Breakdown of Alguns membros preferem romances, mas outros preferem biografias.
Questions & Answers about Alguns membros preferem romances, mas outros preferem biografias.
In Portuguese, adjectives and determiners must agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to.
- membro (member) is grammatically masculine: o membro, os membros
- Therefore, you must use the masculine plural form of "some": alguns
- algumas is the feminine plural form and would go with a feminine noun, e.g. algumas pessoas (some people)
So even if the group includes women, the grammar follows the noun’s grammatical gender, not the biological gender of the people.
Portuguese is a pro‑drop language, meaning that subject pronouns are often omitted when the verb ending already shows who the subject is.
- preferem clearly tells us it’s they (3rd person plural).
- If you include the pronoun, you get:
- Alguns membros (eles) preferem romances, mas outros (eles) preferem biografias.
This is grammatically possible, but sounds unnatural and heavy in most contexts. Native speakers simply say:
- Alguns membros preferem... = Some members prefer…
- …mas outros preferem… = …but others prefer…
Preferem is:
- verb: preferir (to prefer)
- tense: present indicative
- person/number: 3rd person plural (they)
Present indicative of preferir (European Portuguese):
- eu prefiro – I prefer
- tu preferes – you prefer (informal singular)
- ele / ela / você prefere – he/she/you prefer
- nós preferimos – we prefer
- vocês preferem – you (plural) prefer
- eles / elas preferem – they prefer
So in the sentence, preferem matches alguns membros and outros (both are “they”).
With preferir, Portuguese does not use a preposition before the direct object:
- preferir algo = to prefer something
So:
- Preferem romances. = They prefer novels.
(correct – no preposition)
When you compare two things, you usually use a (to) or em vez de (instead of):
- Preferem romances a biografias. = They prefer novels to biographies.
- Preferem romances em vez de biografias. = They prefer novels instead of biographies.
But in this sentence, we’re just saying what they prefer, not explicitly comparing, so no extra preposition is needed.
In standard European Portuguese punctuation, you normally put a comma before “mas” when it connects two clauses or two contrasted parts:
- Alguns membros preferem romances, mas outros preferem biografias.
This comma marks a contrast similar to English:
- Some members prefer novels, but others prefer biographies.
General rule of thumb:
- When mas introduces a contrast between two ideas, put a comma before it.
- You almost never put a comma after mas in this kind of sentence.
Mas means “but” and is the most common, neutral conjunction for contrast.
You can replace it, but the tone changes slightly:
- porém – also “but/however”, but more formal/written and often placed after a pause:
- Alguns membros preferem romances; porém, outros preferem biografias.
- só que – conversational, a bit more colloquial or emphatic:
- Alguns membros preferem romances, só que outros preferem biografias.
For everyday, neutral speech and writing, mas is the default and best choice.
Portuguese often drops the article when talking about things in a general or non-specific way, especially in the plural:
- Preferem romances. = They prefer novels (in general).
- …preferem biografias. = …prefer biographies (in general).
If you add os/as, it becomes more specific:
- Preferem os romances deste autor. = They prefer this author’s novels.
- Preferem as biografias da livraria X. = They prefer the biographies from bookshop X.
So here, no article is used because we mean the general category “novels” and “biographies”.
In European Portuguese, romance (plural romances) usually means:
- novel(s) – any long fiction book, not just love stories.
Some examples:
- romances policiais – crime novels
- romances históricos – historical novels
- um romance de fantasia – a fantasy novel
Context can narrow it to “romantic novels”, but by default romances = novels in general, which is a classic “false friend” for English speakers.
Outros literally means “others” and can function as:
- an adjective: outros membros – other members
- a pronoun: outros – others (people/things already known from context)
In this sentence:
- Alguns membros preferem romances, mas outros preferem biografias.
outros actually means outros membros (“other members”), but the noun is omitted because it’s obvious from context. This is very natural in Portuguese, just like in English:
- Some members prefer novels, but other (members) prefer biographies. → but others prefer biographies.
Yes, alguns … outros … is a very common structure meaning “some … others …”:
- Alguns alunos são pontuais, outros chegam sempre atrasados.
Some students are punctual, others always arrive late.
You can optionally repeat mas:
- Alguns membros preferem romances, mas outros preferem biografias.
The pattern expresses contrast within a group:
- Alguns X …, (mas) outros … = Some X do this, (but) others do that.
Outros must agree in gender and number with the implied noun it replaces:
- Implied noun: membros → masculine plural
- So we use: outros (masc. plural)
If the original noun were feminine plural, we would use outras:
- Algumas pessoas preferem romances, mas outras preferem biografias.
Some people prefer novels, but others prefer biographies.
So:
- membros → alguns / outros
- pessoas → algumas / outras
In European Portuguese, alguns has:
- a nasal vowel at the end: the -ns nasalizes the preceding vowel
- the final written -s is generally pronounced like a “sh” sound /ʃ/ in most European accents
Very roughly (non-IPA):
- alguns ≈ al-GUNSH (with GUN nasal, not a clear “n” sound)
Similarly, membros ends in -s pronounced like “sh”:
- membros ≈ MEM-brosh
These final “sh-like” s sounds and nasal vowels are characteristic of European Portuguese.