Written Vs. Spoken Portuguese

Colloquial Portuguese: Putting “Não” At The End of Sentences

One of the most important things to bear in mind when learning Portuguese is that there is a big difference between written Portguese, which is more formal and sticks to the grammar books, and oral Portuguese, which is a whole different story.

One place where this becomes apparent is the use of the word “não” in creating a negative sentence. Gramatically speaking, it is incorrect to place “não” at the end of the sentence; logistically, it is constantly placed at the end of the sentence in spoken Portuguese. Though technically, this structure is grammatically incorrect, it is frequently used this way in the oral form, usually in a response to a question.

Let’s take a look.

How it’s written: Não quero ir na festa. I don’t want to go to the party.

How it’s spoken: Quero ir na festa não. I don’t want to go to the party.

To be safe, stick to the grammar rules when writing, be it a term paper or a business email, but when spoken, it’s ok to speak like the Brazilians do.

Let’s look at a few more examples we’re likely to hear in spoken Portuguese.

Sei não, cara. I don’t know, man.

Podemos ir não. We can’t go.

Gosta não. She doesn’t like it.

Tá triste não. He’s not sad.