Every Portuguese adjective — even the invariable ones — has a gender story. Most adjectives have distinct masculine and feminine forms that must match the noun they modify; some have a single form used for both genders; a small set follows its own irregular pattern. English has nothing like this — "tall" is "tall" whether the person is male, female, or nonbinary — so the first instinct for English speakers is to leave the adjective alone. That instinct has to be retrained.
The core principle is simple: the adjective agrees with the noun, not with the speaker. It doesn't matter who is saying the sentence; what matters is the gender of the thing being described.
The -o / -a pattern (default)
The largest group of Portuguese adjectives ends in -o in the masculine and -a in the feminine. This is the pattern to internalise first, because it covers thousands of words.
| Masculine | Feminine | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| bonito | bonita | pretty, handsome |
| alto | alta | tall |
| baixo | baixa | short |
| branco | branca | white |
| preto | preta | black |
| rico | rica | rich |
| pobre | pobre | poor (invariable — see below) |
| cansado | cansada | tired |
| magro | magra | thin |
| gordo | gorda | fat |
A casa dos meus avós é antiga e muito bonita.
My grandparents' house is old and very pretty.
Estou cansada depois de um dia de trabalho.
(woman speaking) I'm tired after a day's work.
The -e pattern (invariable in gender)
Adjectives that end in -e do not change for gender. One form works for both masculine and feminine nouns. The plural adds -s (see number agreement).
| Adjective | Meaning | Masc. example | Fem. example |
|---|---|---|---|
| inteligente | intelligent | um rapaz inteligente | uma rapariga inteligente |
| alegre | cheerful | um menino alegre | uma menina alegre |
| triste | sad | um filme triste | uma história triste |
| forte | strong | um homem forte | uma mulher forte |
| doce | sweet | um bolo doce | uma maçã doce |
| verde | green | um carro verde | uma camisa verde |
| grande | big, great | um grande problema | uma grande oportunidade |
| interessante | interesting | um livro interessante | uma aula interessante |
O João é muito inteligente e a Maria também é inteligente.
João is very intelligent, and Maria is also intelligent.
Consonant endings (-z, -l, -r, -m, -s)
Most adjectives ending in a consonant also have a single form for both genders.
| Ending | Examples | Pattern |
|---|---|---|
| -z | feliz, capaz, feroz, tenaz, audaz, voraz | Same in masc./fem. |
| -l | fácil, útil, amável, ágil, frágil, leal, cruel | Same in masc./fem. |
| -r | maior, menor, melhor, pior, superior, exterior | Same in masc./fem. |
| -m | comum, jovem, ruim | Same in masc./fem. |
| -s | simples | Invariable entirely |
O avô está feliz e a avó também está feliz.
Grandpa is happy and grandma is also happy.
É um exercício fácil, mas a prova é ainda mais fácil.
It's an easy exercise, but the test is even easier.
O meu irmão mais velho é jovem, mas a minha irmã é ainda mais jovem.
My older brother is young, but my sister is even younger.
Nationality and origin adjectives
Adjectives of nationality are a big exception: they do inflect for gender, and they follow specific patterns.
-ês → -esa: the typical nationality pattern. The masculine carries a circumflex that disappears in the feminine (because the vowel is no longer word-final).
| Masculine | Feminine | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| português | portuguesa | Portuguese |
| inglês | inglesa | English |
| francês | francesa | French |
| holandês | holandesa | Dutch |
| japonês | japonesa | Japanese |
| chinês | chinesa | Chinese |
O meu marido é português e eu sou inglesa.
My husband is Portuguese and I am English.
-ão → -ã (the pattern also seen in mão, irmã):
| Masculine | Feminine | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| alemão | alemã | German |
| são | sã | healthy, sound |
| catalão | catalã | Catalan |
| bretão | bretã | Breton |
O meu colega alemão casou-se com uma alemã da Baviera.
My German colleague married a German woman from Bavaria.
Nationalities ending in -ol also inflect: espanhol/espanhola. Those ending in an unstressed -a or -e (and not built from an inflecting pattern like -ês or -ão) are typically invariable: belga (m. and f.), croata (m. and f.), árabe (m. and f.), maia (m. and f.). Portuguese nationality adjectives ending in -o follow the regular -o/-a pattern and do inflect: canadiano/canadiana, brasileiro/brasileira, italiano/italiana. The safe heuristic: if the masculine form ends in -o, -ês, -ão, or -ol, expect a distinct feminine; if it ends in -a, -e, or a shared consonant, expect the feminine to be identical.
Colour adjectives
Most colours follow the regular -o/-a pattern (branco/branca, preto/preta, vermelho/vermelha, amarelo/amarela, cinzento/cinzenta, castanho/castanha). Colours ending in -e or -l are invariable in gender (verde, azul). A distinct group of colour words, originally nouns, are fully invariable — no change for gender or number: cor-de-rosa (pink), laranja (orange), bege (beige), creme (cream), violeta, turquesa. See invariable adjectives for details.
A saia é cor-de-rosa e a camisola é laranja.
The skirt is pink and the sweater is orange.
Irregular gender pairs
A handful of high-frequency adjectives do not fit any clean pattern and must be memorised as a pair.
| Masculine | Feminine | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| bom | boa | good |
| mau | má | bad |
| nu | nua | naked |
| cru | crua | raw |
| são | sã | healthy, sound |
| judeu | judia | Jewish |
| europeu | europeia | European |
| ateu | ateia | atheist |
| plebeu | plebeia | plebeian |
Ele é um bom rapaz, e a irmã é uma boa pessoa também.
He's a good boy, and his sister is a good person too.
Não comas a carne crua — só o peixe é que se pode comer cru.
Don't eat raw meat — only fish can be eaten raw.
Agreement with complex subjects
When an adjective modifies two nouns of mixed gender, Portuguese uses the masculine plural as the resolved form — the same strategy as Spanish, French, and most other Romance languages.
O rapaz e a rapariga são altos e simpáticos.
The boy and the girl are tall and friendly.
O Pedro, a Maria e a Joana estão cansados depois da viagem.
Pedro, Maria, and Joana are tired after the trip.
When the nouns are all feminine, the adjective is feminine plural:
A Ana e a Sara estão contentes com o resultado.
Ana and Sara are pleased with the result.
Agreement with collective nouns
Collective nouns (a gente, a equipa, a polícia, a família) take a singular verb and a singular adjective that agrees with the grammatical gender of the noun, not with the people inside the collective. A gente is feminine singular, so the adjective is feminine singular, even when the gente in question is a roomful of men.
A gente desta aldeia é muito simpática.
The people in this village are very friendly.
A equipa portuguesa é fortíssima este ano.
The Portuguese team is very strong this year.
A família está toda preocupada com a avó.
The whole family is worried about grandma.
Common mistakes
❌ Ela é alto.
Incorrect — a feminine subject requires a feminine adjective.
✅ Ela é alta.
Correct.
❌ A minha mãe é português.
Incorrect — nationality adjectives inflect for gender.
✅ A minha mãe é portuguesa.
Correct: feminine form portuguesa.
❌ O meu amigo alemã veio visitar-me.
Incorrect — the feminine form -ã is used for a masculine noun.
✅ O meu amigo alemão veio visitar-me.
Correct: masculine alemão.
❌ A gente aqui são simpáticos.
Incorrect — a gente is feminine singular and takes a singular adjective.
✅ A gente aqui é simpática.
Correct.
❌ Ela é bom pessoa.
Incorrect — bom must become boa before a feminine noun.
✅ Ela é boa pessoa.
Correct: boa pessoa.
❌ O pai e a filha estão cansadas.
Incorrect — mixed gender resolves to masculine plural, not feminine plural.
✅ O pai e a filha estão cansados.
Correct.
Key takeaways
The default pattern is -o → -a. Adjectives ending in -e and most consonants (-z, -l, -r, -m, -s) are invariable in gender. Nationality adjectives in -ês and -ão inflect (português/portuguesa, alemão/alemã). A few irregulars — bom/boa, mau/má, nu/nua, europeu/europeia — have to be memorised. Mixed-gender subjects resolve to masculine plural; collective nouns keep the grammatical gender of the noun itself. And finally: the adjective agrees with the noun, not with you.
Related Topics
- Adjectives OverviewA1 — How adjectives work in European Portuguese: agreement, placement, types, comparison, and invariable forms.
- Adjective Number AgreementA1 — How to form the plural of Portuguese adjectives, including the tricky -l, -ês, -ão, and accented endings.
- Nationality AdjectivesA1 — How to form and use adjectives of nationality and origin in European Portuguese — patterns by ending, agreement rules, PT-PT vs. BR differences, and capitalisation.
- Grammatical Gender BasicsA1 — Every Portuguese noun is either masculine or feminine — a grammatical category, not a biological one, that controls the shape of articles, adjectives, and participles around it.
- Gender Rules and PatternsA1 — The endings that reliably predict whether a Portuguese noun is masculine or feminine, with reliability scores so you know which rules you can trust and which ones need a second look.
- Gender ExceptionsA2 — The Portuguese nouns that break the -o/-a rule — feminine nouns in -o, masculine nouns in -a, epicene nouns, and the false cognates that trip up Spanish speakers.