Compound Adjective Agreement
Compound adjectives are formed by joining two words with a hyphen to describe a single noun. When making a compound adjective agree with a noun, there is one golden rule: only the second element changes to match the gender and number of the noun.
The first element remains locked in its invariable form (often ending in -o, such as luso-, franco-, or latino-).
If the noun is feminine, only the second half of the compound adjective becomes feminine. Keep in mind that some adjectives, like bilingue, naturally have the same form for both masculine and feminine nouns.
| The Luso-American community is bilingual. | A comunidade luso-americana é bilingue. |
To make a compound adjective plural, you also only pluralize the second element. The first word still does not change.
| These Luso-American families are bilingual. | Estas famílias luso-americanas são bilingues. |
| The Franco-Portuguese agreements are being discussed today. | Os acordos franco-portugueses estão a ser discutidos hoje. |
Adjectives Ending in Consonants
The second element follows all the standard pluralization rules for Portuguese words. For example, if the second word ends in -l (like cultural), it drops the -l and adds -is in the plural.
| The historical-cultural exchange with the school started yesterday. | O intercâmbio histórico-cultural com a escola começou ontem. |
| These historical-cultural exchanges are fundamental. | Estes intercâmbios histórico-culturais são fundamentais. |
Because only the final word changes, you can confidently describe any international agreement or historical community just by focusing on the very end of the compound word!
| The historical-cultural pacts require Franco-Portuguese cooperation. | Os pactos histórico-culturais exigem cooperação franco-portuguesa. |