Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): O relatório recente é fácil de entender.

You can sometimes put adjectives before the noun in Portuguese, but that usually adds an extra nuance (subjective, emotional, poetic, or stylistic). With recente, recente relatório would sound marked, unusual, or literary, and is not how you’d normally say it in everyday European Portuguese.

So for learners: put most adjectives after the noun unless you’ve learned a specific exception (e.g. bom, mau, grande, pequeno often go before).

Could I say O recente relatório instead of O relatório recente?

In everyday European Portuguese, O recente relatório sounds unusual or very formal/literary.

While grammatically possible, Portuguese speakers overwhelmingly prefer:

O relatório recente

Placing recente before the noun tends to sound like written, stylistic language (for example, in very formal journalism or academic writing) and is not the default natural choice.

If you are learning, stick with O relatório recente as the standard, neutral phrasing.

Does recente change form for masculine/feminine or singular/plural?

Recente is an adjective that:

has one form for masculine and feminine
has two numbers: singular and plural

So:

singular:
- o relatório recente (masc.)
- a carta recente (fem.)
plural:
- os relatórios recentes (masc. pl.)
- as cartas recentes (fem. pl.)

Only the -s is added in the plural: recente → recentes.
There’s no change between masculine and feminine.

Why is it O relatório recente é fácil de entender and not fácil para entender?

With adjectives like fácil, difícil, impossível, Portuguese normally uses de + infinitive, not para + infinitive, when you’re describing the thing that has that property:

fácil de entender – easy to understand
difícil de explicar – hard to explain
impossível de resolver – impossible to solve

So:

O relatório recente é fácil de entender. ✅
The recent report is easy to understand.

Fácil para entender is not idiomatic here and will sound wrong to native speakers in this structure. Para can appear in other patterns (e.g. é fácil para mim – it is easy for me), but not in fácil de + verb when describing the object.

Can I drop de and say O relatório recente é fácil entender?

Standard European Portuguese prefers (and in practice almost always uses):

é fácil de entender ✅

Without de, é fácil entender is possible in some very specific patterns (especially impersonal structures), but:

O relatório recente é fácil entender sounds unnatural and non-native.

For learners, treat fácil de + infinitive as a fixed pattern when the adjective directly describes the noun:

um texto fácil de ler
uma pessoa difícil de agradar
os exercícios são fáceis de fazer

What is the function of de entender in the sentence?

De entender is de + infinitive, and it works like an adjective phrase specifying in what way the report is easy:

fácil – easy (in general)
fácil de entender – easy to understand (easy in terms of understanding)

So the full structure is:

O relatório recente – subject (the recent report)
é – verb to be
fácil de entender – predicate (a description of the report, “easy to understand”)

You can see the same pattern with other nouns:

Este filme é difícil de seguir. – This film is hard to follow.
A gramática é complicada de explicar. – Grammar is complicated to explain.

Could I say O relatório recente é fácil de ser entendido?

You could, but it sounds overly formal, heavy or unnatural in most contexts.

O relatório recente é fácil de ser entendido. – literally, The recent report is easy to be understood.

In Portuguese, especially in everyday European Portuguese, the simple active-like structure é fácil de entender is strongly preferred:

O relatório recente é fácil de entender. ✅ (natural)
O relatório recente é fácil de ser entendido. ⚠️ (grammatical, but stiff/over-formal)

Use é fácil de entender unless you have a specific reason to use a passive-like style.

Why is it O relatório and not just Relatório recente é fácil de entender?

In this sentence, we are talking about a specific report, so Portuguese uses the definite article:

O relatório recente – the recent report

If you say:

Relatório recente é fácil de entender.

it sounds odd and incomplete, like a headline or label rather than a normal sentence.

In Portuguese (especially in European Portuguese), singular countable nouns almost always need an article (o, a, um, uma) unless you are:

in headlines or titles
using lists/labels
speaking in certain fixed expressions

So for normal speech or writing, keep O relatório recente.

How would this sentence change in the plural?

To make it plural, you change:

the article: O → Os
the noun: relatório → relatórios
the verb: é → são
the adjectives: recente → recentes, fácil → fáceis

So:

Os relatórios recentes são fáceis de entender.
The recent reports are easy to understand.

What is the difference between recente and novo here?

Both can be translated as new in English, but they are not the same:

recente – recent in time; not long ago
novo – new as opposed to old; not previously used/known

So:

o relatório recente – a report that was produced/delivered recently
o relatório novo – a new report (compared to previous ones; a new version, a different report)

In many contexts they overlap, but:

if you mean recent in date: recente is the safest choice.
if you mean a new one, not the old one: novo fits better.

Why are fácil and recente both ending in -e and not showing masculine/feminine?

Adjectives ending in -e (like fácil, recente, importante) usually:

have one form for masculine and feminine
add only -s in the plural

So:

masc. sing.: o relatório fácil, o relatório recente
fem. sing.: a carta fácil, a carta recente
masc. pl.: os relatórios fáceis, os relatórios recentes
fem. pl.: as cartas fáceis, as cartas recentes

The noun’s gender is indicated by its article and ending (o relatório, a carta), not by changing fácil/recente.

Is entender the most common verb here in European Portuguese, or could I also say perceber or compreender?

All three exist in European Portuguese, but their feel is a bit different:

entender – to understand (very common, neutral)
perceber – to understand/to realise (in EP it often means “to understand” in everyday speech)
compreender – to understand, often slightly more formal or thorough understanding

You could say:

O relatório recente é fácil de perceber. – common in EP
O relatório recente é fácil de compreender. – a bit more formal
O relatório recente é fácil de entender. – also common and clear

All are acceptable, but entender and perceber are extremely frequent in everyday European Portuguese.

How is relatório pronounced, especially the r sounds, in European Portuguese?

In standard European Portuguese:

relatório is roughly: [ʁɨ-lɐ-ˈtɔ-ɾju]

Key points:

Initial r in relatório is a guttural sound, like a French or German r: [ʁ].
The -tó- syllable is stressed: relaTÓrio.
The final rio is [ɾju], with a tapped r (like the Spanish single r in pero).

You will also often hear de in de entender reduced to something like [dɨ] or even almost just [d], especially in fast speech:
fácil d’entender.

Can I move de entender to the front, like De entender, o relatório recente é fácil?

That word order is not natural in Portuguese.

The normal, idiomatic order is:

O relatório recente é fácil de entender. ✅

Fronting de entender (De entender, o relatório recente é fácil) sounds artificial and wrong in ordinary speech or writing. Keep de entender directly after fácil.