Breakdown of O vizinho tem um cão grandalhão.
o cão
the dog
ter
to have
um
a / an / some (all forms)
o
him/it (m)
o vizinho
the neighbor (m)
grandalhão
bulky
Questions & Answers about O vizinho tem um cão grandalhão.
How do we get the word grandalhão from grande?
To make grande (big) an augmentative, we don't just add -ão directly. Instead, Portuguese uses a linking piece, -alh-, before the -ão suffix. This creates grandalhão, which implies the dog is not just big, but bulky, huge, or maybe even a little clumsy.
If it were a female dog, how would grandalhão change?
Augmentative adjectives ending in -ão change to -ona in the feminine form. If the neighbor had a female dog (uma cadela), the sentence would be: O vizinho tem uma cadela grandalhona.
How do I make grandalhão plural if he has multiple dogs?
Why use grandalhão instead of just saying um cão muito grande?
While muito grande (very big) is perfectly correct, using the augmentative suffix -ão adds flavor to your Portuguese. Grandalhão paints a more vivid picture of a bulky, hulking, or perhaps goofy giant dog, rather than just stating its exact size.
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