A proper noun (substantivo próprio) names one specific entity: a person, a place, an institution. Brazilian Portuguese capitalizes these much as English does — Maria, Brasil, São Paulo. The trap for English speakers is everything around proper nouns. English capitalizes months, weekdays, languages, nationalities, and religions; Brazilian Portuguese writes all of those in lowercase. This is one of the most persistent spelling-transfer errors English speakers make, and fixing it instantly makes your writing look more native.
What gets capitalized
True proper names keep their capital letter.
| Category | Examples |
|---|---|
| People's names | Maria, João, Ana Clara, Machado de Assis |
| Countries, cities, states | Brasil, Portugal, Recife, Minas Gerais |
| Rivers, mountains, oceans | o Amazonas, o Pão de Açúcar, o Atlântico |
| Institutions, brands | Petrobras, a Universidade de São Paulo, Globo |
| Holidays, historical events | Natal, a Independência, a Proclamação da República |
A Maria nasceu em Recife, mas mora em São Paulo faz anos.
Maria was born in Recife but has lived in São Paulo for years.
Vamos passar o Natal na casa dos meus avós.
We're going to spend Christmas at my grandparents' house.
Note that BR often puts a definite article before personal names in speech — a Maria, o João — but that is an article, not part of the name, and the name stays capitalized. (For when to use that article, see the articles-with-names page.)
What gets LOWERCASED (the big English contrast)
Here is the high-value rule. All of the following are lowercase in Brazilian Portuguese, even though English capitalizes them:
| Category | Portuguese (lowercase) | English (capitalized) |
|---|---|---|
| Months | janeiro, fevereiro, março, agosto | January, February, March, August |
| Days of the week | segunda-feira, terça, domingo | Monday, Tuesday, Sunday |
| Languages | português, inglês, japonês | Portuguese, English, Japanese |
| Nationalities / adjectives | brasileiro, americano, francesa | Brazilian, American, French |
| Religions & their followers | o catolicismo, um budista, os muçulmanos | Catholicism, a Buddhist, Muslims |
| Seasons | verão, inverno, primavera, outono | (English lowercases these too) |
Meu aniversário é em março, logo depois do carnaval.
My birthday is in March, right after Carnival.
Eu falo português e um pouco de inglês.
I speak Portuguese and a little English.
Comprei um carro brasileiro e meu vizinho, um carro japonês.
I bought a Brazilian car, and my neighbor a Japanese one.
Ela é argentina, mas o marido dela é uruguaio.
She's Argentine, but her husband is Uruguayan.
O budismo e o catolicismo convivem bem naquela cidade.
Buddhism and Catholicism coexist well in that town.
Why the difference
English treats names of languages, nationalities, and months as proper nouns. Portuguese treats most of them as ordinary common nouns or adjectives — brasileiro is just an adjective like vermelho (red), and março is a recurring period, not a unique named entity. So they follow normal common-noun spelling: lowercase. The logic is internally consistent; it just doesn't match the English habit.
Accents on names
Personal and place names keep their diacritics — they are part of the spelling, not optional decoration: Antônio, Inês, Goiânia, Vitória, São Paulo, Niterói. Dropping the accent is a spelling error, even on a name.
O Antônio mora em Goiânia, perto da Vitória.
Antônio lives in Goiânia, near Vitória.
Foreign names keep their original spelling (Shakespeare, Müller), and derived words may stay close to the original too.
A related point: titles before a name are lowercase (o presidente Lula, a doutora Ana, o senhor Pereira), and only the proper name itself is capitalized. In multi-word place and institution names, small grammatical words inside them stay lowercase — Universidade de São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Tribunal de Justiça — while the meaningful words are capitalized. This mirrors English in the broad strokes but trips learners who over-capitalize the connecting de or da.
O presidente discursou ao lado da senadora Marta.
The president gave a speech beside Senator Marta.
Ele se formou na Universidade de São Paulo em dezembro.
He graduated from the University of São Paulo in December.
Brand names becoming common nouns
When a brand becomes generic, it is often lowercased and inflected like a common noun. Bombril (steel-wool brand) → bombril; Gillette → gilete (a razor blade); Maizena → maisena (cornstarch); Xerox → xerox/xerocar (to photocopy).
Me empresta uma gilete? Preciso fazer a barba.
Can you lend me a razor blade? I need to shave.
Tira um xerox desse documento pra mim, por favor.
Make a photocopy of this document for me, please.
Common Mistakes
❌ Eu falo Português e Inglês.
Incorrect — language names are lowercase.
✅ Eu falo português e inglês.
I speak Portuguese and English.
❌ Vou viajar em Julho, numa Segunda-feira.
Incorrect — months and weekdays are lowercase.
✅ Vou viajar em julho, numa segunda-feira.
I'm going to travel in July, on a Monday.
❌ Ele é Brasileiro e a esposa é Americana.
Incorrect — nationalities are lowercase adjectives.
✅ Ele é brasileiro e a esposa é americana.
He's Brazilian and his wife is American.
❌ Ela estuda o Budismo e o Catolicismo.
Incorrect — religions are lowercase.
✅ Ela estuda o budismo e o catolicismo.
She studies Buddhism and Catholicism.
❌ O Antonio nasceu em Goiania.
Incorrect — the names lose their required accents.
✅ O Antônio nasceu em Goiânia.
Antônio was born in Goiânia.
Key Takeaways
- Capitalize people, places, institutions, brands, holidays, and historical events.
- Lowercase months (janeiro), weekdays (segunda-feira), languages (português), nationalities/adjectives (brasileiro), and religions (o catolicismo) — even though English capitalizes them.
- This lowercasing is the #1 spelling-transfer error for English speakers; train yourself to catch it.
- Diacritics on names are obligatory: Antônio, Goiânia, Vitória.
- Genericized brands get lowercased and inflected: uma gilete, xerocar.
Now practice Portuguese
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Articles with Personal Names: A Maria, O JoãoA1 — When Brazilian Portuguese puts a definite article before a name — the warm, colloquial 'a Maria / o João' and its regional patterns — plus titles, famous people, and place names.
- Nouns: OverviewA1 — How Brazilian Portuguese nouns work — every noun has grammatical gender (masculine or feminine), inflects for number, and controls agreement across its whole phrase, even though there is no case system.
- Capitalization RulesA2 — Brazilian Portuguese lowercases what English capitalizes — months, weekdays, languages, nationalities, religions, and compass points — reserving capitals for true proper nouns and sentence starts.
- Articles with Country NamesA2 — Which countries take a definite article in Brazilian Portuguese (o Brasil, a França, os Estados Unidos) and which don't (Portugal, Cuba, Israel) — a lexical split you must memorize, and how it drives the no/na/em contractions.