Este filme é curto.

Both este and esse mean something like this/that in English, but there is a traditional distance difference:

• este = this, something close to the speaker
• esse = that, something close to the listener or not very far from either

In real Brazilian Portuguese, especially in speech, this distinction is often not followed strictly:

• Many Brazilians use esse most of the time for both this and that.
• este sounds a bit more formal or is more common in written language (texts, essays, manuals, etc.).

Using Este filme é curto is perfectly correct and perhaps a bit more neutral or “textbooky”. In everyday conversation, you’d very often hear:

• Esse filme é curto.

Because filme is a masculine noun in Portuguese.

Demonstratives must agree in gender and number with the noun:

• Masculine singular: este filme, esse carro, aquele livro
• Feminine singular: esta casa, essa mesa, aquela porta
• Masculine plural: estes filmes, esses carros
• Feminine plural: estas casas, essas mesas

So you say:

• este filme (this film/movie)
  not
• esta filme (incorrect, gender mismatch)

In Portuguese, the default position for most adjectives is after the noun:

• filme curto (short film)
• livro interessante (interesting book)
• casa grande (big house)

So Este filme é curto follows the normal pattern: noun + adjective.

You can put some adjectives before the noun, but it often:

• sounds more literary or emphatic, or
• slightly changes the meaning

For curto, putting it before the noun (um curto filme) is unusual and sounds off in modern Brazilian Portuguese. You normally keep it after:

• um filme curto ✅
• um curto filme ❌ (sounds odd/overly poetic at best)

Portuguese has two verbs that correspond to to be:

• ser (here: é) – used for inherent, more permanent qualities or definitions.
• estar (here: está) – used for temporary states or conditions.

The length of a movie is seen as an inherent characteristic of that movie:

• Este filme é curto. = The film’s length is short as a defining quality.

Está curto can be used in other contexts with curto, especially for clothes or hair, where “too short” is usually implied and can change over time:

• Minha calça está curta. = My pants are (too) short (for me) now.
• Meu cabelo está curto. = My hair is short now (but it can grow).

For a movie’s duration, é curto is the natural choice.

Curto means short in the sense of short length or short duration:

Common uses of curto:

• um filme curto – a short movie
• um texto curto – a short text
• um caminho curto – a short path
• cabelo curto – short hair

Other “short” words:

• baixo – short/low in height:

  • uma pessoa baixa – a short person
  • uma parede baixa – a low wall

• pequeno – small (general size), not usually for time:

  • um livro pequeno – a small book (physically or in amount of content)

You would not normally say:

• um filme baixo ❌
• um filme pequeno ❓ (possible in some contexts, but sounds more like “a small(-scale) movie”, not simply “short in duration”)

For length/duration of a movie, curto is the natural choice.

Yes, both are correct, but they have slightly different focuses:

1. Este filme é curto.

   • Focus: this specific film (pointing, or just mentioned in conversation).

2. O filme é curto.

   • More like The film is short, referring to a previously known film (context already clear).
   • No demonstrative; just the film.

3. Este é um filme curto.

   • Literally: This is a short film.
   • Structure: Este (this) = pronoun, then you identify it: um filme curto.
   • Slightly more explanatory or introducing: “This is a short film (as opposed to others).”

All three are grammatical; which you choose depends on context and emphasis.

Portuguese normally does not use a subject pronoun for “it” the way English does.

• English: It is short.
• Portuguese: (Ø) é curto. – but you practically never say this as a full sentence; you keep the subject (here, Este filme).

In Este filme é curto, the subject is already Este filme, so you don’t need it:

• You don’t say: Este filme ele é curto. ❌
• You just say: Este filme é curto. ✅

In general, Portuguese is a “pro‑drop” language: subject pronouns (I, you, he, she, it, we, they) can often be omitted when the verb ending shows who the subject is. But “it” as a dummy pronoun (like in It’s raining) simply doesn’t exist in Portuguese. You just say:

• Está chovendo. (literally “Is raining.”)

Approximate Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation (IPA):

• Este filme é curto → /ˈes.tʃi ˈfiw.mi ɛ ˈkuʁ.tu/

Tips:

• E in Este: like e in bed, but shorter: ES‑chi.
• st
  • i in este: sounds like shtch → ES‑tchi.
• filme: FIW‑mi (the l makes a w sound before a consonant).
• é: open ɛ, like e in bed.
• curto:
  • r is usually a guttural sound (like a French or “h‑like” R).
  • u like oo in food.
  • main stress on CUR: KOOʁ‑tu.

Natural, slow pronunciation:
ES‑tchi FIW‑mi É KOOʁ‑tu

You need to make both the demonstrative and the adjective plural and masculine, to agree with filmes:

• Estes filmes são curtos. – These movies are short.

Breakdown:

• estes – masculine plural of este
• filmes – plural of filme
• são – plural form of é (they are)
• curtos – masculine plural of curto

Common intensifiers with curto:

• muito curto – very short

  • Este filme é muito curto.

• bem curto – really / pretty short (very common, informal‑neutral)

  • O filme é bem curto.

• curtinho – “short-ish / rather short / quite short”, but often with a friendly or informal tone:

  • É um filme curtinho. – It’s a pretty short little film.

You’ll often hear combinations like:

• É bem curtinho. – It’s really quite short (and sounds friendly/casual).