A verb names an action; a noun names a thing. Nominalization is the machinery a language uses to repackage an action as a thing, so you can talk about it — give it a subject, count it, modify it with adjectives, make it the topic of a sentence. English does this too ("to swim" → "swimming," "to arrive" → "arrival"), but Brazilian Portuguese does it more freely, more systematically, and with a set of suffixes so productive that speakers routinely invent nouns that no dictionary lists. Understanding these patterns lets you decode unfamiliar words on sight and — eventually — coin your own the way natives do.
This page covers the three main routes from verb to noun: the bare infinitive, the deverbal suffixes, and the participle used as a noun.
Route 1: the infinitive as a noun
The plainest way to nominalize a verb in BR is to do nothing at all — the infinitive can stand in subject or object position and behave like a noun. This is far more natural in Portuguese than in English, where we usually have to switch to the -ing form.
Comer demais faz mal à saúde.
Eating too much is bad for your health.
Estudar todos os dias é o segredo.
Studying every day is the secret.
Notice that English forces "eating," "studying" — the gerund — whereas BR uses the infinitive directly. The infinitive is the verbal noun by default.
The "nominalized infinitive" with an article
You can push the infinitive further into noun territory by putting an article in front of it. This is a more literary, even philosophical register, and it lets the action take on a weighty, abstract flavor.
O viver é uma arte que poucos dominam.
Living is an art that few master.
O olhar dela dizia tudo.
Her gaze said it all.
Note that o olhar ("the gaze/look") has lexicalized — it is now a regular dictionary noun, not just a one-off. O viver, o ser, o saber feel more deliberately literary.
Route 2: deverbal nouns with suffixes
This is the heart of BR nominalization. A suffix attaches to the verb stem and produces a true, countable, pluralizable noun. The suffix is not random — each one tends to carry a meaning flavor.
| Suffix | Typical meaning | Verb → Noun | Gloss |
|---|---|---|---|
| -ção | act / result / process (abstract) | educar → educação | to educate → education |
| -mento | act / result (often concrete) | mover → movimento | to move → movement |
| -dor / -dora | the agent (one who does) | jogar → jogador | to play → player |
| -ada | a bounded instance / a "dose" of the act | caminhar → caminhada | to walk → a walk |
| -agem | process / action (often technical) | decolar → decolagem | to take off → takeoff |
-ção: the abstract action
By far the most common, -ção (from Latin -tio, English -tion) names the action or its abstract result. Because English shares the Latin root, cognates abound — but watch the diacritic and the spelling.
A educação dos filhos é responsabilidade dos pais.
The children's upbringing is the parents' responsibility.
A construção do metrô vai demorar anos.
The construction of the subway is going to take years.
-mento: the action or its concrete result
-mento often lands on a more concrete result or an organized phenomenon.
O movimento dos trabalhadores cresceu muito no último ano.
The workers' movement has grown a lot over the past year.
O estacionamento do shopping fica no subsolo.
The mall's parking lot is in the basement.
-dor / -dora: the doer
This suffix names the agent — the person or instrument that performs the action. It inflects for gender (-dor / -dora) and number (-dores / -doras), and frequently doubles as an adjective.
Ele é o melhor jogador do time, disparado.
He's the best player on the team, by far.
A vencedora do concurso recebeu uma bolsa de estudos.
The winner of the contest received a scholarship.
-ada: a single dose of the action
-ada (feminine) is wonderfully productive in BR. It names one instance or one episode of an action — a single bounded helping of it. Caminhar (to walk) → caminhada (a walk). The same suffix gives olhada (a glance), mexida (a stir), espiada (a peek).
Vamos dar uma caminhada na praia depois do almoço?
Shall we take a walk on the beach after lunch?
Dá uma olhada nesse e-mail antes de eu enviar.
Take a look at this email before I send it.
Notice the typical frame dar uma + [noun in -ada] — "to give a quick X." This is everyday colloquial BR and pairs naturally with the light verb dar.
-agem: process, often technical
-agem (feminine, from French -age) names processes, frequently in technical or industrial contexts.
A decolagem foi tranquila, mas o pouso foi turbulento.
The takeoff was smooth, but the landing was turbulent.
A reciclagem do lixo melhorou muito no nosso bairro.
Garbage recycling has improved a lot in our neighborhood.
Route 3: the past participle as a noun
A past participle, which normally functions as an adjective ("the wounded man" → o homem ferido), can drop its noun and stand alone as a noun itself — usually referring to people in the state named by the verb. The article tells you the gender and number.
Os feridos foram levados ao hospital mais próximo.
The wounded were taken to the nearest hospital.
Os formados de 2025 fizeram uma festa enorme.
The 2025 graduates threw a huge party.
O acusado se recusou a responder às perguntas.
The accused refused to answer the questions.
This pattern is identical in spirit to English "the accused," "the deceased," "the wounded" — but BR uses it far more freely and inflects it: o formado / a formada / os formados / as formadas.
Productivity: BR coins nouns on the fly
The single most important takeaway is that these suffixes are alive. A Brazilian who hears a new verb can immediately produce its noun without ever having seen it written. This is most visible in slang. The verb curtir (to enjoy, to "like" — including on social media) yields the slang noun curtição (the enjoyment, the good vibes, the fun).
A festa foi a maior curtição, ficamos até de manhã.
The party was a total blast, we stayed till morning.
Essa viagem vai ser pura curtição.
This trip is going to be pure fun.
Because the machinery is productive, you will constantly meet -ção, -mento, -ada nouns that no textbook taught you. Reverse the suffix to find the verb, and the meaning will usually fall out.
Why this matters more in BR than in English
English has these suffixes too, but they are largely frozen. We do not invent new -tion words from any verb at will; we mostly reuse a fixed inventory. BR's suffixes remain freely combinable, so the boundary between "real word" and "word I just made up and you instantly understood" is blurry. This is why a Brazilian can say curtição, zoação, or rolê (from rolar) and be perfectly understood even by someone who has never heard the specific word — the pattern carries the meaning. For an English speaker, the lesson is to stop treating the dictionary as the limit of the language: the rules of nominalization are the real vocabulary.
Common Mistakes
❌ Nadando é bom para a saúde.
Incorrect — English '-ing as subject' transferred wrongly; BR uses the infinitive.
✅ Nadar é bom para a saúde.
Swimming is good for your health.
❌ A educacão é importante.
Incorrect — missing the cedilla and the nasal accent; it is educação.
✅ A educação é importante.
Education is important.
❌ Vou dar uma caminhado na praia.
Incorrect — the -ada noun is feminine, and it is caminhada (from caminhar).
✅ Vou dar uma caminhada na praia.
I'm going to take a walk on the beach.
❌ Ele é um bom joga do time.
Incorrect — the agent noun needs the -dor suffix: jogador.
✅ Ele é um bom jogador do time.
He's a good player on the team.
❌ A decolação do avião atrasou.
Incorrect — the deverbal noun of decolar is decolagem, not *decolação.
✅ A decolagem do avião atrasou.
The plane's takeoff was delayed.
Key Takeaways
- The infinitive is BR's default verbal noun — use it (not the gerund) for English "-ing" subjects and objects.
- The suffixes -ção, -mento, -dor/-dora, -ada, -agem each carry a meaning flavor (abstract act, result, agent, single instance, process).
- The past participle can stand alone as a noun for people in a state: os feridos, os formados, o acusado.
- These suffixes are productive — Brazilians coin new nouns from verbs constantly, especially in slang (curtição).
- To decode an unfamiliar noun, strip the suffix and recover the underlying verb.
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Start learning Portuguese→Related Topics
- The Infinitive in BR PortugueseA2 — Brazilian Portuguese has two infinitives — the regular (impersonal) one and a unique personal infinitive that carries person endings.
- Past Participle as AdjectiveA2 — How Brazilian Portuguese past participles work as adjectives — agreeing in gender and number with the noun they describe — and how recognizing them as participles expands your vocabulary.
- Light Verbs (dar uma olhada, fazer uma pausa)B2 — How Brazilian Portuguese uses dar, fazer, and ter plus a noun to express what English packs into a single verb — and why these constructions often sound more natural than the equivalent simple verb.
- The Gerund (Gerúndio) in BR PortugueseA2 — An overview of the Brazilian gerund — its five core uses, how to form it, and why it is one of the most audible markers of spoken BR Portuguese.
- The Personal Infinitive: OverviewB1 — Portuguese's signature feature — an infinitive that carries person and number endings, letting infinitive clauses take their own subject.