, -ante, -dura) or by nominalizing the infinitive with an article.
Suffix families map to meaning: action (-ção, -mento, -agem), single act (-ada), agent (-dor, -ante), result (-dura).
The bare infinitive + article is a productive noun: o jantar, o pôr do sol, o reclamar dele — and it's where English speakers wrongly reach for the gerund.
Nominalized infinitives are masculine; agent nouns inflect (-dor/-dora); -mento is the masculine outlier among action suffixes.

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