Compound Words

Sometimes in Portuguese we come across such a phenomenon as compound nouns. This means that the noun consists of several words. There can be different parts of speech in a pair – even verbs. The question arises of how to decline such nouns by numbers, is it possible to safely invent your own compound noun and how. Today’s article will answer these questions.

Most compound words contain all the necessary information about the object. This is probably why they did not come up with a separate word for it.

Noun + Noun

The simplest example is when a word consists of two nouns. We can make up such words ourselves.

Despite the fact that they may not exist in the language, your interlocutor will perfectly understand the meaning. Moreover, progress is moving forward and more and more new words appear. Let’s see some of the most popular:
peixe-espada (swordfish), palavra-chave (keyword, password), couve-flor (cauliflower), sofá-cama (sofa bed)

If we want to form the plural form of such compound words, then both nouns in a pair are subjected to deformations, namely:

peixes-espadas (swordfishes), palavras-chaves (passwords), couves-flores (cauliflowers), sofás-camas (sofa beds)

Noun + Adjective

Yes, there are such compound adjectives. It is hard to imagine? Now we will show them to you:

amor-perfeito (perfect love), água-marinha (aquamarine)

In this case, both words also take the plural form:
amores-perfeitos (perfect loves), aguas-marinhas (aquamarines)

Noun + Numeral

A similar scheme of education has a pair of noun and numeral. These words are the days of the week. This is why we see them so often:
segunda-feira (Monday), terça-feira (Tuesday)

And also the plural form is the following:
segundas-feiras (Fridays), terças-feiras (Tuesdays)

Noun + Verb

We are sure that you have already met similar words, just did not analyze which parts of speech are involved in their formation. Yes, even verbs are involved in this topic!

• guardar (to store) + roupa (clothes) = guarda-roupa (wardrobe)
• beijar (to kiss) + flor (flower) = beija-flor (hummingbird)
• parar (to stop) + brisa (wind) = pára-brisa (windshield)
• quebrar (to break) + mar (sea) = quebra-mar (breakwater)
• arranhar (to scratch) + céu (sky) = arranha-céu (skyscraper)

It is logical to assume that there can be no plural form, therefore only the second half of the word, which is a noun, changes:

guarda-roupas (wardrobes), beija-flores (hummingbirds), pára-brisas (windshields), quebra-mares (breakwaters), arranha-céus (skyscrapers)

Noun + Preposition + Noun

Are you surprised? Yes, there are words in Portuguese that have three parts of speech. The most popular words are formed as follows:

• dente (tooth) + de (preposition of ownership) + leão (lion) = dente-de-leão (dandelion)
• maçã (aple) + de (preposition of ownership) + adão (Adam) = maçã-de-Adão (Adam’s apple)

In this case, only the first part of the word takes on the plural form: dentes-de-leão (dandelions), pomos-de-adão (Adam’s apples).

Exceptional words

We looked at the most popular compound word schemes, but there are special words that are rare. However, they still exist, so it is necessary to recognize them. Instead of the first noun, a verb is sometimes found:

pôr (set) + do (preposition of ownership) + Sol (sun) = pôr-do-sol (sunset)
Surprisingly, despite the fact that “pôr” is a verb, the plural form is given to it by adding the ending “-es”: pores-do-sol (sunsets)

Another unique word also consists of three parts: adverbs, particles and verbs. But this time there is no hyphen between them: malmequer (forget-me-not). The plural ending is glued at the end of the word: malmequeres (forget-me-nots).

Abbreviations

We learned how compound nouns are created, but there is another extreme of word reduction. Of course, this is an unofficial rule, not an abbreviation, but a way to reduce the number of characters, thereby saving time. This is very popular when communicating on the Internet.

For example, the Portuguese necessarily abbreviate polite words: pf – por favor (please), sff – se faz favor (if you don’t mind), obg – obrigado/a (thank you). Similarly, other frequently occurring words in the text are abbreviated: n – não (no), tb – também (too), bjs – beijinhos (kisses), sds – saudades (miss you), ctg/cmg – contigo/comigo (with you / with me), pq – porque (why).

As you can guess, the days of the week are getting shorter. Despite the fact that the word “feira” (fair) can be omitted and the word will turn out to be short (quinta – Thursday, sexta – Friday), there is another way to shorten such words. Namely, use numerals: 2f – segunda-feira (Monday), 3f – terça-feira (Tuesday), and so on.

The most commonly used abbreviations that you may need first to decipher other people’s messages, and then for personal use are: msg – mensagem (message), tlm – telemóvel (mobile phone), vdd – verdade (true), amg – amigo (friend), qq – qualquer coisa (something).
Now try to understand the message below:

“Ola, amg!
Pq n respondes? Perdeste o tlm? Tou ocupado tmb, e vdd, mas tou com sdd tuas. Vamos aum café na 4f? Envia-me msg, pf.
Se precisas de qq, diz.
bjs”

Conclusion

Surprisingly, long compound nouns and shortening words to letters are two ways to make communication easier. In the first case, there is no need to invent a personal word, you can play on associations or the purpose of the object. In the second case, by removing all vowels, we save writing time. Perhaps, in this sense, the language is developing most intensively. That is, we know that laziness is the engine of progress, which is why we are increasingly inventing compound words and abbreviations!