Subject-Verb Agreement | Portuguese (Brazil) Grammar

In Portuguese, the verb must agree with its subject in person (first, second, third) and number (singular, plural). This is the engine that lets you drop subject pronouns: if the verb ending already encodes the subject, you do not always need to name it. Agreement is morphologically tidy and rule-governed — but Brazilian Portuguese adds one famous twist (a gente) and shows real, audible variation in casual speech that you should understand even if you do not imitate it.

The basic rule

Match the verb to the subject. Each pronoun pulls a specific ending; if the subject is a noun, treat it as third person and match singular vs. plural.

Subject	Person/Number	falar (present)
eu	1st sg.	falo
você / ele / ela	3rd sg.	fala
a gente	3rd sg. (means "we")	fala
nós	1st pl.	falamos
vocês / eles / elas	3rd pl.	falam

Os meninos brincam no quintal todo fim de tarde.

The kids play in the backyard every late afternoon. (plural subject → plural verb)

Minha irmã trabalha num hospital.

My sister works at a hospital. (singular noun subject → 3rd singular)

Vocês moram longe daqui?

Do you all live far from here? (vocês → 3rd plural)

The a gente twist

This is the rule English speakers break most often. A gente means "we," but because it is grammatically a singular noun phrase, it takes a third-person singular verb — the same form as ele/ela. The meaning is plural; the agreement is singular. The two do not match, and that mismatch is exactly where the error happens.

A gente fala português em casa.

We speak Portuguese at home.

A gente foi na praia no domingo.

We went to the beach on Sunday.

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The single most common English-speaker error in this whole area: saying a gente falamos by analogy with "we." Resist it. The verb agrees with the form of a gente (singular), not with its meaning. Always: a gente fala, a gente foi, a gente vai — never falamos, fomos, vamos with a gente.

If you want a first-person-plural verb, you need the pronoun nós: Nós falamos português em casa. So the two ways to say "we speak" are a gente fala (colloquial, 3rd sg.) and nós falamos (more formal, 1st pl.). Mixing them — a gente falamos — is the error to avoid. See agreement with a gente for drills.

Compound subjects

When two or more subjects are joined by e ("and"), the verb goes plural. If one of those subjects is eu, the combination resolves to first person plural (nós); if the subjects are second and third person, it resolves to third plural.

Eu e meu irmão fomos ao mercado.

My brother and I went to the market. (eu + ele → nós → 1st plural 'fomos')

Você e a Ana podem chegar mais cedo?

Can you and Ana arrive earlier? (você + ela → 3rd plural 'podem')

A diretora e os professores assinaram o documento.

The principal and the teachers signed the document. (two 3rd-person subjects → 3rd plural)

The logic mirrors English's "my brother and I went," but Portuguese makes the person explicit in the verb: fomos is unmistakably "we." Note that Portuguese conventionally puts eu last in such pairs (meu irmão e eu / eu e meu irmão are both heard), the same politeness convention as English.

Collective nouns — both options can be right

With a singular collective noun followed by a plural complement — a maioria das pessoas ("the majority of people"), um grupo de alunos ("a group of students") — Portuguese allows both singular agreement (matching the head noun) and plural agreement (matching the meaning). Both are attested and accepted; the singular is the more conservative choice.

A maioria das pessoas pensa que vai dar certo.

Most people think it'll work out. (singular — agrees with 'a maioria')

A maioria das pessoas pensam que vai dar certo.

Most people think it'll work out. (plural — agrees with 'as pessoas'; also accepted)

This is genuinely a point where two grammatically defensible positions coexist — prescriptive grammars lean toward the singular, but the plural is extremely common and not considered an error in practice. Pick one and be consistent within a sentence.

Colloquial agreement loss (recognize, don't imitate)

In casual, especially working-class urban speech across Brazil, plural agreement on the verb is sometimes dropped when the subject already shows plurality — the plural is marked once (on the article or noun) and the verb stays singular. This is widespread and systematic, but it is non-standard and stigmatized in writing and formal speech.

Os menino chegou agora.

The kids just got here. (colloquial/non-standard — standard: 'Os meninos chegaram agora')

As menina tudo saiu.

The girls all left. (colloquial/non-standard — standard: 'As meninas saíram todas')

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You will hear os menino chegou in real life — it is a genuine feature of vernacular Brazilian Portuguese, not sloppiness, and it follows its own consistent logic (mark the plural once, early). But it is firmly non-standard. Recognize it so you understand people; write and speak os meninos chegaram in any context where standard grammar is expected.

Putting it together

Eu acordo cedo, mas a gente sai de casa só às nove.

I wake up early, but we don't leave the house until nine. (eu → 1st sg; a gente → 3rd sg)

Nós moramos aqui, e eles moram no prédio da frente.

We live here, and they live in the building across the street. (nós → 1st pl; eles → 3rd pl)

Common mistakes

❌ A gente vamos viajar nas férias.

Incorrect — 'a gente' takes 3rd singular, so it must be 'vai'.

✅ A gente vai viajar nas férias.

We're going to travel over the holidays.

❌ A gente somos amigos desde a escola.

Incorrect — match the verb to 'a gente' (3rd sg): 'é'.

✅ A gente é amigo desde a escola.

We've been friends since school.

❌ Eu e a Júlia foi ao show ontem.

Incorrect — a compound subject with 'eu' is 1st plural: 'fomos'.

✅ Eu e a Júlia fomos ao show ontem.

Júlia and I went to the show yesterday.

❌ Vocês trabalha aqui há muito tempo?

Incorrect — 'vocês' is plural and takes 'trabalham'.

✅ Vocês trabalham aqui há muito tempo?

Have you all worked here for a long time?

❌ Os alunos esperou o professor na sala.

Incorrect (non-standard) in formal contexts — a plural subject takes a plural verb.

✅ Os alunos esperaram o professor na sala.

The students waited for the teacher in the room.

Every one of these traces back to a single source: letting the meaning of the subject choose the verb instead of its grammatical form. A gente means "we" but is grammatically singular; a compound subject with eu is grammatically "we" even though neither word is nós. Train yourself to ask "what is the grammatical person and number of this subject?" rather than "what does it mean in English?"

Key takeaways

Match the verb to the subject's grammatical person and number — not to its English meaning.
A gente takes a third-person singular verb (a gente fala), even though it means "we."
Compound subjects joined by e go plural; if eu is one of them, the verb is first person plural (fomos).
Collective nouns (a maioria das pessoas) accept both singular and plural agreement — both are correct.
Colloquial agreement loss (os menino chegou) is real and systematic but non-standard; recognize it, don't write it.

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