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The Order of Modifiers by Fernanda L. Ferreira, Ph.D.

As with any language, Portuguese has a certain order that must be followed by the elements of the noun phrase. Modifiers are all the parts of the phrase that influence and change the meaning of the noun. You can say “the book,” “a book,” or “good book,” and all those phrases have different meanings. That is because those modifiers (the, a, good) modify or add to the noun “book.” In Portuguese, some modifiers precede the noun, while others (usually descriptive adjectives) follow the noun. First, let's look at the list of common modifiers that precede the noun:

Order of Modifiers Occurring Before the Noun

Group I

Group II

Group III

predeterminers todos (all)

determiners o (the)

quantifiers/possessives/numerals poucos (few)

ambos (both)

um (a/an)

muitos (many)

este/esse (this)

vários (several)

aquele (that)

tantos (so many)

algum (some)

meus, seus, etc. (my, your, etc.)

dois, três, quatro (two, three, four)

Other possibilities such as the words qualquer (any) and tal (such) are also part of group III, but are not mentioned here for the sake of simplicity. Suffice to say that the examples in the previous table are very common in spoken as well as written language. The following are some examples of noun phrases that include a combination of modifiers:

TRACK 35

<tgroup cols="4"> <colspec colname="col1" colnum="1" colwidth="25%" colsep="0" rowsep="1" align="left"/> <colspec colname="col2" colnum="2" colwidth="25%" colsep="0" rowsep="1" align="left"/> <colspec colname="col3" colnum="3" colwidth="25%" colsep="0" rowsep="1" align="left"/> <colspec colname="col4" colnum="4" colwidth="25%" colsep="0" rowsep="1" align="left"/> <tbody> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>Todos</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>meus</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>amigos</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>All (of) my friends</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>I</p></td> <td><p>II</p></td> <td><p>[noun]</p></td> <td><para/></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>Ambas</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>as</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>blusas</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>Both (of) the blouses</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>I</p></td> <td><p>II</p></td> <td><p>[noun]</p></td> <td><para/></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>As</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>poucas</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>explicações</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>The few explanations</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>II</p></td> <td><p>III</p></td> <td><p>[noun]</p></td> <td><para/></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>Meus</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>dois</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>amigos</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>My two friends</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>III</p></td> <td><p>III</p></td> <td><p>[noun]</p></td> <td><para/></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p><emphasis>Meus</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>muitos</emphasis></p></td> <td><p><emphasis>amigos</emphasis></p></td> <td><p>My many friends</p></td> </tr> <tr> <td><p>III</p></td> <td><p>III</p></td> <td><p>[noun]</p></td> <td><para/></td> </tr> </tbody> </tgroup> </table> <p>As you can see, it is common to have phrases that include elements from groups I and II, as well as combinations that include elements from groups II and III. And, as can be seen from the fourth and fifth examples in the previous table, it is possible to have at least two items from group III, most commonly when a possessive is followed by another modifier from the same group.</p> <h2>Descriptive Adjectives</h2> <p>Descriptive adjectives are modifiers that usually follow the noun in Portuguese. In Portuguese we say the noun first, and then we give it qualifications. So, unlike in English, you say <emphasis>um carro vermelho</emphasis>, literally “a car red.” Imagine how hard it would be for simultaneous interpreters translating a long description from English to Portuguese: They would have to wait until all the adjectives were said, keep them in mind, then translate the noun, and only then add all the adjectives in Portuguese!</p> <p>In Chapter 5, you learned a lot of descriptive adjectives for physical characteristics. In this section you will put all of these adjectives in the correct order.</p> <h2><link linkend="l19">Exercise: Put It All in Order</link></h2> <p>Read the jumbled words in each item and rewrite the noun phrase using the correct order of modifiers. Check your answers in Appendix C.</p> <ul> <li><p><emphasis>vermelho um carro</emphasis> (a red car):    ______________________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>casas novas umas</emphasis> (some new houses):  ______________________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>amigos os todos meus</emphasis> (all my friends):  ______________________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>aluno o inteligente</emphasis> (the intelligent student):  ______________________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>laranja blusa uma</emphasis> (an orange blouse):   ______________________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>livros ambos os</emphasis> (both of the books):    ______________________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>a amiga minha</emphasis> ([the] my friend):     ______________________________</p></li> <li><p><emphasis>carro um novo</emphasis> (a new car):      ______________________________</p></li> </ul> <!--/gc--> <div id="pagination"><ul><li class="prev"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/describing-people-and-things-in-portuguese/from-nouns-to-adjectives.htm" title="From Nouns to Adjectives">From Nouns to Adjectives</a></li><li class="next"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/describing-people-and-things-in-portuguese/making-comparisons.htm" title="Making Comparisons">Making Comparisons</a> </li></ul></div></div> <div id="coda"> <div id="rel"><div class="n5">Related Articles</div><ul> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/describing-people-and-things-in-portuguese/the-order-of-modifiers.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> The Order of Modifiers - Brazilian Portuguese </a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/how-are-you-introducing-estar/agreement-rules.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> Agreement Rules - Brazilian Portuguese </a></li> <li><a href="http://grammar.about.com/od/mo/g/nonrestricterm.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> nonrestrictive element - definition and examples of nonrestrictive ele... </a></li> <li><a href="http://grammar.about.com/od/ab/g/adjectivephraseterm.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> adjective phrase - definition and examples of adjective phrases </a></li> <li><a href="http://grammar.about.com/od/c/g/comnounterm.htm" zT="18/1YL/Zn"> common noun - definition and examples of common nouns </a></li> </ul></div> <div id="sec"><div class="n5">Read More Describing People and Things in Portuguese</div><ul><ul class="col1"><li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/describing-people-and-things-in-portuguese/from-nouns-to-adjectives.htm">From Nouns to Adjectives</a></li> <li class="btO">The Order of Modifiers</li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/describing-people-and-things-in-portuguese/making-comparisons.htm">Making Comparisons</a></li> </ul><ul class="col2"><li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/describing-people-and-things-in-portuguese/superlatives-the-best-of-the-best.htm">Superlatives: The Best of the Best</a></li> <li ><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/describing-people-and-things-in-portuguese/ownership-and-possession.htm">Ownership and Possession</a></li> </ul></ul></div> </div> <script>if(zSbL<1)zSbL=3;zSB(2);zSbL=0</script> </div> <div id="widgets"><script type="text/javascript">if(z336>0){w('<div id="adB">'+ap[0]+at[4]+as[0]);adunit('','','about.com',ch,gs,336,280,'1','bb',3);w('</div>')}if(z155>0){w('<div id="adP">'+ap[0]+at[4]+as[0]);adunit('','','about.com',ch,gs,336,155,'1','ps',4);w('</div>')}</script> <div id="pg" class="pane"><div class="n3">Shopping</div><div class="cntnr"><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-learning-brazilian-portuguese-book-with-cd/ "><img src="http://0.tqn.com/d/np/brazilian-portuguese/Cover.jpg"></a><h4><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-learning-brazilian-portuguese-book-with-cd/ ">THE EVERYTHING LEARNING BRAZILIAN PORTUGUESE BOOK</a></h4><p><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-learning-brazilian-portuguese-book-with-cd/ ">By Fernanda L. Ferreira, Ph.D.</a></p><div id="fp"><a href="http://shop.everything.com/product/the-everything-learning-brazilian-portuguese-book-with-cd/ ">Buy This Book</a></div></div></div> <div id="toc" class="pane"><div class="n3">Brazilian Portuguese Sections</div><ul><li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/introducing-the-portuguese-language/">Introducing the Portuguese Language</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/the-sounds-of-portuguese/">The Sounds of Portuguese</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/beginning-conversation/">Beginning Conversation</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/nouns-articles-and-contractions/">Nouns, Articles, and Contractions</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/who-are-you-introducing-ser/">Who Are You? Introducing Ser</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/how-are-you-introducing-estar/">How Are You? Introducing Estar</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/describing-people-and-things-in-portuguese/">Describing People and Things in Portuguese</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/the-vocabulary-of-numbers/">The Vocabulary of Numbers</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/first-conjugation-verbs/">First Conjugation Verbs</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/second-conjugation-and-beyond/">Second Conjugation and Beyond</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/important-verbs-to-know/">Important Verbs to Know</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/verb-tenses-an-overview/">Verb Tenses: an Overview</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/more-verbs/">More Verbs</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/negative-words-and-constructions/">Negative Words and Constructions</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/questions-and-exclamations/">Questions and Exclamations</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/the-future-and-other-tenses/">The Future and Other Tenses</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/imperative-and-subjunctive-constructions/">Imperative and Subjunctive Constructions</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/carnaval-samba-feijoada-and-futebol/">Carnaval, Samba, Feijoada, and Futebol</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/means-of-communication/">Means of Communication</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/traveling-to-samba-land/">Traveling to Samba-Land</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/appendix-a-english-to-portuguese-glossary/">English-to-Portuguese Glossary</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/appendix-b-portuguese-to-english-glossary/">Portuguese-to-English Glossary</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/appendix-c-answer-key/">Exercise Answer Key</a></li> </ul></div></div> <script type="text/javascript">zCi();validateForms();</script> <div id="abf" style="padding-right:0"><ol class="crumbtrail"><li class="home"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/">Home</a></li><li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/">Brazilian Portuguese</a></li><li><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/brazilian-portuguese/describing-people-and-things-in-portuguese/">Describing People and Things in Portuguese</a></li><li>The Order of Modifiers</li></ol></div> <div id="aboutinfo" class="hlist"><div id="morefrom"><h6>Visit other About.com sites:</h6><ul><li><a href="http://caloriecount.about.com/" rel="nofollow">Calorie Count</a></li><li class="last"><a href="http://www.allexperts.com/" rel="nofollow">Allexperts.com</a></li></ul></div> <ul id="siteinfo"><li><a href="http://spiderbites.about.com/sitemap.htm">SiteMap</a></li><li><a href="http://www.about.com/gi/pages/hc.htm" rel="nofollow">Help</a></li><li><a href="http://www.about.com/gi/pages/mprivacy.htm" rel="nofollow">Privacy Policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.about.com/gi/pages/mprivacy.htm#adchoices" rel="nofollow">Your Ad Choices</a></li><li class="last"><a href="http://www.netplaces.com/pform.htm" rel="nofollow">Contact Us</a></li></ul> <ul id="companyinfo"><li class="last"><a href="http://shop.everything.com/ " rel="nofollow">Buy Books</a></li></ul><div id="disclaimer"> </div></div></div> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- zPxA[zPxC]=new Image();zPxA[zPxC++].src="http://b.scorecardresearch.com/p?c1=2&c2=6036459&c7=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2enetplaces%2ecom%2fbrazilian%2dportuguese%2fdescribing%2dpeople%2dand%2dthings%2din%2dportuguese%2fthe%2dorder%2dof%2dmodifiers%2ehtm&c8=The%20Order%20of%20Modifiers&c9=&cv=2.0&cj=1"; adclose() //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript">(function(){var po=document.createElement('script');po.type='text/javascript';po.async=true;po.src='https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js';var s=document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(po,s)})();</script> </body></html>