Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): Este livro português é fácil.

English tends to put adjectives before the noun (Portuguese book, red car), but Portuguese usually does the opposite: noun + adjective.

Some adjectives can go before the noun in Portuguese, but this often changes the nuance or makes the phrase sound more literary or emphatic. In this case, português livro would sound unnatural; livro português is the normal order.

Could I say Este português livro é fácil instead?

No, that word order is incorrect in Portuguese.

You must keep the normal pattern demonstrative + noun + adjective:

✅ Este livro português é fácil.
❌ Este português livro é fácil.

So:

este (this) – demonstrative
livro (book) – noun
português (Portuguese) – adjective describing the noun

Does livro português mean “book in Portuguese” or “book from Portugal” or “book about Portuguese”?

On its own, livro português is ambiguous: it just says the book is Portuguese in some way. In practice, it usually means:

a book written in Portuguese, or
a book from Portugal / by a Portuguese author

If you want to be clearer, Portuguese normally does this:

livro em português = a book in Portuguese (language)
livro de português = a book about/for learning Portuguese
livro português = a Portuguese book (vague: could be in Portuguese, from Portugal, etc.)

So:

Este livro português é fácil.
→ This Portuguese book is easy. (vague)
Este livro em português é fácil.
→ This book in Portuguese is easy.
Este livro de português é fácil.
→ This Portuguese-learning book / this Portuguese textbook is easy.

Why is português not capitalized, when Portuguese is capitalized in English?

In Portuguese, adjectives of nationality and language names are written with a lowercase initial letter:

português, inglês, francês, alemão

So:

um livro português = a Portuguese book
Eu falo português. = I speak Portuguese.

English capitalizes nationalities and language names; Portuguese does not (unless they start a sentence or are part of a proper name).

Why is it este and not esse or aquele?

Portuguese has three basic demonstratives:

este – this (near the speaker)
esse – that (near the listener or just mentioned)
aquele – that (far from both speaker and listener)

In European Portuguese:

Este livro = this book (here, near me)
Esse livro = that book (near you / we’ve just been talking about it)
Aquele livro = that book (over there, farther away, or more distant in context)

So Este livro português é fácil. focuses on a book close to the speaker, often one they’re holding or pointing at.

Why is it este livro and not este o livro?

You do not combine a demonstrative (este, esse, aquele) with the definite article (o, a) directly before the noun. You choose one or the other:

o livro = the book
este livro = this book
esse livro = that book
aquele livro = that book (far away)

So:

✅ Este livro português é fácil.
❌ Este o livro português é fácil.

Why is it é and not está?

Portuguese uses two verbs for to be: ser and estar.

ser (here: é) is used for permanent or defining characteristics.
estar (here: está) is used for temporary states or locations.

Saying Este livro português é fácil means that being easy is seen as an inherent quality of the book (at least from the speaker’s point of view).

If you said Este livro português está fácil, it would sound strange in standard Portuguese. Estar fácil is used in very specific contexts (e.g., O exame está fácil – The exam is easy now / this time), not to describe a book’s general difficulty level.

Why is it livro português but língua portuguesa? Why does português change?

Adjectives in Portuguese agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the noun they describe.

livro is masculine singular, so:
→ livro português
língua (language) is feminine singular, so:
→ língua portuguesa

Plurals:

livros portugueses = Portuguese books (masc. plural)
línguas portuguesas = Portuguese languages (fem. plural)

The patterns here:

Masculine singular: português
Feminine singular: portuguesa
Masculine plural: portugueses
Feminine plural: portuguesas

How would I say “These Portuguese books are easy”?

You need plural forms for everything:

estes (these – masc. plural)
livros (books – masc. plural)
portugueses (Portuguese – masc. plural adjective)
são (are – 3rd person plural of ser)
fáceis (plural of fácil)

So the sentence becomes:

Estes livros portugueses são fáceis.
= These Portuguese books are easy.

Why does fácil have an accent, and what does it change?

The accent on fácil (the á) shows:

Stress position: the stressed syllable is fá:
- FÁ-cil, not fa-CIL.
Vowel quality: it tells you the a is open, like a in “cat”, not like a reduced or different sound.

Without the accent, the pronunciation and stress rules could be misinterpreted. Portuguese uses accents to indicate stress and sometimes vowel quality.

How do you pronounce Este livro português é fácil in European Portuguese?

Approximate pronunciation (European Portuguese):

Este → ESH-t(ɨ) (the final vowel is very reduced)
livro → LEE-vru (the r is a soft tap [ɾ])
português → poor-too-GESH (final -ês like “esh”)
é → EH (open e, short, like in “bet”)
fácil → FAH-seel (final l is dark, a bit like in British people’s “full”)

Said together, it flows something like:

ESH-t(ɨ) LEE-vru poor-too-GESH EH FAH-seel

Can I drop este and just say O livro português é fácil? Does it mean the same?

You can say:

O livro português é fácil.

But it doesn’t mean exactly the same:

Este livro português é fácil.
→ This Portuguese book is easy (specific book, close to me/context).
O livro português é fácil.
→ The Portuguese book is easy.
This could sound more generic (e.g., the Portuguese book in a set, the one we both know about), but it doesn’t highlight physical closeness in the same way este does.

So both are correct, but este is more specific and demonstrative, pointing to a particular book.