Frequent function words Comparison of Portuguese and Spanish

1 frequent function words

1.1 spanish todo, portuguese tudo
1.2 relative , interrogative pronouns
1.3 spanish muy , mucho, portuguese muito
1.4 cardinal numbers
1.5 conjunctions
1.6 se, si, sí, , sim
1.7 indirect object pronouns

frequent function words

a number of frequent function words (pronouns, conjunctions, etc.) cognates in 2 languages used in different ways, including following:

spanish todo, portuguese tudo

the spanish pronoun todo can mean all/every , or . portuguese distinguishes between todo all/every (masculine) , tudo (neuter, used indefinite object or abstraction).

todos los insectos tienen seis patas. (spanish)
todos os insetos têm seis patas. (portuguese)
insects have 6 legs.


el ladrón lo robó todo. (spanish)
o ladrão roubou tudo. (portuguese)
thief stole or thief stole all.

relative , interrogative pronouns

spanish uses acute accent on interrogative pronouns, while corresponding relative pronouns (etymologically same words) spelled without accent mark difference in prosodic stress. (as explained below, acute accent changes vowel sound in portuguese, not spanish.) example, ¿quién? (who?) , quien (who) in spanish, quem both in portuguese. apart that, while quem invariable, spanish has both singular quién , plural quiénes.

¿quiénes son esas personas? (spanish)
quem são essas pessoas? (portuguese)
people?

in portuguese example, m @ end of quem never pronounced. merely marker nasalization.

spanish muy , mucho, portuguese muito

spanish distinguishes adjective mucho much/many adverb muy very/quite . portuguese uses muito both (there s mui, considered old-fashioned)

saqué muchas fotos durante el viaje. (spanish)
tirei muitas fotos durante viagem. (portuguese)
took many photos during trip.


las cerezas están muy maduras. (spanish)
as cerejas estão muito maduras. (portuguese)
cherries quite ripe.

as adjective, muito inflected according gender , number of noun qualifies, mucho. adverb, invariable muy. thus, incorrect *muitas maduras in second example.

cardinal numbers

the cardinal numbers similar in spanish , portuguese, there differences of usage in numbers 1 , two. spanish has different words masculine singular indefinite article ( a, ) , numeral 1 , un capítulo chapter , capítulo uno chapter 1 . in portuguese, both words same: um capítulo , capítulo um. spanish uno can used pronoun, english generic 1 , represent indeterminate subject, not possible portuguese um; reflexive pronoun se used instead. se may used in spanish form passive , impersonal constructions, well.

uno (or se) debe pensar antes de actuar. (spanish)
deve-se pensar antes de agir. (portuguese)
1 should think before acting.

this still applies in cases relatively indeterminate subject genderized, such spanish todos una [voz] ( @ once , literally @ 1 [voice] ). should rewritten in portuguese without cardinal number. example, todos juntos .

on other hand, in portuguese, cardinal number 2 inflects gender (dois if masculine, duas if feminine), while in spanish dos used both.

uno más uno es igual dos. (spanish)
um mais um é igual dois. (portuguese)
1 plus 1 equals two.


dos cabezas piensan mejor que una. (spanish)
duas cabeças pensam melhor que uma. (portuguese)
2 heads think better one.


tengo dos hermanos y dos hermanas. (spanish)
tenho dois irmãos e duas irmãs. (portuguese)
have 2 brothers , 2 sisters.

conjunctions

the conjunction , in spanish y (pronounced [i] before consonant, [j] before vowel) before words except beginning [i] sound (spelled i- or hi-). before syllabic [i] sound (and not diphthong [je] in hierro), spanish conjunction e [e̞]. portuguese uses e [i] before words.

sal y pimienta. (spanish)
sal e pimenta. (portuguese)
salt , pepper.


judío e hindú. (spanish)
judeu e hindu. (portuguese)
jewish , hindu.


leones y hienas. (spanish)
leões e hienas. (portuguese)
lions , hyenas.

similarly, conjunction or spanish uses o [o̞] before words except beginning o- or ho-, in case uses u [w]. portuguese uses ou [ow]~[o].

vino o agua. (spanish)
vinho ou água. (portuguese)
wine or water.


uno u otro. (spanish)
um ou outro. (portuguese)
1 or other.

se, si, sí, , sim

in portuguese, word se can reflexive pronoun or conjunction meaning if . may give false impression portuguese verb pronominal when not. example, se ficou em paris... means if 1 stayed in paris... when conjunction se precedes pronominal verb, common have double se in sentence, such se se esqueceu da sua senha... if forgot password...

indirect object pronouns

spanish le , les changed se when followed lo, la, los, or las. example, mi abuelo les compró los regalos becomes mi abuelo se los compró . see combining pronouns in spanish below. in addition, spanish uses sé irregular verb in first person singular indicative of saber (to know), , second person singular imperative of ser (to be). in portuguese, these sei , sê respectively.