{"id":23789,"date":"2025-09-04T14:41:56","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T19:41:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/world-languages-cultures\/?page_id=23789"},"modified":"2025-09-04T14:41:58","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T19:41:58","slug":"inclusive-language-in-portuguese","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/world-languages-cultures\/students\/undergraduates\/portuguese\/inclusive-language-in-portuguese\/","title":{"rendered":"Inclusive Language in Portuguese\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This website offers suggestions on how to use the Portuguese language in a more inclusive way and provides suggestions for how to use gender-neutral forms. Our purpose in providing these options is not to dictate rules or determine how people should identify themselves, but rather to enable students and instructors of Portuguese to express their identities through more inclusive language, even though such a system does not yet exist in the standard language. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The non-binary language system adopted here only applies to people, not to inanimate objects or animals. The masculine\/feminine forms for objects and animals remain the same. For example, the sentence \u201cEssa<\/em><\/strong> \u00e9 <\/em>a minha cadeira<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em>\u201d does not change. In addition, words used to refer to people that do not mark gender also remain the same, such as \u201cEu<\/em><\/strong> sou <\/em>inteligente<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em>\u201d \u201cPor que <\/em>voc\u00ea<\/em><\/strong> est\u00e1 <\/em>triste<\/em><\/strong>?\u201d, \u201cTu<\/em><\/strong> deste-<\/em>lh<\/em><\/strong>e o presente.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since there is no accepted standard yet, different speakers may choose to use different gender-neutral forms (See https:\/\/nonbinary.wiki\/wiki\/Gender_neutral_language_in_Portuguese<\/a>), and these forms may continue to evolve over time, but the suggested endings in the following table are based on the \u00c9lu\/\u00calu pronoun system and the neutral ending -e. This information is adapted from the 2021 document \u201cGuia de linguagem n\u00e3o bin\u00e1ria ou neutra em portugu\u00eas\u201d, created by Cristiane Soares, Coordinator of the Portuguese Program at Harvard University. For further details on neutral forms, see Gioni Ca\u00ea Almeida\u2019s “Manual para o uso da linguagem neutra em L\u00edngua Portuguesa”<\/a> (2020). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The use of non-binary forms takes time and practice, especially for people who are accustomed to using the binary system, such as native-speakers, teachers and advanced language learners of Portuguese. Mistakes will certainly be made, so it is important that students and teachers be understanding and help each other in what is a process of learning for all of us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resumo das formas gramaticais masculinas, femininas e neutras<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/th>Masculino<\/th>Feminino<\/th>Neutro<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
I. PRONOMES DE TERCEIRA PESSOA (THIRD PERSON PRONOUNS)<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Pronomes pessoais (Subject pronouns)<\/strong> <\/td>ele, eles <\/td>ela, elas <\/td>elu, elus <\/td><\/tr>
Contra\u00e7\u00e3o pronome<\/strong> + preposi\u00e7\u00e3o DE (Contractions w\/ DE)<\/strong> <\/td>dele, deles <\/td>dela, delas <\/td>delu, delus <\/td><\/tr>
Contra\u00e7\u00e3o pronome<\/strong> + preposi\u00e7\u00e3o EM<\/strong> (Contractions w\/ EM)<\/strong> <\/td>nele, neles <\/td>nela, nelas <\/td>nelu, nelus <\/td><\/tr>
Pronomes obl\u00edquos (Object pronouns)<\/strong> <\/td>o, os lo, los <\/td>a, as la, las <\/td>e, es le, les <\/td><\/tr>
II. DETERMINANTES E NUMERAIS (DETERMINERS AND NUMBERS)<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Artigos definidos (Definite articles)<\/strong> <\/td>o, os <\/td>a, as <\/td>le, les <\/td><\/tr>
Artigos indefinidos (Indefinite articles)<\/strong> <\/td>um, uns <\/td>uma, umas <\/td>ume, umes <\/td><\/tr>
Possessivos<\/strong> (Possessives)<\/strong> <\/td>meu, meus  
teu, teus 
seu, seus nosso, nossos <\/td>		minha, minhas 
tua, tuas sua, suas nossa, nossas <\/td>		minhe, minhes 
tue, tues sue, sues nosse, nosses <\/td><\/tr>
Demonstrativos<\/strong> (Demonstratives)<\/strong> <\/td>este, estes 
esse, esses 
aquele, aqueles <\/td>		esta, estas 
essa, essas 
aquela, aquelas <\/td>		estu, estus 
essu, essus 
aquelu, aquelus <\/td><\/tr>
 Numerais (Numbers)<\/strong> <\/td>um 
dois <\/td>		uma 
duas <\/td>		ume 
dues <\/td><\/tr>
III. NOMES E ADJETIVOS (NOUNS AND ADJECTIVES)<\/strong> <\/td><\/tr>
Nomes e adjetivos terminados em \u2013o, \u2013a<\/strong> 
*Mudan\u00e7a ortogr\u00e1fica (Nouns & adjectives ending in -o, -a)<\/strong> 
*Spelling change<\/strong> <\/td>		menino, meninos 
aluno, alunos 
tio, tios 
querido, queridos 
cansado, cansados amigo, amigos 
m\u00e9dico, m\u00e9dicos <\/td>		menina, meninas 
aluna, alunas 
tia, tias 
querida, queridas 
cansada, cansadas amiga, amigas 
m\u00e9dica, m\u00e9dicas <\/td>		menine, menines 
alune, alunes 
tie, ties 
queride, querides 
cansade, cansades 
amigue, amigues* m\u00e9dique, m\u00e9diques* <\/td><\/tr>
Outras termina\u00e7\u00f5es<\/strong> 
de nomes<\/strong> 
(Other noun endings)<\/strong> <\/td>		professor, professores espanhol, espanh\u00f3is irm\u00e3o, irm\u00e3os  <\/td>professora, professoras espanhola, espanholas irm\u00e3, irm\u00e3s <\/td>professore, professories espanhole, espanholies irmane, irmanes <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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