Portuguese Exercises

How to use these exercises

These exercises are aimed at beginners and early-intermediate learners. Try each one without looking at the answers, then check the answer key at the end and read the short notes. Cover the answers while you work, write your responses on paper or in a notebook, and say the completed sentences aloud.

Most examples work in both European and Brazilian Portuguese. Where the two differ, the exercise says so.

Exercise 1: Gender and articles

Choose the correct definite article: o, a, os or as.

1. ___ casa (the house)
2. ___ livro (the book)
3. ___ problema (the problem)
4. ___ mão (the hand)
5. ___ dias (the days)
6. ___ cidades (the cities)

Now choose the indefinite article: um or uma.

7. ___ mesa (a table)
8. ___ amigo (a male friend)
9. ___ professora (a female teacher)

Exercise 2: Plurals

Write the plural.

1. a casa
2. o livro
3. o animal
4. o papel
5. a luz
6. o pão
7. a mão

Exercise 3: Ser or estar

Both verbs mean “to be”. In general, ser is used for identity, origin, profession and time, and estar for location and temporary states. Complete each sentence with the correct present-tense form.

1. Eu ___ estudante. (I am a student.)
2. Nós ___ de Lisboa. (We are from Lisbon.)
3. Ela ___ cansada hoje. (She is tired today.)
4. Eles ___ em casa. (They are at home.)
5. A reunião ___ às três horas. (The meeting is at three o’clock.)
6. Tu ___ muito simpático. (You are very nice.) Use the form for “tu”.

Exercise 4: Present tense of regular verbs

Portuguese regular verbs end in -ar, -er or -ir. Fill in the correct present-tense form.

1. Eu ___ (falar) inglês.
2. Nós ___ (comer) arroz.
3. Eles ___ (partir) amanhã.
4. Tu ___ (beber) água. (European Portuguese, informal “you”)
5. Ela ___ (viver) em Lisboa.
6. Nós ___ (trabalhar) aqui.

For reference, here are the pattern endings for falar, comer and partir:

Exercise 5: Contractions with prepositions

In Portuguese, prepositions often merge with articles. Complete each sentence with the correct contraction. Hints are in brackets.

1. Moro ___ cidade. (em + a)
2. Sou ___ Brasil. (de + o)
3. Vou ___ mercado. (a + o)
4. O livro está ___ mesa. (em + a)
5. Ela é a irmã ___ Pedro. (de + o)
6. Passamos ___ parque. (por + o)

Exercise 6: Past tense (pretérito perfeito)

Complete with the correct past-tense form.

1. Ontem eu ___ (falar) com a minha mãe.
2. Eu ___ (comer) uma maçã.
3. Eu ___ (partir) cedo.
4. Ontem eu ___ (ir) ao cinema.

Exercise 7: Translate into Portuguese

1. I have two brothers.
2. She is my friend.
3. I do not speak French.
4. Where is the station?

Answer key

Exercise 1

1. a casa
2. o livro
3. o problema (a masculine noun even though it ends in -a)
4. a mão (a feminine noun even though it ends in -o)
5. os dias
6. as cidades
7. uma mesa
8. um amigo
9. uma professora

Exercise 2

1. as casas
2. os livros
3. os animais (words ending in -al usually change to -ais)
4. os papéis (many words ending in -l drop the l and add -is, with an accent where needed)
5. as luzes (words ending in -z add -es)
6. os pães (pão has an irregular plural)
7. as mãos

Exercise 3

1. sou
2. somos
3. está
4. estão
5. é
6. és (European Portuguese; in Brazil, você é is more common)

Exercise 4

1. falo
2. comemos
3. partem
4. bebes (in Brazil, você bebe is the usual form)
5. vive
6. trabalhamos

Exercise 5

1. na
2. do
3. ao
4. na
5. do
6. pelo

Exercise 6

1. falei
2. comi
3. parti
4. fui (the verbs ir and ser share the same past forms, so context shows the meaning)

Exercise 7

1. Tenho dois irmãos.
2. Ela é minha amiga. (In European Portuguese, a minha amiga is common, with the article.)
3. Não falo francês. (or Eu não falo francês.)
4. Onde fica a estação? (Onde é a estação? and Onde está a estação? are also heard, depending on the region and context.)

European and Brazilian Portuguese

The two varieties share most grammar and vocabulary, but there are noticeable differences:

• Address forms. Tu is common in much of Portugal, while você is widespread in Brazil for “you”. Verb forms change accordingly.
• Pronoun placement. Object pronouns often come after the verb in Portugal (Dou-te o livro) and before it in everyday Brazilian speech (Eu te dou o livro).
• Pronunciation and vocabulary. There are differences in sounds and some everyday words.

Pick the variety that matches your goals, and accept alternate forms in your answers when you meet them.

Tips for getting more from practice

• Say your answers aloud. This builds speaking confidence along with accuracy.
• Keep an error log. Note recurring mistakes, such as noun gender or contractions, and revisit them later.
• Revise after a gap. Repeating an exercise after a few days shows what has stuck; see the importance of review in learning.
• Move from exercises to real use. Write your own sentences using the same patterns, or find short texts that contain them.
• Combine skills. Our German irregular verbs exercises use a similar approach if you are studying more than one language.