English and Portuguese share an enormous layer of vocabulary inherited from Latin (and, in English's case, borrowed through French). For an English speaker, this is the single biggest shortcut in the whole language: once you learn a handful of regular suffix correspondences, you can convert thousands of English words into correct Brazilian Portuguese on the fly. This page maps those patterns — and warns you about the false friends where the pattern lies.
Why these patterns exist
English absorbed a vast Latinate vocabulary after 1066, mostly through Norman French. Portuguese inherited the same Latin words directly. So the shared word usually descends from one Latin ancestor: English nation and Portuguese nação both come from Latin nationem. The endings drifted apart predictably, which is exactly why the correspondences are so regular. When you swap an English suffix for its Portuguese equivalent, you are essentially reversing centuries of sound change in one step.
The high-value suffix swaps
-tion → -ção
This is the most productive pattern in the language. English nouns in -tion (and -sion) become Portuguese -ção (or -são). These nouns are feminine without exception, and they form the plural in -ções.
Preciso de mais informação sobre a situação.
I need more information about the situation.
A nação inteira acompanhou a votação pela televisão.
The whole nation followed the vote on television.
So: information → informação, action → ação, nation → nação, situation → situação, organization → organização, television → televisão, decision → decisão.
-ty → -dade
English abstract nouns in -ty map to -dade, also always feminine, plural -dades.
A universidade fica no centro da cidade.
The university is in the city center.
Liberdade e igualdade não são a mesma coisa.
Freedom and equality are not the same thing.
So: city → cidade, university → universidade, society → sociedade, liberty → liberdade, quality → qualidade, possibility → possibilidade.
-ble → -vel
English adjectives in -ble become -vel (singular), with the irregular plural -veis (possível → possíveis). Watch the accent: it lands on the syllable before -vel.
É possível, mas não é muito provável.
It's possible, but not very likely.
Esses dois aplicativos não são compatíveis.
Those two apps aren't compatible.
So: possible → possível, probable → provável, terrible → terrível, responsible → responsável, incredible → incrível.
-ous → -oso
English adjectives in -ous become -oso (masculine) / -osa (feminine), so they agree with the noun like any Portuguese adjective.
Ele é famoso, mas a irmã dele é ainda mais famosa.
He's famous, but his sister is even more famous.
Fiquei curioso para saber o final da história.
I got curious to find out the end of the story.
So: famous → famoso/-a, curious → curioso/-a, nervous → nervoso/-a, delicious → delicioso/-a, generous → generoso/-a.
-ly → -mente
English adverbs in -ly become -mente, added to the feminine singular of the adjective: rápida → rapidamente, clara → claramente.
Ele respondeu rapidamente e falou muito claramente.
He answered quickly and spoke very clearly.
So: rapidly → rapidamente, clearly → claramente, exactly → exatamente, probably → provavelmente, finally → finalmente.
-ic → -ico
English adjectives in -ic become -ico/-ica. Crucially, the cognate is almost always stressed on the antepenult and carries a written accent: básico, público, romântico, fantástico.
Foi um jantar romântico num restaurante muito básico.
It was a romantic dinner at a very basic restaurant.
So: basic → básico, public → público, romantic → romântico, fantastic → fantástico, electric → elétrico.
-ist → -ista and -ism → -ismo
The agent/adherent ending -ist becomes -ista (the same form for men and women), and the doctrine ending -ism becomes -ismo (masculine).
Ela é jornalista e ele é dentista.
She's a journalist and he's a dentist.
O capitalismo e o socialismo dominaram o século passado.
Capitalism and socialism dominated the last century.
So: artist → artista, journalist → jornalista, dentist → dentista; capitalism → capitalismo, tourism → turismo, optimism → otimismo.
-ment → -mento and -ance/-ence → -ância/-ência
The noun ending -ment becomes -mento (masculine): movement → movimento, moment → momento, document → documento, apartment → apartamento. The endings -ance/-ence become -ância/-ência (feminine): importance → importância, experience → experiência, difference → diferença (note this one drifts to -ença), patience → paciência.
Naquele momento entendi a importância da experiência dela.
At that moment I understood the importance of her experience.
-or / -er agent nouns → -or
English agent nouns frequently land on -or in Portuguese, with a feminine in -ora: actor → ator/atriz (this one is irregular), director → diretor/diretora, professor → professor/professora, author → autor/autora, inventor → inventor/inventora.
A diretora chamou o professor de história.
The principal called the history teacher.
The false-friend warning
The cognate machine is powerful but not perfect. A small set of words look like English words and mean something else entirely. These falsos cognatos (false friends) are the cracks in the pattern — and they cause the most embarrassing mistakes precisely because you feel confident.
Pretendo viajar no próximo mês.
I intend / plan to travel next month. (NOT 'I pretend')
Os pais dele moram no Recife.
His parents live in Recife. ('pais' = parents, not the 'pais' that looks like a country)
Classic traps: pretender = to intend, not to pretend; realizar = to carry out/accomplish, not to realize (use perceber or dar-se conta); assistir (a) = to watch/attend, not to assist; puxar = to pull, not to push; livraria = bookstore, not library (which is biblioteca); parente = relative, not parent; atualmente = currently, not actually. See the dedicated false-friends page for the full list and the underlying reasons.
Common Mistakes
❌ A informações está errada.
Incorrect — '-ção' nouns are feminine and the plural is '-ções'; this also mixes singular/plural.
✅ As informações estão erradas.
The information is wrong. (treated as plural feminine)
❌ Ele é muito famous neste país.
Incorrect — applying the swap halfway; the suffix must actually change.
✅ Ele é muito famoso neste país.
He's very famous in this country.
❌ É possivel resolver isso hoje.
Incorrect — '-vel' adjectives carry a written accent: possível, not possivel.
✅ É possível resolver isso hoje.
It's possible to solve this today.
❌ Eu pretendi estar doente para não ir à festa.
Incorrect — false friend; 'pretender' means to intend, not to pretend.
✅ Eu fingi estar doente para não ir à festa.
I pretended to be sick so I wouldn't go to the party. ('fingir' = to pretend)
❌ Vou na livraria pegar um livro emprestado.
Incorrect — a 'livraria' sells books; you borrow from a 'biblioteca'.
✅ Vou na biblioteca pegar um livro emprestado.
I'm going to the library to borrow a book.
Key takeaways
- Memorize the suffix correspondences, not individual words: -tion → -ção, -ty → -dade, -ble → -vel, -ous → -oso, -ly → -mente, -ic → -ico, -ist/-ism → -ista/-ismo, -ment → -mento, -ance/-ence → -ância/-ência.
- Keep the accents: -vel and -ico cognates are almost always written with an accent (possível, básico).
- Respect gender: -ção and -dade nouns are feminine; -mento and -ismo nouns are masculine.
- Switch the pattern off for the handful of false friends — pretender, realizar, assistir, livraria, parente, atualmente — where the resemblance is a trap.
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
- Noun-Forming SuffixesB1 — How Brazilian Portuguese builds nouns from verbs, adjectives, and other nouns with productive suffixes that signal both meaning and grammatical gender.
- False Friends with EnglishA2 — The Brazilian Portuguese words that look English but mean something else — pretender (intend), puxar (pull!), assistir (watch), livraria (bookstore), atualmente (currently).
- Word Formation: OverviewB1 — How Brazilian Portuguese builds words from roots, prefixes, and suffixes — and why learning the morphemes multiplies your vocabulary instead of merely adding to it.
- Adjective-Forming SuffixesB1 — The productive suffixes that turn nouns and verbs into adjectives in Brazilian Portuguese — and how recognizing them lets you both decode and coin new words.
- Etymology and Learned VocabularyC1 — Why Brazilian Portuguese often has two words from one Latin root — a folk word and an erudite one — so the noun and its adjective can look unrelated (olho/ocular).