Portuguese and English share Latin roots, which means thousands of similar-looking words. But those similarities can be misleading. Portuguese also has grammatical structures that regularly produce specific, recognisable errors in English.
If Portuguese is your first language — whether Brazilian or European — this guide will help you identify your most likely error patterns and correct them.
1. False Cognates: Words That Look the Same but Aren’t
Portuguese and English share many words, but a significant number have different meanings. These are called falsos cognatos in Portuguese, and some of them are very common words.
| Portuguese word | Portuguese meaning | English meaning |
|---|---|---|
| realizar | to achieve / carry out | to become aware of |
| eventual | possible / occasional | final / ultimate |
| pretender | to intend / to plan | to pretend / to fake |
| exquisito | strange / unusual | exquisite (very beautiful) |
| sensível | sensitive | sensible (reasonable) |
| actual | current / present | actual (real, not hypothetical) |
| borracha | rubber / eraser | drunk woman (in some Portuguese slang) — use rubber in English |
| balcão | counter / bar | balcony |
| propaganda | advertising | propaganda (biased political information) |
Why it happens: The shared Latin roots mean many words look almost identical, but centuries of separate development changed the meanings. The words pretender (Portuguese) and pretend (English) are a particularly important one to memorise, as confusing them can lead to genuine misunderstanding. Realizar is another high-frequency trap: “I realized my dream last year” sounds natural to a Portuguese speaker but means “I became aware of my dream” in English. The correct versions are “I achieved my dream” or “I fulfilled my dream.” Similarly, “She realized a big project” should be “She carried out a big project.” Use realize only when you mean “suddenly understand” or “become aware of.” For completing goals, dreams, or projects, use achieve, accomplish, carry out, or fulfil.
How to fix it: When you use a word that looks like Portuguese, pause and check. Keep a personal list of false friends you’ve encountered.
2. Overusing “Already” and “Yet” in the Wrong Places
Portuguese uses já to mean both “already” and “yet” (and sometimes “now”). English uses “already,” “yet,” and “still” in different ways, and Portuguese speakers often overuse or misplace “already.”
Common error: “I already ate.” (used for simple past where no present relevance is implied) Better: “I already ate” is fine if there’s present relevance (“I already ate, so I’m not hungry”). Otherwise: “I ate earlier.”
Common error: “Did you already finish?” Correct: “Have you finished yet?” (questions about completion use “yet”)
Common error: “I no go yet.” (direct translation of ainda não fui) Correct: “I haven’t gone yet.”
How to fix it:
- Already: use with present perfect or past perfect to indicate something happened sooner than expected. “I’ve already finished.”
- Yet: use in negatives and questions about completion. “I haven’t finished yet.” / “Have you finished yet?”
- Still: use to indicate something ongoing that might be expected to have stopped. “Are you still working on that?“
3. Using “To” With Verbs That Don’t Take “To”
In Portuguese, many verb combinations use a preposition (a, de, em) before the following verb. In English, many common verbs are followed by a bare infinitive (no “to”) or a gerund (-ing), not “to + infinitive.”
Common error: “I enjoy to play football.” Correct: “I enjoy playing football.”
Common error: “She suggested to go early.” Correct: “She suggested going early.” / “She suggested we go early.”
Verbs followed by gerund (-ing), not infinitive: enjoy, finish, suggest, avoid, consider, keep, practise, recommend, admit, deny, imagine
Verbs followed by bare infinitive: make someone (do), let someone (do), help someone (do)
Verbs followed by “to + infinitive”: want, hope, plan, decide, need, manage, agree, offer, refuse
The rules don’t follow a single pattern — the best approach is to learn each verb with its following form as a fixed phrase.
4. Gender Agreement Carried Into English
Portuguese nouns have gender — words are masculine or feminine, and adjectives agree accordingly. This can lead to gender-related errors in English, where nouns have no grammatical gender.
Common error: “She is very sympathetic.” (when meaning simpática — friendly, likeable) Correct (for the meaning intended): “She is very friendly / warm / approachable.”
Note: Sympathetic in English means feeling compassion for someone who is suffering — not simply being a friendly, pleasant person. This is a false cognate and a very common one.
Common error: Referring to objects with gendered pronouns: “I bought a new car. She is red.” Correct: “I bought a new car. It is red.”
In English, objects are “it,” not “he” or “she.” Only people and sometimes animals take gendered pronouns.
5. The Present Perfect vs Simple Past
Portuguese uses the present perfect (tenho feito — I have done) differently from English. In Brazilian Portuguese especially, the simple past often replaces the present perfect in casual speech (fiz instead of tenho feito). This leads Brazilian speakers to overuse the simple past in English.
Common error: “I went to the doctor last week and now I feel better.” (correct — simple past with a finished time)
Common error: “Did you eat today?” (common in Brazilian Portuguese, but English would normally use present perfect here) More natural in English: “Have you eaten today?”
Common error: “I never ate sushi.” (implies it’s a closed, finished time period) Correct in English: “I’ve never eaten sushi.” (present perfect for life experiences without a specific time reference)
How to fix it: Use present perfect when:
- There is no specific finished time mentioned (“I’ve been to Sydney three times”)
- The action has relevance to the present (“I’ve already done it”)
- You’re talking about life experience (“Have you ever…?”)
Use simple past when there is a specific finished time (yesterday, last week, in 2020).
6. Word Order in Questions
Portuguese questions often use the same word order as statements, with question inversion being more optional in Brazilian Portuguese than in formal grammar.
Common error: “Where you are going?” Correct: “Where are you going?”
Common error: “What you want to do?” Correct: “What do you want to do?”
English requires inversion (auxiliary before subject) in most questions. This is a non-negotiable rule in English — unlike in casual Brazilian Portuguese, where intonation can signal a question without inversion.
The Bottom Line
Portuguese speakers have strong advantages in English — a large shared vocabulary, similar alphabet, and some parallel grammar structures. The challenges are specific: false cognates, gerund vs infinitive patterns, the present perfect distinction, and question word order.
Work on false cognates first — they cause the most immediate misunderstandings. Then focus on gerunds and infinitives, which affect almost every complex sentence you produce. With consistent, focused practice, these patterns become habits rather than conscious rules.