Coordinating Conjunctions (E, Ou, Mas, Nem)

Coordinating conjunctions (conjunções coordenativas) are the four little words that join two units of equal weight: e (and), ou (or), mas (but), and nem (nor / neither). Nothing in Portuguese conversation works without them. A day without e or mas would be a day without sentences longer than five words.

They are also, by grammatical pedigree, the simplest conjunctions in Portuguese: they do not trigger the subjunctive, they do not change clitic position, and their meaning is nearly always predictable from English. The real work, then, is learning the things an English speaker does not expect: when e drops into nem, where to put the comma, how também differs from e também, and why PT-PT speakers pronounce e as if it were [i].

E — the copulative

E means "and" and does the basic job of stitching together parallel elements — nouns, adjectives, verbs, or entire clauses.

Comprei pão e queijo no supermercado.

I bought bread and cheese at the supermarket.

Ela é inteligente e simpática.

She is smart and friendly.

Abri a porta e entrei.

I opened the door and went in.

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In European Portuguese, e is usually pronounced [i], not [e]. Pão e queijo sounds like pão i queijo. This is one of the clearest giveaways of PT-PT pronunciation versus Brazilian, which tends to keep a fuller [e] vowel. Do not write i — it is always e — but hearing it helps you parse fast speech.

Repeated e for emphasis

Repeating e in a list is a stylistic choice that piles on emphasis, a device called polissíndeto. English does the same thing with "and ... and ... and."

Chegou, sentou-se, e comeu, e bebeu, e ainda por cima não pagou a conta.

He arrived, sat down, and ate, and drank, and on top of it all didn't pay the bill.

Writers use this to slow down the reader and give a sense of accumulation. In speech, the same effect appears when someone is listing complaints.

E becoming nem

Here is a subtlety that trips up English speakers: in a negative context, Portuguese usually replaces e with nem. English says "I don't drink coffee and I don't drink tea"; Portuguese almost always says Não bebo café nem chá, not Não bebo café e não bebo chá.

Não tenho tempo nem paciência para isso.

I have no time and no patience for that.

Ele não lê nem escreve bem.

He neither reads nor writes well.

The rule of thumb: in a negative clause, nem is the neutral word; e não is possible but feels heavier and more contrastive.

Ou — the alternative

Ou means "or" and offers a choice between alternatives.

Queres chá ou café?

Would you like tea or coffee?

Podemos ir de carro ou apanhar o comboio.

We can go by car or catch the train.

Ou...ou — the "either...or" pattern

Doubling ou at the front of each option sharpens the contrast and forces the listener to pick one. This matches English "either ... or."

Ou falas com ele hoje, ou esqueces o assunto.

Either you talk to him today, or you drop the matter.

Ou pagas tu, ou pago eu — não há outra hipótese.

Either you pay, or I pay — there's no other option.

Near-synonyms: ora...ora, quer...quer, seja...seja

These paired alternatives convey a slightly different meaning — "sometimes ... sometimes" (ora...ora), "whether ... or" (quer...quer, seja...seja), and sit in a slightly more literary register.

Ora ri, ora chora — está completamente instável.

One moment she laughs, the next she cries — she's completely unstable.

Quer chova, quer faça sol, vou à praia.

Whether it rains or shines, I'm going to the beach. (formal; note subjunctive)

Mas — the basic adversative

Mas means "but" and is the everyday marker of contrast. It is a coordinating conjunction in traditional grammar, but it belongs to the adversative family — see the dedicated adversative page for its formal cousins porém, contudo, and todavia.

Gosto do filme, mas o livro é melhor.

I like the film, but the book is better.

Tentei ligar-lhe, mas não atendeu.

I tried to call him, but he didn't answer.

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Unlike porém or contudo, mas almost always starts its clause and does not float to mid-position. O filme, mas, é bom would sound broken; the formal adversatives can float, while mas cannot.

Nem — negative coordination

Nem does the work of "nor" or "neither." It coordinates two negative elements, often in the pattern nem ... nem ("neither ... nor").

Nem o João nem a Maria vieram.

Neither João nor Maria came.

Não gosto nem de cinema nem de teatro.

I like neither cinema nor theatre.

Nem penses nisso.

Don't even think about it. (colloquial, fixed expression)

The second nem can also carry a stronger meaning — "not even" — when it introduces a single element:

Nem sequer me disse olá.

He didn't even say hi to me.

Estava tão cansada que nem consegui ler uma página.

I was so tired I couldn't even read a page.

Semi-coordinators: também, tão-pouco, bem como

Beyond the four canonical conjunctions, Portuguese has a small set of semi-coordinators — words that function like conjunctions but do not always appear at the clause boundary.

Também (also, too)

Também is the positive addition marker. It usually sits between the subject and the verb, or just after the verb. Its negative counterpart is também não ("...not either").

A Ana fala espanhol. O irmão também fala.

Ana speaks Spanish. Her brother also speaks (it).

Não gosto de peixe. — Também não gosto.

I don't like fish. — I don't either.

Tão-pouco / tampouco (neither, either — negative)

Tão-pouco (PT-PT preferred spelling, often written tampouco too) is a literary equivalent of também não, meaning "neither" or "not ... either." The one-word tampouco is slightly more common today, though both are accepted; careful writers and the Dicionário da Academia keep the hyphenated tão-pouco. Reserve it for writing.

Não gosto dele. Tão-pouco da mulher dele.

I don't like him. Nor his wife. (literary)

Ele não apareceu à reunião e tampouco avisou que faltava.

He didn't show up to the meeting, nor did he let us know he'd be missing. (semi-formal)

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Do not confuse the conjunction tão-pouco ("neither") with the adverb phrase tão pouco ("so little," two words). Ganha tão pouco dinheiro = "he earns so little money"; tão-pouco ganha muito = "neither does he earn much." The hyphen (or absence of space in tampouco) is the visual signal.

Bem como (as well as)

Bem como links a second element to the first with a slightly formal tone — common in written Portuguese, in legal and journalistic style.

Assinaram o acordo o presidente, bem como os dois ministros.

The president signed the agreement, as well as the two ministers. (formal)

Foram convidados os alunos do 9.º ano, bem como os professores.

The 9th-year students were invited, as well as the teachers.

Near-synonyms: assim como, tal como.

Punctuation rules

Portuguese punctuation around coordinating conjunctions is looser than English, but a few clear rules help:

  • No comma before e / ou / nem when only two elements are joined: pão e queijo, café ou chá, nem água nem pão.
  • Comma before e / ou when subjects differ or the clauses are long: O João saiu cedo, e a Maria ficou mais uma hora.
  • Comma in enumerations of three or more items: pão, queijo, e fruta — though the Oxford-style comma before the final e is optional and often omitted in PT-PT: pão, queijo e fruta is equally correct.
  • Comma before mas is the norm: Queria sair, mas estava a chover.
  • No comma after the conjunction itself: Não, mas gosto (not Não, mas, gosto).

Comprei maçãs, peras e laranjas no mercado.

I bought apples, pears and oranges at the market. (no final comma before *e*)

O comboio partiu às oito, e a estação ficou vazia.

The train left at eight, and the station emptied. (comma — subjects differ)

Chove, mas vou sair na mesma.

It's raining, but I'm going out anyway. (comma before *mas*)

Coordinating in dialogue vs narrative

Coordinating conjunctions are where speech and writing look most alike. In rapid conversation, speakers happily chain clause after clause with e and mas; in narrative prose, writers use the same devices but set them off with commas and sometimes full stops to control pacing.

— Liguei-lhe, mas não atendeu. E tu? — Eu nem tentei.

— I called him, but he didn't answer. And you? — I didn't even try. (dialogue)

Entrou em casa, fechou a porta e suspirou. Não tinha energia para mais nada.

He went into the house, closed the door, and sighed. He had no energy for anything else. (narrative — coordinated actions in sequence)

Common mistakes

❌ Não tenho tempo e não tenho paciência.

Stylistically awkward — Portuguese prefers *nem* in negative coordination.

✅ Não tenho tempo nem paciência.

I have neither the time nor the patience.

❌ Queres chá, ou café?

Over-punctuation — no comma before *ou* between two options.

✅ Queres chá ou café?

Would you like tea or coffee?

❌ Também, não gosto.

Wrong — no comma between *também* and the verb it modifies.

✅ Também não gosto.

I don't like it either.

❌ Ele é inteligente, mas, é preguiçoso.

Over-punctuation — no comma after *mas*.

✅ Ele é inteligente, mas é preguiçoso.

He's smart, but he's lazy.

❌ Nem o João, nem a Maria, vieram.

Over-punctuation — no commas around *nem ... nem* in a short list.

✅ Nem o João nem a Maria vieram.

Neither João nor Maria came.

Key takeaways

  • The four canonical coordinators are e, ou, mas, nem — memorise them as a set.
  • In negative contexts, nem replaces e não: não bebo café nem chá.
  • The paired patterns ou...ou and nem...nem sharpen the contrast between alternatives or negated items.
  • Também adds positively; também não (or literary tão-pouco / tampouco) adds negatively.
  • Portuguese uses no comma before e, ou, nem in simple two-item coordination, but adds a comma when subjects differ or in long enumerations.
  • In PT-PT, e usually sounds like [i] — not a spelling rule, but useful for listening.

Related Topics

  • Conjunctions OverviewA2 — Words that connect clauses and sentences in Portuguese — from simple *e* and *mas* to the formal *uma vez que* and *dado que*.
  • Adversative Conjunctions (Mas, Porém, Contudo, Todavia)A2 — Expressing contrast and opposition in Portuguese — from the everyday *mas* to the formal *porém*, *contudo*, *todavia*, and *não obstante*.
  • Addition MarkersA2 — Connectors for adding information, enumerating, and intensifying — from everyday *também* to formal *além disso* and emphatic *ainda por cima*.
  • Compound SentencesA2 — Two or more independent clauses joined by coordinating conjunctions like e, mas, ou, porém — each side could stand alone as its own sentence.
  • Correlative Conjunctions (Não só… mas também, Ou… ou)B1 — Paired conjunctions that work together — não só… mas também, tanto… como, nem… nem, ou… ou, ora… ora, quer… quer — with agreement rules and PT-PT stylistic notes.