Brazilian Portuguese for Japanese Speakers: Four Sentence Checks

Start with your language background and a small speaking task

This guide uses English explanations for learners who already know Japanese, wherever they live. It develops the study-planning idea in Bruno’s Grammar or Conversation? How to Study Brazilian Portuguese: connect your practice to the languages you know and reuse a manageable sentence pattern. The comparisons, dialogue and exercises here are original teaching activities, not a transcript of the video.

The Japan Foundation’s MARUGOTO introduction describes Japanese’s basic subject–object–verb order and particles placed after nouns. It also explains that nouns do not have Portuguese-style grammatical gender and number agreement, and that verbs and adjectives do not agree with the subject’s gender or number. These are useful comparison points, not predictions about mistakes you personally make. Japanese can express quantities and other distinctions through different means.

Try saying the four Portuguese sentences in the table before reading the explanations. Mark the part you cannot yet produce without looking. If a contrast is already familiar from another language you know, spend your practice on a different one.

Four useful sentences to build and change

These are connected tools for one conversation. You can say what you study, describe the lessons, include another person and specify the location. They are not a complete grammar syllabus.

Check 1: put the action before its object in your starting pattern

In Eu estudo português, eu names the person, estudo gives the action and português names what is studied. Practise that whole sequence first, then change one item: Eu estudo música — “I study music.” Keep the action in the middle of this model.

Ciberdúvidas’ explanation of direct and inverted order identifies subject–verb–object as the default pattern and notes that other grammatical orders exist. The reference was checked on October 21, 2026.

Do not turn a starting pattern into a rule that every Portuguese sentence must contain three spoken pieces. A short answer can leave information understood from context. For now, keep eu visible while practising so you can check which verb form you chose. Once the sentence is comfortable, use it as a reply to O que você estuda? — “What do you study?”

Check 2: learn the article, noun and adjective together

• O curso é curto. — “The course is short.”
• A aula é curta. — “The lesson is short.”
• Os cursos são curtos. — “The courses are short.”
• As aulas são curtas. — “The lessons are short.”

The masculine noun curso goes with o; the feminine noun aula goes with a. In these examples, curto changes to curta, curtos or curtas to match the noun. Plural subjects also take são here rather than singular é. Grammatical gender belongs to the Portuguese noun; it does not mean a course or a lesson has a biological sex.

Priberam identifies curso as masculine and aula as feminine. Ciberdúvidas illustrates adjective agreement in gender and number. These references were checked on October 21, 2026.

Write a useful phrase such as uma aula curta — “a short lesson” — on your study card. When making it plural, check the whole phrase: umas aulas curtas — “some short lessons.” Other adjectives have different patterns; do not add an a to every adjective mechanically. Use the existing articles and gender guide for more examples and exceptions.

Check 3: change the verb when you change who is studying

• Eu estudo português. — “I study Portuguese.”
• Você estuda português. — “You study Portuguese.”
• Nós estudamos português. — “We study Portuguese.”

Keep the object português stable and change only the subject. The verb changes too: estudo, estuda, estudamos. Learn the subject and form as a pair rather than using the dictionary infinitive estudar in every sentence. Priberam’s conjugation of estudar confirms these present-tense forms.

A useful drill has a reason for the change. First describe your own routine. Then ask a friend about theirs. Finally describe what you do together. If you want the conversational “we” form a gente, use a gente estuda. Compare this with nós estudamos in our present-tense practice guide.

Check 4: learn the location as a phrase, including its contraction

• Eu estudo no café. — “I study at the café.”
• Eu estudo na biblioteca. — “I study at the library.”
• Eu estudo em casa. — “I study at home.”

The place phrase comes after estudo in these models. Priberam records em as a preposition used for location and no as a contraction of em + o. With the feminine article a, the corresponding form is na: em + a. Learn na biblioteca as a unit rather than attaching a location marker after biblioteca.

Do not insert an article into every place phrase. In the ordinary expression for being or doing something at home, use em casa. For an identified café, no café fits the example above. Check a new place as a complete expression in context; em, no and na has more focused practice. No is a Portuguese contraction here, not an English negative.

Original dialogue: compare two study routines

This is a fictional written exchange for practice. Notice estuda with meu irmão and estudamos with nós. The question introduces vocês estudam, the plural “you study” form. Read one role aloud, then cover it and give a reply about your own life. Change the person or place only when you can check the new form.

A follow-up can be very short: Onde? — “Where?” — or Com quem? — “With whom?” There is no need to turn every reply into a long sentence. Use the longer models when they help you make the relationship between words clear.

Practice: build a sentence that matches the situation

1. Put these parts in the starting order for “I study Portuguese”: português / eu / estudo.
2. Describe one short lesson: ___ aula é curt___.
3. Make the entire previous sentence plural.
4. Include yourself and another learner: Nós ___ português.
5. You are describing study at the library. Complete Eu estudo ___ biblioteca.
6. You study at home. Choose em casa or na casa for that ordinary expression.
7. Ask a single friend whether they study Portuguese, using você.
8. Write a true sentence about where you study, then change eu to nós.

Continue with real conversation practice

For more practice with reusable patterns, read the guide to grammar, subtitles and speaking. Choose one sentence you need, change one detail, and check what else must change. The exercises above are original written activities; no extra audio recording is supplied on this page.

Continue with Real Life Portuguese for native Brazilian audio and everyday expressions. Choose a short exchange available in the app. Listen for the speaker’s intention, then use a pattern from this activity to prepare a reply that fits your own situation. Bruno Lopes is a co-founder of the app.