Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Brazil): Meu irmão adora filmes engraçados, mas odeia histórias muito inteligentes e sérias. - My brother loves funny movies, but hates very intelligent and serious stories.

In European Portuguese, o meu irmão is much more standard.
So in Brazil, you can safely say either, but Meu irmão is very typical and sounds natural.

Why is it adora instead of something like gosta de?

Both exist, but they’re slightly different:

Meu irmão gosta de filmes engraçados.
= My brother likes funny movies.
Meu irmão adora filmes engraçados.
= My brother loves funny movies (stronger feeling).

Adorar is usually stronger than gostar de, similar to English love vs like.
Grammatically:

adorar takes a direct object:
adora filmes engraçados
gostar usually needs de:
gosta de filmes engraçados

Why is it filmes engraçados and not engraçado filmes?

In Portuguese (unlike English), adjectives almost always come after the noun:

filmes engraçados = funny movies
histórias inteligentes e sérias = intelligent and serious stories

The normal pattern is:

noun + adjective(s)

You can sometimes put the adjective before the noun for stylistic or poetic reasons, but the neutral, everyday order is noun first, then adjective.

Why are both words plural in filmes engraçados?

Portuguese requires agreement in gender and number between nouns and adjectives:

filme (singular) → engraçado
filmes (plural) → engraçados

So:

um filme engraçado = one funny movie
dois filmes engraçados = two funny movies

The -s on the noun (filmes) and on the adjective (engraçados) must match.

Does engraçado mean “funny” or “fun”?

Mostly engraçado = funny, in the sense of makes you laugh.

Examples:

um filme engraçado = a funny movie
uma piada engraçada = a funny joke

For fun (enjoyable), Brazilians usually prefer divertido:

um filme divertido = a fun / entertaining movie

So:

engraçado → makes you laugh
divertido → entertaining / fun

What exactly does odeia mean, and which verb is it from?

Odeia is the ele / ela / você (he/she/you) form of the verb odiar (to hate):

eu odeio – I hate
você / ele / ela odeia – you / he / she hates
nós odiamos – we hate
vocês / eles / elas odeiam – you all / they hate

So Meu irmão odeia... = My brother hates...

Why is there a comma before mas?

In Portuguese, you normally put a comma before mas when it introduces a contrast, similar to but in English:

Meu irmão adora filmes engraçados, mas odeia histórias...

This is standard punctuation:

Gosto de café, mas não gosto de chá.
Ela estudou muito, mas não passou.

So the comma before mas is not optional here; it’s part of normal written style.

What does histórias mean here? Actual “stories” or something like “plots”?

Literally, histórias = stories.

In the context of movies, histórias can refer to:

actual stories (narratives in general)
the kind of stories/plots that movies have

So odeia histórias muito inteligentes e sérias is like saying: > he hates very clever, serious stories / plots

It doesn’t have to be written stories; it can be the narrative content of films, books, etc.

Why is it histórias muito inteligentes e sérias and not muitas inteligentes?

Muito here is an adverb modifying the adjectives inteligentes and sérias:

muito inteligente = very intelligent
muito sério = very serious

As an adverb, muito is invariable: it doesn’t change for gender or number.

Compare:

muito inteligente / muito inteligentes (same form, because it’s an adverb)
muitas histórias (here muitas is an adjective meaning “many” → it agrees)

So:

muito inteligente = very intelligent
muitas histórias = many stories

In the sentence, muito = very, not many.

Why are there two adjectives in a row: inteligentes e sérias? Is that normal?

Yes, it’s completely normal to have more than one adjective after a noun:

histórias inteligentes e sérias
= intelligent and serious stories

Order is flexible, but often reflects nuance or style. Here:

histórias inteligentes e sérias
histórias sérias e inteligentes

Both are grammatically correct; the original just happens to put inteligentes first.

What’s the difference between inteligentes and espertas?

Both relate to intelligence, but they’re used differently:

inteligente = intelligent, smart (general intelligence, thoughtful, complex ideas)
esperto can mean:
- clever, quick-witted
- street-smart
- sometimes even sly or tricky, depending on context

In the sentence, histórias muito inteligentes e sérias suggests complex, brainy, thought‑provoking stories, not just characters who are clever.

Can I say Meu irmão ama filmes engraçados instead of adora?

You can, and it’s grammatically correct:

Meu irmão ama filmes engraçados.

Nuance:

amar is usually strongest: to love (people, things you’re passionate about)
adorar is also strong, but is very commonly used for things (music, food, films, etc.)

In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, adorar is extremely frequent for tastes and preferences.
Amar for movies is fine, but adorar sounds a bit more natural here.

How do you pronounce irmão and what does the ã and ão mean?

Irmão (brother) is pronounced roughly like:
[eer-MOWN] (with a nasal own sound).

The ã and ão indicate nasal vowels:

ã – nasal a sound
ão – nasal diphthong, something like ow in own, but nasalized

The tilde (~) over the vowel is what marks nasalization: ã and õ.
So irmão is not ir-mao with two clear syllables; the final ão is a single nasal sound.