Todos conhecem o herói.

In this sentence, todos means everyone or all people.

Literally, todos is the masculine plural form of todo. In real usage, it can refer to:

• a group of men
• a mixed-gender group
• people in general

So Todos conhecem o herói means Everyone knows the hero.

If you were talking only about women, you would normally say todas:

• Todas conhecem o herói. = All of them / all the women know the hero.

Because todos is grammatically plural, so the verb must also be plural.

Conhecer = to know
Present tense:

• eu conheço
• você/ele/ela conhece
• nós conhecemos
• vocês/eles/elas conhecem

Since todos corresponds to they / all people, the correct form is conhecem.

So:

• Todos conhece ❌
• Todos conhecem ✅

Portuguese often leaves out subject pronouns when the subject is already clear.

Here, todos itself is the subject, so there is no need to add eles:

• Todos conhecem o herói. = natural
• Eles todos conhecem o herói. = possible in some contexts, but not the basic neutral way to say it

Portuguese does this much more than English. English usually needs the subject pronoun, but Portuguese often does not.

Portuguese uses definite articles much more often than English.

O herói means the hero. The article o shows that the speaker is talking about a specific hero, or a hero understood in the context.

Without the article, herói would usually not sound right in this sentence:

• Todos conhecem o herói. ✅
• Todos conhecem herói. ❌ in normal usage

So if English says Everyone knows the hero, Portuguese naturally says Todos conhecem o herói.

The acute accent in herói shows the stressed syllable.

It is pronounced roughly like:

• he-RÓI

The accent tells you that the stress falls on rói, not on he.

So:

• herói → stress on the last part
• singular: o herói
• plural: os heróis

The accent is important in writing because it helps show correct pronunciation and stress.

A rough Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation is:

co-NHE-cem

A few important points:

• nh sounds like the ny in canyon
• the final -em in Brazilian Portuguese is nasal
• the stress is on nhe

So conhecem sounds approximately like: ko-NYE-seyng / ko-NYE-sem
depending on how simplified you want to make it for English speakers

The most important thing is:

• nh is not like English n + h
• it is one sound: ny

This is a very common question.

Both conhecer and saber can mean to know, but they are used differently.

Use conhecer for:

• being familiar with a person
• knowing a place
• being acquainted with something

Use saber for:

• knowing a fact
• knowing information
• knowing how to do something

So:

• Conheço Maria. = I know Maria.
• Conheço o Rio de Janeiro. = I know Rio de Janeiro / I’m familiar with it.
• Sei a resposta. = I know the answer.
• Sei nadar. = I know how to swim.

In Todos conhecem o herói, the idea is that everyone is familiar with that hero, so conhecer is the natural verb.

Yes, absolutely.

Todo mundo conhece o herói is very common in Brazilian Portuguese and often sounds more natural in everyday speech than Todos conhecem o herói.

Both mean basically the same thing:

• Todos conhecem o herói.
• Todo mundo conhece o herói.

The difference is mostly style:

• todos can sound a little more direct or slightly more formal depending on context
• todo mundo is very common and conversational

Notice the verb change:

• todos conhecem → plural
• todo mundo conhece → singular, because todo mundo is treated as singular

Yes, but Todos conhecem o herói is the most neutral and straightforward order.

This is the standard pattern:

subject + verb + object

• Todos
  • conhecem
    • o herói

Other word orders are possible for emphasis, but they are less neutral:

• O herói todos conhecem. = The hero, everyone knows.
• Conhecem todos o herói. = unusual/literary

For learners, the safest order is: Todos conhecem o herói.

Yes. Todos is the masculine plural form.

In Portuguese, the masculine plural is used for:

• all-male groups
• mixed groups
• groups where gender is not specified

If the group is entirely female, use todas:

• Todas conhecem o herói.

So:

• todos = all of them / everyone, masculine or mixed
• todas = all of them, feminine only

Yes, herói is a common noun meaning hero.

Its forms are:

• singular: o herói
• plural: os heróis

Examples:

• O herói chegou. = The hero arrived.
• Os heróis chegaram. = The heroes arrived.

This noun has an irregular-looking plural for English speakers, so it is worth memorizing:

• herói → heróis

Yes, it is grammatically correct and natural.

That said, in everyday Brazilian Portuguese, many speakers would very often say:

• Todo mundo conhece o herói.

But Todos conhecem o herói is still perfectly natural, especially in:

• writing
• narration
• more neutral or slightly formal speech

So as a learner, you can safely use it.