Portuguese With Leo

Specifying things is an intersting topic on linguistics., let's take a look on the Pre-Specifiers! Note: this is the first post of the Brazilian Nominal Phrases series, check our first post about Nominal Phrases to be on track! Pre-Specifiers are the first words in the Nominal Phrase order as we discussed before. Their function, as well as the other specifiers, is to specify the nucleus of the nominal phrase, in this case on two distinct ways. There are just two words that can be in this position: Todo and Ambos. Let’s read about each one!   1-         Todo / Toda / Todos / Todas   This word can be used on three ways: as a pre-specifier (the point of this class, known as predeterminer on English grammar), as a noun-like pronoun (a nominal phrase nucleus) or as an adjective (in this case as a complement of the nominal phrase). This property is what causes it to have a lot of freedom when it comes to placement, being able even be out...

What are Nominal Phrases Made Of?  Nominal phrases are constructions built around a noun or noun-like pronoun. For example: Todos os carros pretos. / All the black cars.   In that example, the center of it is “carros / cars” and everything around brings information about it. Nominal Phrases have three different parts: The Specifiers, the nucleus and the complements. In the example above we have:   -           Todos os = Specifiers; -           Carros = Nucleus; -           Pretos = Complement.   For each one of these parts we have a possible class of word. I organized all of them in the following table:   Table 1 – The Components of the Nominal Phrase Especifiers Nucleus Complements     Pre-Specifiers Central Specifiers ...

A good way to learn grammar is to focus on how we use it. All people in the world speak and write bulding sentences, which are linked by special words (conjuctions or relative pronouns) or ponctuation (even tough we don't have ponctuation on speaking, we have pauses or other structures that represent it). A single sentence is made with small units called "Phrases". Phrases are important for language students because they make easier to understand how things are placed and the rules behind it. There is just five types of Phrases:   1-        Nominal Phrases; We use Nominal Phrases to refer to something and also bring information about it. 2-        Verbal Phrases; We use Verbal Phrases to express an action or event related to something. 3-        Adjectival Phrases; We use Adjectival Phrases to bring information about a Nominal Prase. 4-        Adverbial ...