The academic abstract — the resumo that opens a Brazilian thesis or journal article — is the most impersonal register a learner will encounter. Its whole rhetorical aim is to sound objective, so the grammar systematically erases the author: the eu vanishes behind impersonal-se and passive constructions, while dense nominalization packs an entire study (objective, method, results, conclusion) into a handful of sentences. This original abstract (written for the lesson, on an invented study) shows the machinery.
The text
An original resumo for a fictional research paper:
Este estudo analisa o impacto do trabalho remoto sobre a produtividade de servidores públicos no Brasil.
This study analyzes the impact of remote work on the productivity of public-sector workers in Brazil.
Foram coletados dados de uma amostra de 1.200 funcionários ao longo de doze meses.
Data were collected from a sample of 1,200 employees over twelve months.
Adotou-se uma abordagem quantitativa, com a aplicação de questionários e a análise de indicadores de desempenho.
A quantitative approach was adopted, with the application of questionnaires and the analysis of performance indicators.
Os resultados indicam que o trabalho remoto está associado a um aumento moderado da produtividade.
The results indicate that remote work is associated with a moderate increase in productivity.
Observou-se, ainda, uma redução significativa nos índices de absenteísmo.
A significant reduction in absenteeism rates was also observed.
Sugere-se que tais ganhos dependam da qualidade da infraestrutura disponível aos trabalhadores.
It is suggested that such gains depend on the quality of the infrastructure available to the workers.
Conclui-se que o modelo híbrido constitui uma alternativa promissora para a gestão pública.
It is concluded that the hybrid model constitutes a promising alternative for public administration.
Recomenda-se a realização de estudos longitudinais que confirmem esses achados.
The carrying out of longitudinal studies that confirm these findings is recommended.
Notice there is no eu, no nós, no human subject anywhere — and yet every sentence reports a human act (analyzing, collecting, adopting, observing, concluding). The acts are real; the actor is grammatically deleted. That deletion is the point.
The impersonal "se"
The workhorse of the abstract is the impersonal / passive se, attached enclitically to the verb: adotou-se (a [...] was adopted), observou-se (it was observed), sugere-se (it is suggested), conclui-se (it is concluded), recomenda-se (it is recommended). The se lets the verb run with no named subject, so "we adopted an approach" becomes the agent-free "an approach was adopted."
Adotou-se uma abordagem quantitativa.
A quantitative approach was adopted. (passive 'se' — no agent named)
Conclui-se que o modelo híbrido é promissor.
It is concluded that the hybrid model is promising. (impersonal 'se')
There is a subtle agreement rule worth flagging. With passive-se, the verb agrees with the patient if it is plural: Recomenda-se a realização (singular patient → singular verb), but Recomendam-se estudos longitudinais (plural patient → plural verb). With genuinely impersonal-se (an intransitive verb or concluir que-clause), the verb stays singular: conclui-se que.... Academic prose relies on both, and getting the agreement right is a hallmark of fluent writing. See verbs/passive-impersonal/impersonal-se and sentences/impersonal-sentences.
The passive with "ser"
Alongside the se-passive, the abstract uses the full passive with ser: Foram coletados dados ("data were collected"). Here the verb ser (in foram) carries the tense, the past participle (coletados) agrees with the subject (dados, masculine plural), and the agent is again suppressed.
Foram coletados dados de uma amostra de 1.200 funcionários.
Data were collected from a sample of 1,200 employees. (ser-passive: foram + coletados, agreeing with 'dados')
Os questionários foram aplicados em duas etapas.
The questionnaires were applied in two stages. (ser-passive, plural agreement)
Note the inversion: Foram coletados dados puts the verb before the subject, which is idiomatic and common in this register — the plain Dados foram coletados is grammatical but less typical for opening a methods sentence. The participle must agree: foram coletados dados (masculine plural), foi adotada uma abordagem (feminine singular). English speakers, whose passive participle never inflects ("were collected"), routinely forget this agreement. See sentences/passive-sentences.
Hedging and the subjunctive
Academic writing is cautious: it rarely claims certainty, preferring to hedge. The verbs sugerir and indicar are hedge markers — "the results suggest/indicate," not "the results prove." And sugerir que triggers the subjunctive, because a suggestion is a tentative, unrealized proposition, not an asserted fact.
Os resultados indicam que o trabalho remoto está associado a um aumento da produtividade.
The results indicate that remote work is associated with an increase in productivity. ('indicar que' = indicative — a reported finding)
Sugere-se que tais ganhos dependam da infraestrutura.
It is suggested that such gains depend on the infrastructure. ('sugerir que' = subjunctive 'dependam')
Here is a precise and genuinely tricky contrast. Indicar que and mostrar que report what the data show, treated as established findings, and take the indicative (está associado). But sugerir que, recomendar que, propor que convey a tentative proposal or recommendation and take the subjunctive (dependam, confirmem). The grammar literally encodes the epistemic stance: indicative for "we found," subjunctive for "we tentatively propose." This is a refined distinction even many natives blur in casual writing, but it is the mark of careful academic prose. See verbs/subjunctive/with-verbs-desire.
Recomenda-se a realização de estudos que confirmem esses achados.
The carrying out of studies that confirm these findings is recommended. (subjunctive 'confirmem' — studies not yet existing)
The relative clause estudos que confirmem also takes the subjunctive because its antecedent (estudos) is indefinite and hypothetical — these are studies that don't exist yet, that one hopes would confirm the findings. An indicative que confirmam would imply specific, already-existing studies.
Nominalization — packing a study into nouns
The present tense reports the study's own actions (este estudo analisa, os resultados indicam), but the substance is carried by nominalizations that compress whole processes into noun phrases:
| Nominalization | Unpacked verb | Suffix |
|---|---|---|
| a aplicação de questionários | applying questionnaires | -ção |
| a análise de indicadores | analyzing indicators | -e |
| uma redução no absenteísmo | absenteeism reduced | -ção |
| a realização de estudos | carrying out studies | -ção |
| a gestão pública | managing publicly | -ão |
Adotou-se uma abordagem quantitativa, com a aplicação de questionários e a análise de indicadores.
A quantitative approach was adopted, with the application of questionnaires and the analysis of indicators.
The phrase com a aplicação de questionários e a análise de indicadores would, in speech, be "we applied questionnaires and analyzed indicators." Nominalizing it makes the method read as a compact, objective procedure rather than a personal narrative. This density of -ção / -mento / -dade nouns is, with the se-passive, the defining texture of the genre. See complex/nominalization.
The structure of the resumo
A Brazilian resumo follows an expected move sequence, and each move has its grammar:
- Objective — present tense: Este estudo analisa...
- Method — passive/impersonal past: Foram coletados dados..., Adotou-se...
- Results — present, hedged: Os resultados indicam..., Observou-se...
- Conclusion / recommendation — impersonal present + subjunctive: Conclui-se que..., Recomenda-se..., Sugere-se que... dependam.
Recognizing this shape lets you both read abstracts faster and write your own to expectation.
Vocabulary and expressions
- abordagem — approach (methodological); standard academic term.
- amostra — sample (statistical); uma amostra de 1.200 funcionários.
- desempenho — performance; indicadores de desempenho — performance indicators.
- absenteísmo — absenteeism (note the spelling with -eísmo).
- achados — findings (lit. "found things"); the standard noun for research findings.
- longitudinal — longitudinal (over time), contrasted with transversal (cross-sectional).
- constituir uma alternativa — to constitute an alternative; formal "to be."
Register and cultural note
This is the academic written register, and it is highly conventionalized across Brazilian universities — the resumo (typically followed by an English abstract and Portuguese palavras-chave / keywords) is mandatory in theses and journal articles, and its impersonal style is explicitly taught in metodologia científica courses. The norm against first person is strong: eu analisei in a resumo would be marked as naive, and even nós analisamos is increasingly avoided in favor of analisou-se or este estudo analisa. The preference for the se-passive over the ser-passive in many sentences (adotou-se rather than foi adotada) is a stylistic feature of Portuguese academic prose specifically — it sounds more formal and more native than an over-reliance on ser + participle, which can read as translated-from-English.
Common Mistakes
❌ Neste estudo, eu analisei o impacto do trabalho remoto.
Incorrect register — the abstract erases the author; use 'Este estudo analisa' or 'Analisou-se'.
✅ Este estudo analisa o impacto do trabalho remoto.
This study analyzes the impact of remote work.
❌ Foi coletado dados de 1.200 funcionários.
Incorrect — the participle must agree with the plural subject 'dados': 'foram coletados'.
✅ Foram coletados dados de 1.200 funcionários.
Data were collected from 1,200 employees.
❌ Sugere-se que tais ganhos dependem da infraestrutura.
Incorrect — 'sugerir que' triggers the subjunctive 'dependam', not the indicative.
✅ Sugere-se que tais ganhos dependam da infraestrutura.
It is suggested that such gains depend on the infrastructure.
❌ Recomenda-se a realização de estudos que confirmam esses achados.
Incorrect — the antecedent is hypothetical, so the relative clause needs the subjunctive 'confirmem'.
✅ Recomenda-se a realização de estudos que confirmem esses achados.
The carrying out of studies that confirm these findings is recommended.
❌ A gente coletou os dados e analisou tudo.
Incorrect register — 'a gente' is conversational; academic prose uses 'coletaram-se os dados' / 'Foram coletados'.
✅ Foram coletados os dados, e procedeu-se à análise.
The data were collected, and the analysis was carried out.
Key takeaways
- The resumo erases the author with impersonal/passive se (adotou-se, observou-se, conclui-se) and the ser-passive (foram coletados).
- Participle agreement in the ser-passive is obligatory (foram coletados dados); English speakers forget it because English participles don't inflect.
- Hedging verbs split by mood: indicar/mostrar que
- indicative (reported finding) vs. sugerir/recomendar que
- subjunctive (tentative proposal).
- indicative (reported finding) vs. sugerir/recomendar que
- Dense nominalization (a aplicação, a análise, a realização) packs the method and conclusions into compact, objective noun phrases.
Now practice Portuguese
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- Passive SentencesB1 — Building passive sentences in Brazilian Portuguese — the ser-passive with 'por', the se-passive for agentless statements, and why everyday speech prefers active recasts.
- Impersonal SentencesB1 — Subjectless sentences in Brazilian Portuguese — weather, time, existence, and the se / 3rd-person-plural / a-gente generics, none of which use a dummy 'it'.
- Subjunctive after Verbs of Desire and WillA2 — Why querer que, pedir que, and other verbs of wanting force the subjunctive — and the English-speaker error to avoid.
- Nominalization: Turning Verbs/Adjectives into NounsB2 — How Brazilian Portuguese builds nouns from verbs and adjectives with suffixes like -ção, -mento, -dade — the engine of formal and academic register.
- Se-ImpersonalB1 — The impersonal se for generic 'one/people' — trabalha-se muito, como se diz — and how it differs from the se-passive.
- Academic StyleC1 — The highest formal-written register of Brazilian Portuguese — impersonality (observa-se, conclui-se), nominalization, hedging, source attribution, formal connectors, and the abstract/resumo conventions.