B2 (Upper Intermediate)Lesson 8: Normative Essentials
Agreement ties words together inside the sentence. In more monitored writing, nominal and verbal agreement becomes a central norm.
Nominal agreement works inside the noun phrase
Verbal agreement links the verb to the subject
Collectives and fixed expressions deserve special attention
agreement inside noun phrase / subject-verb agreement
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Inside the noun phrase, articles, numerals, adjectives, and some quantifiers agree with the noun.
The finite verb agrees with the grammatical subject.
Collective and partitive expressions can attract singular or plural depending on the construction and focus: "a maioria das pessoas chegou/chegaram".
Some fixed expressions are especially important in monitored writing: "é proibido/proibida", "obrigado/obrigada".
Spoken usage sometimes relaxes agreement, but formal writing usually keeps it.
Agreement depends on syntactic structure, not just semantic meaning.
| Portuguese | Meaning |
|---|---|
| As casas antigas foram vendidas. | The old houses were sold. |
| A maioria das pessoas chegou cedo. | Most people arrived early. |
| A maioria das pessoas chegaram cedo. | Most people arrived early. |
| Entrada proibida. | Entry prohibited. |
| Muito obrigada. | Thank you very much. |
| Os documentos estavam organizados. | The documents were organized. |
Some partitive constructions allow more than one agreement pattern.
Informal speech may tolerate structures that look weak in formal writing.
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