Thread: European Portuguese

Is it true that European Portuguese is the flavour that most resembles the Spanish Language?? More than Brazilian Portuguese?

Your question sounds so straightforward, but it's a tricky one to answer, and it's all a matter of opinion.

In the area of conjugations, there are conjugations with indirect/direct objects in European Portuguese that are nothing like those in Spanish, but Brazilian conjugations closely resemble those in Spanish. One point for Brazil.

In Brazilian Portuguese there are many African words that do not exist in European Portuguese. One point for Portugal.

In Southern Brazil there are many words and even sentence structures that are from Spanish. Remember, that area was once under Spanish control. One point for Brazil.

And so it goes, back and forth - like a ping pong match.

Physically, Portugal and Spain are very close together, so one would expect a considerable mutual influence, whereas Brazil is quite isolated from neighboring Latin American countries. It is almost a continent in itself. The Andes and the Amazon have been unsurmountable barriers. Only Southern Brazil has received significant language and cultural influences, mainly from Uruguay and Argentina. So, in general, I would conclude that Portuguese Portuguese is more like Spanish than Brazilian Portuguese.

that's a hard one! although I don't know European Portuguese enough for a verdict, I'd agree with Thomas, there are times where European Portuguese is closer to Spanish and other times where it is miles away from it, the same goes for Brazilian Portuguese. Bottom line is that while they're very similar languages (Portuguese and Spanish) they're not the same neither in Brazil nor in Europe...

I think that the spelling rules for some words of European Portuguese are quite similar to Spanish. Overall, I think it is similar to Catalan. I mean, it is a mixture of Spanish and Catalan.

Originally Posted by mirta

I think that the spelling rules for some words of European Portuguese are quite similar to Spanish. Overall, I think it is similar to Catalan. I mean, it is a mixture of Spanish and Catalan.

Hi Mirta,

Which language do you think is a mixture of Spanish and Catalan? Not European Portuguese, by chance?

Greets,

Faraó

Hi!!

I have been told that many words which are grammatically correct in Portuguese (BRAZIL) are grammatically incorrect in Portuguese (PORTUGAL). Is that so? Because in Spanish, even though there are differences among the places where Spanish is spoken, the grammar remains the same.

Saludiños,


Bel

Hi mariabelen,

I think it is not a matter of grammatically wrong or right. We can't say that Brazilian or Portuguese grammar are wrong or right. The question is that both languages have differences, ortographically in particular.

The only grammar difference that I can remember right now is the position/order of pronouns in a sentence, and the most notable difference between both languages is with no doubt ortography.

Cumprimentos

Faraó