When talking about groups or quantities—especially during a busy harvest—you will often use partitive expressions like "the majority of" or "a large part of."
In Portuguese, two of the most common expressions for this are a maioria de and grande parte de.
Subject-Verb Agreement
When a singular partitive expression is followed by a plural noun, a special rule applies. While traditional grammar allows you to use a singular verb to match the partitive word, it is much more natural and common in Portuguese to conjugate the verb in the plural to agree with the plural noun right next to it.
A maioria de
The expression a maioria means "the majority."
| the majority | a maioria |
When followed by a specific plural noun, de contracts with the definite articles os and as to form dos and das.
Notice how the verb in the following sentence (colhem) is plural to agree with the plural noun (homens), rather than the singular maioria:
| The majority of the men harvest the grapes early. | A maioria dos homens colhem as uvas cedo. |
This plural agreement applies to both main verbs and auxiliary verbs:
| The majority of the farmers usually store the wheat in the barn. | A maioria dos agricultores costumam armazenar o trigo no celeiro. |
Naturally, any adjectives describing the noun will also be plural:
| The majority of the lemons are rotten, however some are good. | A maioria dos limões estão podres, porém alguns estão bons. |
Grande parte de
The expression grande parte de ("a large part of") follows the exact same agreement rules.
| A large part of the apples in the orchard are ripe. | Grande parte das maçãs no pomar estão maduras. |
Just like before, the verb matches the plural group doing the action:
| A large part of the animals transport the baskets of corn. | Grande parte dos animais transportam os cestos de milho. |
| A large part of the women work in the vineyard. | Grande parte das mulheres trabalham na vinha. |
