Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Brazil): Esse filme famoso é longo.

este filme = this movie (physically close to the speaker)
esse filme = that movie (closer to the listener, or just mentioned in conversation)
aquele filme = that movie over there (far from both speaker and listener, or distant in time)

In everyday Brazilian Portuguese, the real usage is a bit looser:

esse is by far the most common form when pointing to or talking about something that’s present in the situation or context (for example, the movie that’s playing now, or the one on the screen).
este sounds more formal, written, or “careful”; it’s used a lot in written language (instructions, academic texts) and less in casual speech.
aquele keeps the meaning of something more distant (physically, in time, or in the conversation).

So Esse filme famoso é longo most naturally means “That movie (we’re talking about / seeing now) is long.” In speech, Brazilians will usually choose esse rather than este for this.

Why is there no article in front of filme? Why not Esse o filme famoso?

In Portuguese, demonstratives like este/esse/aquele already contain the idea of definiteness (like the in English), so you normally do not add a separate definite article in front of the noun:

esse filme = that movie / this movie (already definite)
o filme = the movie (definite without a demonstrative)

So:

Esse filme famoso é longo ✅
O filme famoso é longo ✅ (same idea, but without “this/that”)
Esse o filme famoso é longo ❌ (ungrammatical in standard Portuguese)

The demonstrative replaces the article instead of combining with it in this structure.

Why is famoso after filme? Could I say Esse famoso filme é longo?

By default, descriptive adjectives in Portuguese come after the noun:

filme famoso = famous movie
cidade grande = big city
história interessante = interesting story

So Esse filme famoso é longo is the neutral, most common order.

Putting the adjective before the noun is possible, but it often adds a nuance:

Esse famoso filme é longo is grammatically correct, but it sounds more emphatic, literary, or stylistic, something like “this famous movie” with a bit of extra stress on famous, as if the fame is already well-known or important in the context.

In everyday neutral speech, esse filme famoso is more natural than esse famoso filme, unless you specifically want that stylistic emphasis.

What kind of gender and number agreement is going on in this sentence?

Everything in the sentence that can agree with filme is in the masculine singular:

esse – masculine singular demonstrative (that/this)
filme – masculine singular noun
famoso – masculine singular adjective
longo – masculine singular adjective

If you changed the noun to feminine or plural, all the agreeing words would change:

Feminine singular:
- Essa novela famosa é longa.
  (novela is feminine; essa / famosa / longa agree with it.)
Masculine plural:
- Esses filmes famosos são longos.
Feminine plural:
- Essas séries famosas são longas.

So you always adjust demonstratives and adjectives to match the noun’s gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural).

Can I say Esse filme é famoso e longo instead? Is there any difference?

Yes, Esse filme é famoso e longo is perfectly correct.

Subtle nuance:

Esse filme famoso é longo.
Sounds like you’re taking “the film is famous” as already known or background information, and you’re mainly commenting that it is long. It’s almost like saying “This famous movie (you know which one) is long.”
Esse filme é famoso e longo.
Presents both facts—it’s famous and it’s long—on the same level, as new information.

In most everyday contexts, both sentences can describe the same situation, and the difference is small. Grammatically, both are fine.

Why do we use é and not está before longo?

Portuguese has two verbs for to be:

ser (here: é) – used for characteristics seen as essential, inherent, permanent, or defining.
estar (here: está) – used for temporary, changing, or current states/conditions.

The length of a movie is considered an inherent property (its running time), not something that changes from moment to moment, so ser is the natural choice:

Esse filme famoso é longo. ✅
The film is (by nature) long.

Using estar would be unusual in this neutral sentence:

Esse filme famoso está longo.
Could sound odd or very context-specific, maybe used jokingly or by someone like a director or editor saying “This cut is ending up long,” focusing on the current version of the film rather than length as an inherent property.

For a learner, it’s best to treat “film is long / book is short / road is long” as ser-cases: é longo, é curto, etc.

What is the difference between longo and comprido?

Both can translate to long, but they are used a bit differently.

longo:

Very common with time/duration and abstract things:
- um filme longo – a long movie
- uma reunião longa – a long meeting
- uma longa história – a long story (adjective before noun is common here)
Also used for physical length, especially in more formal language, but often feels a bit more neutral or formal than comprido.

comprido:

More typical for physical length:
- cabelo comprido – long hair
- uma saia comprida – a long skirt
- uma rua comprida – a long street
With time or duration, it sounds more informal or regional:
- um filme comprido – can be said, but um filme longo is more standard/neutral.

In your sentence, é longo is the most natural and standard choice for “the movie is long (in duration).”

Is filme always masculine? Are there similar nouns I should be careful with?

Yes, filme is masculine:

o filme – the movie
um filme – a movie
os filmes – the movies

Many nouns ending in -e can be either masculine or feminine, and you often need to memorize their gender. Some examples:

Masculine:
- o leite – the milk
- o telefone – the telephone
- o chocolate – the chocolate
Feminine:
- a noite – the night
- a parede – the wall
- a ponte – the bridge

So with filme, remember: o filme, um filme, esse filme – always masculine.

Could I leave out esse and just say O filme famoso é longo?

Yes, you can say:

O filme famoso é longo.

This means “The famous movie is long.” It’s grammatically fine but a bit vague; it assumes the listener knows which famous movie you mean solely from context or previous mention.

Differences:

Esse filme famoso é longo.
Points to a specific movie more clearly: this/that famous movie (the one we’re watching, the one we just mentioned, the one on the screen, etc.).
O filme famoso é longo.
Could feel more generic, like “the famous film”, without the extra pointing that esse provides.

So esse makes it more explicitly this/that particular famous film.

How do you pronounce each word naturally in Brazilian Portuguese?

Approximate pronunciations (Brazilian standard):

Esse – like “EH-see” or “EH-sih”
IPA: [ˈɛ.si] or [ˈe.si]
Stress on the first syllable.
filme – like “FEEL-mee”, but with the l sounding like a w
IPA: [ˈfiw.mi]
Two syllables: FIL-me.
famoso – like “fa-MO-zo”
IPA: [faˈmo.zu]
The s between vowels sounds like English z.
é – like “EH”
IPA: [ˈɛ]
longo – roughly “LOHN-goo”
IPA: [ˈlõ.gu]
The on is a nasal vowel (like French “bon”), and the final o is unstressed and a bit shorter.

Spoken smoothly, it might sound like:
EH-see FIW-mee fa-MO-zu EH LÕ-gu

Can I say Esse filme famoso é muito longo? Where does muito go?

Yes, Esse filme famoso é muito longo is perfectly correct and natural.

Placement rules:

muito goes before adjectives and adverbs it intensifies:
- muito longo – very long
- muito interessante – very interesting
- muito lentamente – very slowly

You do not put it after the adjective in this structure:

Esse filme famoso é longo muito. ❌ (wrong)

So the correct pattern is:

Esse filme famoso é muito longo.
Esse filme famoso é bem longo. (also common: bem as an intensifier)

If the noun were feminine or plural, how would the sentence change?

You would change esse / famoso / longo to match the noun’s gender and number.

Feminine singular example:

Essa série famosa é longa.
- essa – feminine singular
- série – feminine singular noun
- famosa – feminine singular adjective
- longa – feminine singular adjective

Masculine plural example:

Esses filmes famosos são longos.
- esses – masculine plural
- filmes – masculine plural noun
- famosos – masculine plural adjective
- são – plural of é
- longos – masculine plural adjective

Feminine plural example:

Essas novelas famosas são longas.

So you always adjust:

esse / essa / esses / essas
adjective endings -o / -a / -os / -as
and the verb (é → são in the plural).

Why not use grande instead of longo for “long”?

Grande basically means big / large and sometimes great. It does not normally mean “long” in the sense of time/duration.

Compare:

um filme longo – a long movie (duration)
um filme grande – a big movie (could mean big-budget, epic, important, large-scale)

Other examples:

uma cidade grande – a big city (size/population), not “a long city”
uma grande atriz – a great actress (famous, talented)
um grande problema – a big/serious problem

So for time/duration, longo (or curto for short) is the natural choice:

um dia longo – a long day
uma reunião longa – a long meeting

That’s why the sentence uses longo, not grande.

In colloquial speech, do Brazilians change or shorten this sentence in any typical way?

The basic structure Esse filme famoso é longo is already simple, so it usually stays intact. In casual speech, though, you might hear:

Adding intensifiers:
- Esse filme famoso é bem longo.
- Esse filme famoso é longo pra caramba. (very informal)
Dropping famoso if the fame is obvious:
- Esse filme é longo.
Using tá instead of é in some very specific subjective uses (not neutral description of runtime):
- Nossa, esse filme tá longo, hein?
  Here tá (from estar) expresses a subjective feeling: “wow, this movie is feeling long.”

But in a neutral, textbook-style sentence describing length as a fact, the standard and natural form is exactly:

Esse filme famoso é longo.