Creating Nouns from Verbs

One of the most productive corners of Portuguese morphology is the set of suffixes that convert verbs into nouns. A verb like construir gives you construção; conhecer gives you conhecimento; trabalhar gives you trabalho and trabalhador. Each suffix has its own temperament — one prefers actions, one prefers results, one prefers agents — and knowing the tendencies lets you understand words you have never seen and even coin plausible new ones.

This page lays out the main patterns for deriving nouns from verbs, with guidance on when each suffix is preferred and where the pitfalls lie. At B2 this is partly a vocabulary-expansion tool and partly a way of making sense of the huge stock of abstract nouns you will meet in news, fiction, and academic writing.

The big two: -ção and -mento

By far the two most common deverbal suffixes are -ção (and its variant -são) and -mento. They both typically form nouns that name the action or result of a verb, and they overlap in meaning more than either would like. The wrong choice sounds wrong to native speakers but is rarely ambiguous.

-ção / -são — action or result

-ção is the single most productive deverbal suffix in Portuguese. It attaches to verbs of all three conjugations, though it is most at home with -ar verbs. The result is always feminine.

The variant -são appears when the verb stem ends in a sound that resists the -ção form: decidir → decisão, discutir → discussão, confundir → confusão, compreender → compreensão.

-mento — result or process

-mento also forms action/result nouns but leans toward processes, results, and internal states. It attaches to verbs of all three conjugations and is always masculine.

-ção vs -mento: which one?

If both suffixes could in principle attach to a verb, which wins? There is no iron rule, but several strong tendencies.

Some verbs allow both forms with distinct meanings. Tratar gives tratamento (treatment, ongoing) and does not normally give tração (though atração exists from atrair). Pagar gives pagamento (payment) and not pagação. Most verbs pick one suffix and stick with it — learn the form, don't try to coin your own.

English speakers often default to -ção because of the resemblance to English -tion. This gets you a lot of correct guesses (construction → construção, decision → decisão, creation → criação) but fails for words where Portuguese prefers -mento (English development → desenvolvimento, not desenvolvição; knowledge → conhecimento, not conhecição).

Agent nouns: -dor / -dora

The suffix -dor (feminine -dora) attaches to verbs to form agent nouns — the person or thing that performs the action. This parallels English -er/-or (teacher, actor, worker).

A parallel suffix, -tor / -sor, gives agent nouns for many verbs of Latin origin: escrever → escritor (writer), professar → professor (professor), inventar → inventor (inventor), dirigir → diretor (director), compor → compositor (composer). Historically these are the same suffix with a different phonological shape, but for learners it helps to treat -tor/-sor as a separate list.

-dor can also mark instruments — a machine or device that performs the action: aspirar → aspirador (vacuum cleaner), gravar → gravador (recorder), computar → computador (computer), misturar → misturador (mixer).

Abstract quality: -ância / -ência

The suffixes -ância and -ência attach (mostly to Latinate verbs) to form abstract nouns that name the quality or state associated with the verb's action. They are always feminine.

Note that some -ância / -ência nouns look deverbal but are really built from adjectives in -ante / -ente: importante → importância, distante → distância, presente → presença. The historical path runs through the adjective, but synchronically learners can treat them as connected to the verb.

Zero-derivation: the verb's built-in noun

Many Portuguese verbs have a cognate noun with minimal morphology — often just the verb stem plus a vowel ending, or the past participle feminine, or something very close. This is sometimes called zero-derivation or back-formation, and it is extremely common for high-frequency verbs.

These short deverbal nouns tend to be more concrete and countable than the longer -ção/-mento forms. Um grito is a single shout you can count; o gritar (infinitive as noun, see below) names the activity in the abstract. Uma chegada is a specific arrival; a chegada with the article can mean "the act of arriving" generically.

The infinitive as noun

Any Portuguese infinitive can be used as a masculine noun by simply putting the definite article in front of it. The result names the activity itself, in the most abstract possible way.

This construction is productive — you can form an infinitive-noun from any verb. It sounds slightly literary or meditative, and it competes with the -mento or -ção noun when one exists. O pensar (the activity of thinking, as a process in the moment) differs subtly from o pensamento (a thought or a body of thought). O acordar is more immediate and experiential than o acordamento (which barely exists — you would use o despertar, another infinitive-noun).

For the full rules, including personal infinitive uses, see The Infinitive as Noun.

-agem on verbs — a minor pattern

The suffix -agem attaches to verb stems to form nouns with a flavour of process, activity, or collective result. It is less productive than -ção or -mento but still common, and shows up especially in industrial, domestic, and transport vocabulary.

-agem nouns are always feminine.

Reference: which suffix when?

This table summarises the typical flavour of each suffix. It is a guide, not a rule — for any specific verb, you must check the actual form.

Common mistakes

Mistake 1: Defaulting to -ção because English has -tion.

When English has a verb ending in -op, -ow, or -ch (develop, grow, teach), Portuguese tends to use -mento, not -ção. English -tion usually maps to -ção; English -ment usually maps to -mento.

Mistake 2: Wrong gender on a correct suffix.

Remember: -ção, -são, -ância, -ência, -agem are feminine; -mento is masculine.

Mistake 3: Coining a nonexistent deverbal noun.

Not every verb has every possible derived noun. Gostar doesn't give gostação (use o gosto). Querer doesn't give querição (use a vontade or the infinitive o querer). When in doubt, check — don't invent.

Mistake 4: Confusing the -mento noun with the past participle.

Past participle desenvolvido goes with ser/ter; noun desenvolvimento takes an article. They sound similar but play completely different grammatical roles.

Mistake 5: Using the infinitive-as-noun when a regular noun exists.

The infinitive-as-noun is available but sounds literary. If a common -mento or -ção form exists, prefer it in ordinary prose.

Key takeaways

• The two biggest deverbal suffixes are -ção / -são (feminine) and -mento (masculine).
• -ção tends toward bounded actions and concrete results; -mento toward processes and abstract outcomes.
• -dor / -tor / -sor forms agent and instrument nouns.
• -ância / -ência forms abstract quality nouns from mostly Latinate verbs.
• Zero-derivation produces short, countable, everyday nouns: chegada, beijo, olhar.
• The infinitive-as-noun (o acordar, o dormir) is available for any verb but sounds literary.
• English speakers' biggest error is defaulting to -ção; Portuguese often prefers -mento where English has -ment.