Todos podem entrar, exceto você.

Breakdown of Todos podem entrar, exceto você.

você
you
poder
to be able to
todos
all
entrar
to enter
exceto
except

Questions & Answers about Todos podem entrar, exceto você.

Why is it todos and not todo?

Todos is plural, meaning everyone / all people in this sentence.

  • todo = every / whole / each, usually used with a singular noun, as in todo dia = every day
  • todos = all / everyone, plural

Here, todos is standing by itself and means all people or everyone, so the plural form is needed.

Examples:

  • Todo aluno precisa estudar. = Every student needs to study.
  • Todos podem entrar. = Everyone can come in.
Why is the verb podem and not pode?

Because the subject is todos, which is plural.

Portuguese verbs change form depending on the subject:

  • eu posso
  • você/ele/ela pode
  • nós podemos
  • vocês/eles/elas podem

Since todos is equivalent to eles in number, the correct form is podem.

So:

  • Todos podem entrar. not
  • Todos pode entrar.
Why is entrar in the infinitive?

After the verb poder = can / to be able to, Portuguese normally uses another verb in the infinitive.

So the structure is:

  • poder + infinitive

Examples:

  • Posso sair. = I can leave.
  • Ela pode falar. = She can speak.
  • Todos podem entrar. = Everyone can come in.

That is why you get podem entrar, not a conjugated second verb.

What exactly does exceto mean?

Exceto means except.

It introduces an exception to what was just said:

  • Todos podem entrar, exceto você. = Everyone can come in, except you.

It is a fairly standard and neutral word. It can sound a little more formal than some everyday alternatives, depending on context.

Other examples:

  • Todos vieram, exceto Ana. = Everyone came, except Ana.
  • Eu gosto de tudo, exceto café. = I like everything except coffee.
Is exceto você the most natural way to say this in Brazilian Portuguese?

It is correct and natural, but in everyday spoken Brazilian Portuguese, many people would also say:

  • Todos podem entrar, menos você.
  • Todo mundo pode entrar, menos você.

These often sound a bit more conversational.

Very roughly:

  • exceto você = a little more neutral or slightly more formal
  • menos você = very common in speech

All are correct in the right context.

Why is it você and not tu?

Because você is the most widely used everyday word for you in much of Brazil.

Brazilian Portuguese varies by region:

  • In many places, people mostly use você
  • In some regions, people use tu
  • Some regions use both, with local differences in verb agreement

So exceto você is a very normal Brazilian Portuguese phrasing.

A version with tu would be:

  • Todos podem entrar, exceto tu.

But that sounds less standard for most learners focused on general Brazilian Portuguese.

Is você singular or plural here?

It is singular.

So exceto você means except you when speaking to one person.

If you were speaking to more than one person, you would normally say:

  • Todos podem entrar, exceto vocês. = Everyone can come in, except you all.
Why does você use third-person verb forms in Portuguese?

This is one of the most important things for English speakers to notice.

Even though você means you, it takes the same verb forms as ele/ela.

For example:

  • você pode
  • você entra
  • você quer

not

  • você podes
  • você entras

Historically, você developed from a longer expression, and in modern Portuguese it behaves grammatically like a third-person form.

So if the sentence were about one person:

  • Você pode entrar. = You can come in.
Can entrar mean both enter and come in?

Yes.

In this kind of context, entrar is often naturally translated as either:

  • enter
  • come in
  • sometimes go in, depending on perspective

So Todos podem entrar could be understood as:

  • Everyone may enter.
  • Everyone can come in.

English chooses the most natural wording for the situation, but Portuguese just uses entrar.

Is the comma necessary in Todos podem entrar, exceto você?

The comma is very natural here because exceto você is an exception phrase added after the main clause.

So this punctuation is standard and clear:

  • Todos podem entrar, exceto você.

In informal writing, people are sometimes inconsistent with commas, but for learners, using the comma here is a good habit.

Why is it todos and not todas?

Todos is the masculine plural form, but in Portuguese the masculine plural is also used for:

  • mixed groups of men and women
  • unspecified groups
  • groups referred to generally as people

So:

  • Todos podem entrar. = Everyone can come in.

You would use todas only if the group is entirely feminine or refers to feminine nouns:

  • Todas podem entrar. = All of you / all of them can come in.
    for a group of women, for example
Is todos here an adjective or a pronoun?

Here it works like a pronoun, because it stands alone and means everyone / all people.

Compare:

  • Todos podem entrar.
    Here todos stands by itself = everyone

  • Todos os alunos podem entrar.
    Here todos modifies os alunos, so it works more like a determiner/adjective phrase = all the students

This is a useful pattern to recognize.

Could I say todo mundo pode entrar instead?

Yes, absolutely.

Todo mundo pode entrar is very common in Brazilian Portuguese and often sounds very natural in speech.

Compare:

  • Todos podem entrar, exceto você.
  • Todo mundo pode entrar, exceto você.
  • Todo mundo pode entrar, menos você.

All are correct.
Very generally:

  • todos = slightly more compact, sometimes a bit more formal or written
  • todo mundo = very common and conversational
How would this sentence sound in a more formal context?

The sentence you have is already fine for neutral or slightly formal use:

  • Todos podem entrar, exceto você.

If you wanted something even more formal or polite, you might change the wording depending on context, for example:

  • Todos estão autorizados a entrar, exceto o senhor / a senhora.
  • A entrada é permitida a todos, exceto a você.

But in most real situations, your original sentence is already perfectly acceptable.

How is this sentence pronounced in Brazilian Portuguese?

A simple approximate pronunciation for English speakers is:

TOH-dos POH-deng en-TRAR, es-SEH-toh voh-SEH

A few notes:

  • todos: the first o is usually open, roughly TOH-dos
  • podem: in Brazilian Portuguese, the final -em often sounds like a nasal eng
  • entrar: stress is on the last syllable, en-TRAR
  • exceto: usually sounds like es-SEH-toh or is-SEH-toh, depending on accent
  • você: stress on the last syllable, voh-SEH
Can the sentence sound rude?

Yes, it can.

Grammatically, it is just a normal sentence. But pragmatically, saying Everyone can come in, except you can sound very direct, excluding, or even harsh.

Whether it sounds rude depends on:

  • tone of voice
  • context
  • relationship between speakers

For example:

  • as a joke among friends, it may be playful
  • in a serious setting, it may sound blunt or offensive

So the grammar is neutral, but the message can be strong.

How would I say the same thing to more than one person?

You would change você to vocês:

  • Todos podem entrar, exceto vocês.

If you wanted a more conversational version:

  • Todo mundo pode entrar, menos vocês.

So the key change is:

  • você = singular you
  • vocês = plural you all
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