O salário líquido é menor do que o salário bruto.

O is the masculine singular definite article, meaning the.

In Portuguese, articles are used more often than in English. So where English says net salary and gross salary, Portuguese often says the net salary and the gross salary when talking about those concepts in a general or specific way:

• o salário líquido = the net salary
• o salário bruto = the gross salary

This sounds natural in Portuguese, even when English might omit the.

In Portuguese, adjectives often come after the noun.

So:

• salário líquido = literally salary net
• salário bruto = literally salary gross

That is the normal order here. English usually puts adjectives before the noun, but Portuguese commonly puts them after.

Here they are financial terms:

• líquido = net
• bruto = gross

So:

• salário líquido = the amount you actually receive after deductions
• salário bruto = the amount before taxes and other deductions

These are very common expressions in Brazilian Portuguese.

Portuguese has two common verbs for to be: ser and estar.

Here, é comes from ser, which is used for:

• definitions
• general characteristics
• facts
• comparisons of this type

In this sentence, the speaker is stating a general fact: net salary is less than gross salary. So é menor is the natural choice.

Using está menor would suggest a temporary change, like it is currently smaller than before, which is not the idea here.

Menor means smaller or lesser, and in this sentence it means less in amount.

Menor do que = less than / smaller than

So:

• O salário líquido é menor do que o salário bruto. = The net salary is less than the gross salary.

With numbers, quantities, and amounts, menor is very common.

Yes. In Brazilian Portuguese, both are used:

• menor que
• menor do que

Both can mean less than.
Menor do que is often felt to be a little clearer or more complete, and many learners see it frequently in textbooks and careful speech.

So both of these are acceptable:

• O salário líquido é menor que o salário bruto.
• O salário líquido é menor do que o salário bruto.

For salaries, amounts, quantities, and numerical value, menor is the most natural choice.

• menor = smaller / less
• mais baixo = lower

Although mais baixo can sometimes be used for levels or amounts, salário menor or é menor sounds more natural when comparing salary amounts directly.

So this sentence is idiomatic:

• O salário líquido é menor do que o salário bruto.

Because adjectives in Portuguese agree with the noun in gender and number.

Salário is:

• masculine
• singular

So the adjectives must also be masculine singular:

• líquido
• bruto

If the noun were feminine, the adjective would usually change:

• renda líquida
• renda bruta

If plural:

• salários líquidos
• salários brutos

Do is the contraction of de + o.

So:

• do que = literally of the than if translated word by word, but you should not think of it that way in English

It is better to learn menor do que as a whole comparative pattern meaning less than.

Portuguese often uses these little contractions:

• de + o = do
• de + a = da
• em + o = no
• em + a = na

Yes, very often you can, if the meaning is clear.

So these both work:

• O salário líquido é menor do que o salário bruto.
• O salário líquido é menor do que o bruto.

The second version avoids repeating salário and sounds natural when the context is clear.

It can do either, depending on context.

With the definite articles o ... o ..., Portuguese can express:

• a general truth
• a specific case already understood in context

So this sentence could mean:

• a general financial fact: net salary is lower than gross salary
• a specific person’s salary, if that is what the conversation is about

Portuguese often uses the definite article in both situations.

A rough Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation is:

O salário líquido é menor do que o salário bruto.

Approximate pronunciation: u sa-LA-ryu LI-ki-du eh meh-NOR du keh u sa-LA-ryu BRU-tu

A few helpful notes:

• o often sounds like u in unstressed position in Brazil
• é is an open eh sound
• lh in salário is not present here, so do not overcomplicate it
• r in bruto is a tapped sound in many Brazilian accents, somewhat like a light Spanish r

The stress falls on:

• saLÁrio
• LÍquido
• meNOR
• BRUto

The accent marks show pronunciation and stress.

• salário: the accent shows the stressed syllable is lá
• líquido: the accent shows the stress is on lí
• é: the accent distinguishes it from e, which means and

So:

• é = is
• e = and

These accents are important and should be written correctly.