Alguns alunos gostam de estudar na biblioteca, outros gostam de estudar em casa.

Some students like to study in the library, others like to study at home.

Breakdown of Alguns alunos gostam de estudar na biblioteca, outros gostam de estudar em casa.

• gostar de: to like
• a casa: the house
• estudar: to study
• em: at
• na: in the
• o aluno: the student
• alguns: some
• a biblioteca: the library
• outros: others

Questions & Answers about Alguns alunos gostam de estudar na biblioteca, outros gostam de estudar em casa.

Why is it alguns alunos and not algumas alunos or alguns alunas?

In Portuguese, adjectives and quantifiers have to agree in gender and number with the noun.

• alunos = students (masculine plural)
• alguns = some (masculine plural form of algum)

So:

• alguns alunos ✅ (masculine plural + masculine plural)
• algumas alunas ✅ (feminine plural + feminine plural)
• algumas alunos ❌ (feminine plural + masculine plural)
• alguns alunas ❌ (masculine plural + feminine plural)

If you were referring only to female students, you would say:

• Algumas alunas gostam de estudar na biblioteca...

What exactly does alguns mean here? Is it “some” or “a few”? Does it suggest a small group?

Alguns is usually translated as “some” in a neutral way. It doesn’t strongly say whether the group is big or small; it just means not all.

• Alguns alunos = some students (an unspecified number)
• It can be used for both small and larger groups; context decides.

If you really wanted to emphasize “just a few,” you might say:

• Poucos alunos = few students / not many students

What is the difference between alguns and uns before a plural noun?

Both can be translated as “some”, but there is a nuance:

• alguns alunos

  • More neutral: some students.
  • Often used when contrasting groups, like in this sentence.

• uns alunos

  • Can feel a bit more vague or informal: some students / a few students.
  • Sometimes used when you don’t want to specify who or how many at all.

In this specific sentence, alguns alunos works better because you’re clearly contrasting one group with outros (others).

Why is there de after gostam? In English we just say “like to study,” not “like of study.”

In Portuguese, the verb gostar is almost always used with the preposition de:

• gostar de = to like

Examples:

• Eu gosto de chocolate. = I like chocolate.
• Eles gostam de estudar. = They like to study.

You can think of gostar de as one fixed unit. If what you like is a verb, you use the infinitive after de:

• gostam de estudar = like to study / like studying

Why is it gostam de estudar and not gostam de estudam?

After gostar de, the verb that comes next stays in the infinitive (the base form), not conjugated.

• estudar = to study (infinitive)
• eles estudam = they study (conjugated)

So:

• ✅ Eles gostam de estudar. = They like to study.
• ❌ Eles gostam de estudam.

Similarly:

• Eu gosto de ler. = I like to read.
• Nós gostamos de viajar. = We like to travel.

What does na in na biblioteca mean exactly? Why not just em a biblioteca?

Na is a contraction of the preposition em (in / at) + the feminine singular article a (the):

• em + a = na
• em + as = nas
• em + o = no
• em + os = nos

So:

• na biblioteca literally = in the library / at the library

We almost never say em a biblioteca; we always contract it to na biblioteca.

Why do we say na biblioteca but em casa (without an article)?

Casa behaves a bit specially in Portuguese when it means “home” (not just “a physical house”).

• em casa = at home (no article)
• na casa = in the / at the house (refers more to a specific building, like “in that house / in the house”)

So in your sentence:

• estudar na biblioteca = study at the library (a place)
• estudar em casa = study at home (your own home, in general)

If you say:

• estudar na casa – that sounds like “study in the house,” referring to some specific house mentioned in context.

Why is it outros and not outros alunos in the second part?

In Portuguese, just like in English, you can omit the noun when it’s clear from context.

• Full form: Alguns alunos gostam de estudar na biblioteca, outros alunos gostam de estudar em casa.
• Natural, shorter form: Alguns alunos gostam de estudar na biblioteca, outros gostam de estudar em casa.

The word outros here implicitly means outros alunos (other students). Repeating alunos is possible but sounds heavier and less natural in such a simple sentence.

Can we remove the repeated gostam de estudar and just say Alguns alunos gostam de estudar na biblioteca, outros em casa?

Yes, that’s completely natural in Portuguese, and often stylistically nicer:

• Alguns alunos gostam de estudar na biblioteca, outros em casa.

Here, gostam de estudar is understood in the second part and does not need to be repeated. It’s similar to English:

• “Some students like to study in the library, others at home.”

Is the comma before outros correct? Could it be a semicolon or e instead?

The comma is acceptable and common:

• Alguns alunos gostam de estudar na biblioteca, outros gostam de estudar em casa.

However, from a more formal, written perspective, some people might prefer a semicolon to separate the two clauses more clearly:

• Alguns alunos gostam de estudar na biblioteca; outros gostam de estudar em casa.

You can also add e (and):

• Alguns alunos gostam de estudar na biblioteca, e outros gostam de estudar em casa.

All three are used; the version without e is quite common in everyday writing and speech.

What’s the difference between gostar de and preferir in this sentence? Could we say preferem instead of gostam?

Yes, you could say:

• Alguns alunos preferem estudar na biblioteca, outros preferem estudar em casa.

gostar de = to like
preferir = to prefer

Subtle difference:

• gostar de estudar na biblioteca: they enjoy studying there.
• preferir estudar na biblioteca: they like it more than studying somewhere else.

The original sentence focuses on what they like; using preferir makes the contrast in preference more explicit.

How do I pronounce alguns alunos correctly? Especially the endings.

Key points:

• alguns

  • al- like “ahl”
  • -guns with a nasal sound at the end. The -uns is not like English “goons”; your tongue doesn’t touch the roof like an English n. Air goes partly through the nose.
  • Roughly: [ah-LGOONSH] in Brazilian Portuguese (final s often sounds like English “sh” in many regions).

• alunos

  • a- like “ah”
  • lu- like “loo”
  • -nos with a normal n, not nasal like alguns.
  • Roughly: [ah-LOO-nohs]

Together: alguns alunos – try to link the sounds:
[ah-LGOONSH ah-LOO-nohs]

Why is the verb gostam in the plural?

Because the subject alguns alunos is plural.

Subject–verb agreement in Portuguese:

• O aluno gosta de estudar. (singular: The student likes to study.)
• Alguns alunos gostam de estudar. (plural: Some students like to study.)

So:

• gosta (he/she/it likes, ele/ela gosta)
• gostam (they like, eles/elas gostam)

Here, alguns alunos behaves like eles (they), so the verb must be gostam.