Do you feel that speaking Portuguese gets more and more fun as you become more and more fluent?
Are your Portuguese lessons helping you become less and less shy to talk to people in Brazil?
Have you noticed that more and more people are interested in traveling and speaking foreign languages?
In this Portuguese lesson you will learn to say more and more and less and less in Portuguese. The examples in the lesson will get you ready to use your new Portuguese language structure with confidence.
This Portuguese lesson is organized in three parts:
- How to say more and more in Portuguese
- How to say less and less in Portuguese
- Special cases
More and more: Cada vez mais
The examples below show you how to use cada vez mais in Portuguese.
- Estou cada vez maisfluente em português. = I am more and more fluent in Portuguese.
- É cada vez maisfácil entender meus amigos brasileiros. = It is easier and easier to understand my Brazilian friends.
- Os aluguéis no Brasil estão cada vez mais = Rent in Brazil is more and more expensive.
- Cada vez maispessoas querem aprender português. = More and more people want to learn Portuguese.
- Te amo cada vez mais. = I love you more and more.
Less and less: Cada vez menos
The examples below show you how to use cada vez menos in Portuguese.
- É cada vez menosdifícil entender meus amigos brasileiros. = It is less and less difficult to understand my Brazilian friends.
- Parece que eu tenho cada vez menostempo livre. = It seems that I have less and less free time.
- Em tempos de crise econômica, as pessoas sorriem cada vez menos. = In times of economic crisis, people smile less and less.
- Estou tomando cada vez menoscafé e cada vez mais chá. = I am drinking less and less coffee and more and more tea.
- Antônio tem trabalhado muito e tem passado cada vez menostempo com a família. = Antônio has been working a lot and has been spending less and less time with his family.
Some augmentatives are irregular in Portuguese. I have a lesson about that right here!
When that is the case, your structure using more and more in Portuguese will be different.
1. Cada vez maior: Bigger and bigger
Grande = big. We cannot say “mais grande”. We say maior = bigger.
- Meu amor por você é cada vez maior. = My love for you is bigger and bigger.
2. Cada vez menor = smaller and smaller
Pequeno = small. In Brazil we cannot say “mais pequeno” (in Portugal you can). We say menor = smaller.
- As famílias brasileiras estão cada vez menores. = The Brazilian families are smaller and smaller.
3. Cada vez melhor = better and better
Bom, boa = good.
Bem = well.
In Portuguese we cannot say “mais bom” or “mais bem”. We say melhor = better.
- Os telefones celulares estão cada vez melhores. = Cell phones are better and better.
- Gabriel está falando português cada vez melhor. = Gabriel is speaking Portuguese better and better.
If you’re wondering about the difference between bom and bem, I have a lesson that explains it!
4. Cada vez pior = worse and worse
Mau, má = bad.
Mal = bad. (Yes, these are different in Portuguese. Mau is the opposite of good. Mal is the opposite of well.)
We cannot say “mais mau”or “mais mal”. We say pior = worse.
- O trânsito nas grandes cidades está cada vez pior. = Traffic in the big cities is worse and worse.
- Paula está com uma virose muito forte e está se sentindo cada vez pior. = Paula’s got a bad flu and is feeling worse and worse.
The trick to speak Portuguese correctly and with confidence is very simple: You need to practice with a real person in real-life situations.
Street Smart Brazil offers one-on-one, live, online Portuguese lessons. Enjoy your own private Brazilian Portuguese tutor and learn Portuguese from wherever you are in the world.
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(This Portuguese lesson was originally published in 2013 and has been updated to include a video lesson.)