A2 (Elementary)Lesson 1: Present Continuous & Gerund
Brazilian Portuguese strongly prefers gerunds (-ando, -endo, -indo) in many contexts where European Portuguese and other languages use infinitives, making it a defining characteristic of Brazilian speech and essential for sounding authentically Brazilian.
Brazil: Continua chovendo (keeps raining)
Portugal: Continua a chover
After ficar, continuar, andar, vir, ir → gerund, not "a + infinitive"
Perception verbs take the gerund: Vejo ele correndo (I see him running)
Two actions at once → gerund: Trabalha cantando
Purpose still uses the infinitive: Estudo para aprender
The "a + infinitive" version sounds European or bookish in Brazil
Use an infinitive where a Brazilian expects a gerund and you'll instantly sound foreign — or oddly formal. This is one of the biggest splits between Brazilian and European Portuguese: a Brazilian says "Continua trabalhando", while "Continua a trabalhar" marks you as Portuguese or as someone who learned from a European textbook. Nail this one preference and your Portuguese will land as naturally, unmistakably Brazilian.
auxiliary/perception verb + gerund (Brazil) vs. verb + a/de + infinitive (Portugal)
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| Verb | Meaning | Brazil (gerund) | Portugal (infinitive) |
|---|---|---|---|
| continuar | to continue | continua fazendo | continua a fazer |
| ficar | to keep | fica falando | fica a falar |
| andar | to be doing lately | anda dizendo | anda a dizer |
| vir | to have been | vem melhorando | vem a melhorar |
| seguir | to keep on | segue trabalhando | segue a trabalhar |
| acabar | to end up | acaba concordando | acaba por concordar |
"O bebê continua dormindo" (The baby is still sleeping)
"Ela fica falando no telefone o dia todo" (She's on the phone all day long)
"Segue chovendo sem parar" (It keeps raining nonstop)
"Ando dormindo mal" (I've been sleeping badly lately)
"O calor vem aumentando" (The heat has been building up)
"A gente vem conversando sobre isso" (We've been talking about this)
"Vai esfriando à noite" (It gets colder as the night goes on)
"Começar" (to start) accepts both patterns:
Começa a chover (Starts to rain) — a bit more traditional
Começa chovendo (Starts raining) — increasingly common
Both sound fine in Brazil.
Continua chovendo ✓
Está nevando ✓
Vai esquentando ✓
But after a preposition, back to the infinitive: depois de chover, o sol volta (after it rains, the sun comes back)
Think the gerund is purely Brazilian? Even in Portugal it survives with the auxiliaries ir and vir — a Lisboner still says "vou vendo" (I'll see how it goes) and "olha quem vem chegando!" (look who's turning up!). Portugal only trades the gerund for a + infinitivo after estar, continuar, ficar and company. So Brazilians didn't invent this gerund — they just kept leaning on it where Portugal quietly narrowed it down. Source: Ciberdúvidas da Língua Portuguesa
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