inglês/inglesa/alemão/alemã

Nationality Adjective Agreement

Level 1

In Portuguese, nationality adjectives (gentílicos) must agree in gender with the noun they describe. While many follow the standard -o/-a rule, those ending in -ês and -ão have specific transformations: -ês → -esa (dropping the accent) and -ão → -ã.

How It Works

Portuguese adjectives of origin (nationalities) follow specific morphological rules based on their masculine endings. This is essential for adjective agreement.

1. The -ês to -esa Rule
When a masculine nationality ends in -ês (which always carries a circumflex accent), the feminine form is created by adding -a. Crucially, the accent is dropped because the stress shifts from the last syllable to the second-to-last syllable.

  • português (masc.) → portuguesa (fem.)
  • francês (masc.) → francesa (fem.)
  • japonês (masc.) → japonesa (fem.)

2. The -ão to -ã Rule
Nationalities ending in the nasal diphthong -ão change to the nasal vowel -ã in the feminine form.

  • alemão (masc.) → alemã (fem.)
  • catalão (masc.) → catalã (fem.)

3. Usage Notes
These words function both as adjectives (uma cerveja alemã) and as nouns (a alemã = the German woman). Remember that the name of the language is usually the masculine form (o inglês, o português).

Examples (4)

  1. O meu vizinho é português, mas a sua esposa é inglesa.

    My neighbor is Portuguese, but his wife is English.

    Word by Word: The my neighbor is Portuguese, but the his wife is English.

    Shows the contrast between the masculine 'português' and the feminine 'inglesa' (from 'inglês').

  2. Comprei um carro alemão e uma mota alemã.

    I bought a German car and a German motorcycle.

    Word by Word: I-bought a car German and a motorcycle German.

    'Alemão' agrees with the masculine 'carro', while 'alemã' agrees with the feminine 'mota'.

  3. Ela fala a língua japonesa fluentemente.

    She speaks the Japanese language fluently.

    Word by Word: She speaks the language Japanese fluently.

    'Japonesa' is the feminine form of 'japonês', agreeing with the feminine noun 'língua'.

  4. A cerveja é alemã e o vinho é francês.

    The beer is German and the wine is French.

    Word by Word: The beer is German and the wine is French.

    Demonstrates the -ã and -ês endings used as predicates after the verb 'ser'.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the circumflex accent in the feminine form.

    Ela é portuguêsa.
    Ela é portuguesa.

    The accent on -ês is only used when the syllable is stressed at the end of the word. In 'portuguesa', the stress moves, so the accent must be removed.

  • Capitalizing the nationality.

    Eu sou Brasileiro.
    Eu sou brasileiro.

    In Portuguese, nationalities and languages are written in lowercase unless they start a sentence.

  • Using the masculine form for feminine nouns.

    Uma amiga alemão.
    Uma amiga alemã.

    Nationalities must always agree with the gender of the person or object they describe.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

inglês/inglesa/alemão/alemãLevel 1Nationality Adjective Agreement

Learn This First

To learn irregular nationality adjectives like 'inglês/inglesa' and 'alemão/alemã', learners first need to understand the general rules of gender agreement in Portuguese and how to use the verb 'ser' to state where someone is from.