Coordination is how you join two things of equal rank — two words, two phrases, or two whole clauses — without making one depend on the other. Café e pão ("coffee and bread"), barato mas bom ("cheap but good"), Eu trabalho e ela estuda ("I work and she studies"). This is the simplest way to build longer sentences, and Brazilian Portuguese does it with a small, learnable set of conjunctions plus a couple of comma habits. This page lays out the five families of coordinating conjunctions, the comma rules, and the very useful trick of leaving out repeated words.
What "coordination" means
Coordination links equals. Neither half is inside the other; they sit side by side. This contrasts with subordination, where one clause is embedded in another (Eu sei que ela estuda). With coordination, you could often swap the order or delete one half and still have a complete sentence.
Eu trabalho e ela estuda.
I work and she studies.
Comprei café, pão e manteiga.
I bought coffee, bread, and butter.
The joined elements can be any size: single words (café e pão), phrases (na sala ou na cozinha), or full clauses (Eu trabalho e ela estuda).
The five families of coordinating conjunctions
BR grammar traditionally sorts coordinating conjunctions into five groups by meaning. You do not need the labels to speak, but they organize the vocabulary cleanly.
| Type | Conjunctions | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Copulative (addition) | e, nem | adds; nem = "and not" |
| Adversative (contrast) | mas, porém, contudo, todavia, no entanto | "but, however" |
| Disjunctive (alternative) | ou, ou… ou | "or, either… or" |
| Conclusive (conclusion) | logo, portanto, por isso, então | "so, therefore" |
| Explicative (justification) | pois, que, porque | "for, because" (giving a reason) |
Copulative: e, nem
E simply adds. Nem is its negative counterpart — it means "and not / nor" and is used in negative contexts.
Ela cozinha bem e canta melhor ainda.
She cooks well and sings even better.
Não comi nem dormi a noite toda.
I didn't eat or sleep the whole night.
Notice in the second example that nem both negates and coordinates at once — it replaces e não ("and not"). This is one of the most useful BR coordination facts: nem… nem… strings negatives together neatly.
Nem o João nem a Maria vieram à reunião.
Neither João nor Maria came to the meeting.
Adversative: mas, porém, contudo, todavia
These signal contrast. Mas is the everyday (informal/neutral) word; porém, contudo, and todavia are (formal) and lean literary or written.
O hotel era barato, mas muito confortável.
The hotel was cheap but very comfortable.
O projeto foi aprovado; contudo, ainda falta o orçamento.
The project was approved; however, the budget is still missing. (Formal/written register.)
Disjunctive: ou, ou… ou
Ou offers an alternative. Doubled as ou… ou, it stresses an exclusive choice.
A gente vai de carro ou de ônibus?
Are we going by car or by bus?
Ou você estuda agora, ou não vai passar na prova.
Either you study now, or you won't pass the test.
Conclusive: logo, portanto, por isso, então
These draw a conclusion from what came before. Portanto and logo are (formal/written); por isso and então are the everyday spoken choices.
Tá chovendo muito, por isso a gente cancelou o passeio.
It's raining a lot, so we cancelled the outing.
Penso, logo existo.
I think, therefore I am. (Formal/literary — the classic philosophical formula.)
Explicative: pois, que
These give the reason or justification for the previous statement. Pois here means "for / because" and is somewhat (formal); spoken BR usually reaches for porque instead.
Feche a janela, que está fazendo frio.
Close the window, for it's getting cold. (Informal, with explicative 'que'.)
Comma rules
Two practical habits cover almost every case:
- No comma before e / ou when joining just two items: café e pão, de carro ou de ônibus. (Unlike the optional English "Oxford comma," BR normally omits a comma before the final e in a list.)
- Comma before adversative and conclusive conjunctions: barato, mas bom; chove, por isso ficamos em casa. A comma (or semicolon) also precedes a contrast or conclusion between full clauses.
Trouxe pão, queijo e presunto.
I brought bread, cheese, and ham. (No comma before the final 'e'.)
Ela estudou muito, mas não passou.
She studied a lot, but she didn't pass. (Comma before 'mas'.)
Ellipsis: leaving out the repeated word
Coordination lets you delete material that would otherwise repeat. When two coordinated clauses share a verb, you can drop the second copy. This is called gapping, and it makes BR sound natural and concise.
Comprei pão e leite.
I bought bread and milk. (Full form: 'Comprei pão e [comprei] leite' — the second 'comprei' is dropped.)
Ela quer café; eu, chá.
She wants coffee; I (want) tea. (The verb 'quer/quero' is gapped after 'eu'; the comma marks the gap.)
In Ela quer café; eu, chá, the comma after eu stands in for the omitted verb. This is a common, elegant pattern in writing and careful speech. The shared subject can also be dropped, thanks to BR pro-drop: Cheguei em casa e fui dormir ("I got home and [I] went to sleep") — one eu covers both verbs.
Cheguei em casa e fui direto dormir.
I got home and went straight to sleep. (One subject 'eu', dropped throughout.)
Spoken chaining with aí and e
In casual narration, BR speakers chain events with e and especially aí ("then / and then"). This is (informal) spoken glue, common in storytelling, and not used in formal writing.
Aí ele chegou, aí eu falei tudo, aí ele ficou bravo.
Then he showed up, then I told him everything, then he got mad. (Informal spoken chaining.)
The English comparison
The system maps closely onto English and / but / or / so / for, so the categories feel familiar. Three differences stand out:
- The Oxford comma is normally absent in BR — no comma before the final e in a list.
- *Nem* is a single word doing the work of English "nor" / "and not," and BR uses nem… nem… readily where English might say "neither… nor."
- The formal/informal split is sharper. English "however" is only mildly formal, but BR contudo / todavia / porém clearly mark writing or speech-making, while mas covers all casual contrast.
Não gosto de café nem de chá.
I don't like coffee or tea. (Single 'nem' covering both, after the initial negative.)
Common Mistakes
❌ Comprei café, e pão.
Incorrect — a comma before 'e' joining just two list items is not standard in BR.
✅ Comprei café e pão.
I bought coffee and bread. (No comma before 'e' in a simple two-item list.)
❌ Não comi e não dormi.
Clumsy — stacking 'e não' twice where BR has a dedicated word for it.
✅ Não comi nem dormi.
I didn't eat or sleep. (Use 'nem' to coordinate negatives.)
❌ Ela estudou muito mas não passou (sem vírgula).
Incorrect — adversative 'mas' between clauses needs a preceding comma.
✅ Ela estudou muito, mas não passou.
She studied a lot, but she didn't pass. (Comma before 'mas'.)
❌ Penso, portanto, eu existo, e eu sou feliz, e eu trabalho (encadeando 'e' à toa por escrito).
Incorrect register — endless spoken 'e/aí' chaining doesn't belong in writing.
✅ Penso, logo existo. Sou feliz e trabalho.
I think, therefore I am. I'm happy and I work. (Tighter coordination, written register.)
❌ Ela quer café e eu quero chá. (perdendo a chance de elidir)
Not wrong, but heavy — the repeated verb can be gapped for a crisper sentence.
✅ Ela quer café; eu, chá.
She wants coffee; I, tea. (Gapping the repeated verb.)
Key Takeaways
- Coordination links equals with five families: copulative (e, nem), adversative (mas, porém…), disjunctive (ou… ou), conclusive (portanto, por isso…), explicative (pois, que).
- Nem both negates and coordinates; use nem… nem… for stacked negatives.
- No comma before e in a two-item list; comma before mas and conclusive conjunctions.
- Coordination licenses ellipsis/gapping: drop the repeated verb (Ela quer café; eu, chá) or the shared subject (pro-drop).
- Mas / por isso / então are everyday; porém / contudo / portanto / logo are formal-written.
Now practice Portuguese
Reading grammar gets you part of the way. The exercises are where it sticks — free, no signup needed.
Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Subordination: OverviewB1 — The three types of subordinate clause in Brazilian Portuguese — noun, relative, and adverbial — plus finite vs. non-finite subordination and BR's unique personal infinitive.
- Coordinating ConjunctionsA1 — The five classes of coordinating conjunction in Brazilian Portuguese — additive, adversative, alternative, conclusive, explicative — with comma rules and the key contrast with Spanish.
- Compound Sentences (Coordination)A2 — Joining two independent clauses with coordinating conjunctions — e, mas, ou, nem, então, pois — where neither clause depends on the other.
- 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.