Turn this distinction into automatic recall
Falando teaches Brazilian Portuguese through grammar, vocabulary, audio, examples, and spaced review, so confusing pairs stop feeling like guesses.
Quick answer
Demais is a single adverb, pronoun, or adjective. De mais remains two words when de belongs to the surrounding structure.
A reliable test is to identify the job of the word before translating from English.
What each word does
demais
too much, very, or the others
Use demais for excessive degree, strong intensity, or the remaining people and things.
de mais
more than expected or of more
Use de mais for a prepositional combination opposed to de menos or used after certain nouns and pronouns.
How to choose
- demais: Choose demais if the sentence points to excessive degree, strong intensity, or the remaining people and things.
- de mais: Choose de mais if the sentence points to a prepositional combination opposed to de menos or used after certain nouns and pronouns.
Examples
A palestra demorou demais.
The talk took too long.
Não vi nada de mais no relatório.
I saw nothing unusual in the report.
Common trap
The fixed phrase nada de mais is written separately. With the sense “excessively,” as in falou demais, use one word.
Practice it in context
Pick one sentence from your real life and write it twice: once with demais, then once with de mais. If both versions feel possible, name the meaning shift.
Turn this distinction into automatic recall
Falando teaches Brazilian Portuguese through grammar, vocabulary, audio, examples, and spaced review, so confusing pairs stop feeling like guesses.