This page offers a guide to cognates in Brazilian Portuguese.
Because the English and Portuguese languages share common linguistic origins, some words in Brazilian Portuguese share spelling and meaning with words in English.
Understanding cognates can be helpful as they bridge the gap between the two languages and accelerate learning. If you’re just starting out learning Brazilian Portuguese, learning cognates will give you a great head start
See below for some examples of cognates in English and Brazilian Portuguese:
| agency | agência |
| artist | artista |
| community | comunidade |
| modern | moderno |
| nervous | nervoso |
Translating the endings of cognates
By translating the ending (suffix) of words from English to Portuguese, you can expand your vocabulary significantly:
Words that end in -ty in English, usually end in -ade in Brazilian Portuguese:
| city | cidade |
| reality | realidade |
Words that end in -ic(s) in English, usually end in -ica in Brazilian Portuguese:
| rhetoric | retórica |
| physics | física |
Words that end in -ist in English, usually end in -ista in Brazilian Portuguese:
| dentist | dentista |
| scientist | cientista |
Words that end in -ary in English, usually end in -ario in Brazilian Portuguese:
| contrary | contrário |
| dictionary | dicionário |
Words that end in -ion in English, usually end in -çao in Brazilian Portuguese:
| population | população |
| commotion | comoção |
Words that end in -ce in English, usually end in -cia in Brazilian Portuguese:
| ambulance | ambulância |
| independence | independência |
Words that end in -ous in English, usually end in -oso in Brazilian Portuguese:
| fabulous | fabuloso |
| delicious | delicioso |
Some words that end in -or in English also end in -or in Brazilian Portuguese:
| professor | professor |
| actor | ator |
Some words that end in -al in English also end in -al in Brazilian Portuguese:
| abysmal | abismal |
| special | especial |
Cognate ‘false friends’
While cognates can be helpful in expanding vocabulary, there are words that look or sound similar in English and Brazilian Portuguese, but have different meanings. These false cognates are also known as ‘false friends’.
See below for some examples of false friends in Brazilian Portuguese and English:
| assistir | attend |
| atualmente | currently |
| data | date |
| eventualmente | possibly |
| notícias | news |
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