A2 (Elementary)Lesson 7: Comparisons & Connectors
Four small words join almost everything: e adds, mas contrasts, ou offers a choice, porque gives the reason. Then there is the famous complication — porque, por que, porquê and por quê are four different things — and the set Brazilians actually speak with, which is aí, então, por isso and só que.
e = and · mas = but · ou = or · porque = because
e is pronounced like the letter i, but always written e
No comma before the final e in a list: pão, leite e ovos
Starting a sentence with mas is completely normal
ou… ou = either… or; ou also softens numbers: cinco ou seis
The four porquês: porque (answer) · por que (question) · por quê (end of sentence) · porquê (noun)
Rule of thumb: two words to ask, one word to answer
In speech the real workhorses are aí, então, por isso and só que
Without connectors you speak in telegrams: "Fui. Choveu. Voltei." With them you sound like a person: "Fui, mas choveu, então voltei." Four small words cover most of it, and you already half-know them. The part worth slowing down for is the four porquês — the single spelling problem that Brazilians themselves get wrong often enough that it turns up in every exam and every office argument. Learn those four, pick up aí and então, and you can tell a story instead of listing facts.
clause + e / mas / ou / porque + clause · por que (question) vs porque (answer) · aí, então, por isso (spoken)
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| word | what it does | example |
|---|---|---|
| e | adds | "Trabalho e estudo." (I work and study.) |
| mas | contrasts | "Quero ir, mas não posso." (I want to go, but I can't.) |
| ou | offers a choice | "Café ou chá?" (Coffee or tea?) |
| porque | gives the reason | "Fiquei em casa porque choveu." (I stayed home because it rained.) |
One pronunciation note before anything else: e is said like the letter i. Café e leite comes out sounding like "café i leite" — but you never write it that way.
"Acordei cedo e fui trabalhar." (I woke up early and went to work.)
"Quero ir, mas não tenho dinheiro." (I want to go, but I don't have the money.)
"Vamos de carro ou de metrô?" (Shall we go by car or by metro?)
"Comprei o ingresso porque o show é amanhã." (I bought the ticket because the show is tomorrow.)
"Pizza ou hambúrguer?" (Pizza or burger?)
"Ou você paga agora, ou paga depois." (Either you pay now, or you pay later.)
"É pegar ou largar." (Take it or leave it.)
"Uns dez ou doze reais." (Around ten or twelve reais.)
English lets you write "bread, milk, and eggs". Portuguese does not:
✅ "Comprei arroz, feijão e carne." · ❌ arroz, feijão, e carne
A comma does appear before e when the two halves have different subjects and you want a pause: "Ela saiu, e ninguém percebeu."
You may have been told that a sentence cannot begin with a conjunction. In Portuguese it plainly can, and it does so constantly — in print, in speech and in headlines:
"Mas e agora?" (But now what?)
"Mas que calor!" (But it's hot!)
Mas and mais are the same word twice: both come down from Latin magis, "more", the comparative of magnus, "great". In older Portuguese mas was simply used the way mais is used now, and Brazilian dictionaries still record the origin flatly as do lat. magis — the contrast sense arrived later. So the little word that runs this lesson's contrasts and the one that ran the last two lessons' comparisons are long-separated twins. Sources: Origem da Palavra · Dicionário Aulete.
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