Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Brazil): Eu amo minha família.

Emphasize who loves the family (e.g., Eu amo minha família, mas ele não – I love my family, but he doesn’t).
Add clarity in a longer or more complex context.

What is “amo”, and what is the infinitive form of this verb?

“Amo” is the first person singular (I) form of the verb “amar” in the present tense.

Infinitive: amar = to love
Conjugation (present indicative, singular):
- Eu amo – I love
- Você/Ele/Ela ama – You/He/She loves
- Nós amamos – We love
- Vocês/Eles/Elas amam – You (pl.)/They love

So “amo” literally means “I love”.

What’s the difference between “amar” and “gostar (de)”? Could I say “Eu gosto da minha família” instead?

Both are correct but have different nuances:

Amar = to love in a stronger, more emotional sense.
- Eu amo minha família. – I love my family. (deep affection)
Gostar de = to like, or to be fond of.
- Eu gosto da minha família. – I like my family / I’m fond of my family.

With family, “amar” is very common and natural in Brazilian Portuguese, just like in English.

Note the structure with gostar:

gostar + de + definite article:
- gosto da minha família (de + a = da)

With amar, you do not need de:

amo minha família (no preposition)

Why is it “minha” and not “meu”?

In Portuguese, possessive adjectives agree in gender and number with the thing possessed, not with the person who possesses it.

família is feminine singular.
The feminine singular possessive for eu (I) is minha.

So:

minha família – my family
If it were a masculine noun: meu pai – my father

Other examples with eu:

minha casa (feminine) – my house
meu carro (masculine) – my car

Is it necessary to say “minha”? Could I just say “Eu amo a família”?

“Eu amo minha família” and “Eu amo a minha família” are both natural:

Eu amo minha família. – I love my family.
Eu amo a minha família. – I love my family. (slight extra emphasis, feels a bit more specific/affectionate in many contexts)

But “Eu amo a família” usually means:

I love the family (some particular family that has already been mentioned or is understood from context),
not necessarily your own family.

To clearly say “my family”, use minha família (with or without the article a in front).

Can I change the word order, like “Eu amo família minha” or “Eu família amo”?

No. In everyday Portuguese, you cannot move the words around like that.

The normal and correct word order here is:

Subject – Verb – Object – Possessive
→ Eu amo minha família.

Two important points:

The possessive comes before the noun:
- ✅ minha família
- ❌ família minha (this sounds poetic or old-fashioned; normally avoid it)
The verb “amo” should stay in the middle like in English:
- ✅ Eu amo minha família.
- ❌ Eu família amo.

You can drop “Eu”:

✅ Amo minha família.

What does the accent in “família” mean, and how do I pronounce the word?

The accent mark in família (on the í) shows:

Stress: the stressed syllable is MÍ.
Vowel quality: the í is a closed “ee” sound, like in English “see”.

Syllable breakdown: fa-MÍ-li-a

Approximate pronunciation in Brazilian Portuguese:

fa – like “fa” in “father” (shorter)
mí – like “mee” in “meet” (stressed)
li – like “lee”
a – a short, unstressed “uh/ah” sound at the end

Also note the “lh” sound in família:

lh = similar to the “lli” in “million”, but cleaner.
Your tongue touches the palate, producing a palatal “ly” sound.

So: fa-MEE-lya (rough English approximation).

What exactly does “família” refer to? Only close family or also extended family?

“Família” can mean either close family or extended family, depending on context—just like “family” in English.

Often it means parents + children:
- Vou viajar com a minha família. – I’m going to travel with my family.
It can also include grandparents, uncles, cousins, etc., if that’s what you’re talking about.

To be more specific, you can say:

família próxima / família nuclear – immediate/nuclear family
família inteira / família toda – the whole family

Is “amo” used in the same way Brazilians say “I love you”?

To say “I love you”, Brazilians normally say:

Eu te amo. (most common in speech)
Te amo. (dropping eu is fine)

So “amo” is the same verb, but now with an explicit object “te” (you).

Compare:

Eu amo minha família. – I love my family.
Eu te amo. – I love you.

Note the word order in Brazil:

Eu te amo (not Eu amo te).

How would I say “We love our family” in Portuguese?

You need to change both the subject and the possessive:

Nós amamos nossa família. – We love our family.

Breakdown:

Nós – we
amamos – we love (1st person plural of amar)
nossa – our (feminine singular, agreeing with família)
família – family

You can also drop “Nós”:

Amamos nossa família. – We love our family.

Is there a reflexive form like in Spanish (“me amo”)? Does “Eu amo minha família” have anything reflexive?

“Eu amo minha família” is not reflexive.
It’s a standard subject–verb–object sentence:

Eu (subject)
amo (verb)
minha família (object)

If you want to say “I love myself”, you would use the reflexive pronoun:

Eu me amo. – I love myself.

So:

Eu amo minha família. – I love my family.
Eu me amo. – I love myself.

The little word “me” is what makes it reflexive.

Is “amar” a regular verb, and how does it conjugate in the present?

Yes, amar is a regular -ar verb.
Present indicative:

Eu amo – I love
Tu amas – You love (informal tu, mainly in some regions; not very common in most of Brazil)
Você ama – You love (standard in Brazil)
Ele/Ela ama – He/She loves
Nós amamos – We love
Vocês amam – You (plural) love
Eles/Elas amam – They love

The pattern is the same as other regular -ar verbs like falar (to speak), estudar (to study).

Is “Eu amo minha família” formal, informal, or neutral?

“Eu amo minha família” is neutral and can be used in almost any context:

Casual conversation
Social media posts
Writing (letters, essays, speeches)

It’s emotionally strong (like English “I love my family”), but not informal or slang. It’s standard, correct Portuguese.