Say you and a friend are talking about Brazilian music. Your friend mentions Vanessa da Mata and you want to say that you like Marisa Monte even more. This is what I am going to show you today: How to communicate ideas such as “even more”, “even less”, “even better”, etc.

You do this using the word Ainda.

Ainda is one of those words that can be so useful in everyday conversations, but tend to be overlooked by Portuguese learners and teachers.

In this lesson you will learn this very useful and practical use of Ainda through nine real-life examples.

Even if you do not like grammar, you will learn this easily. Just observe the examples and their translation into English.

Ainda = Even

We use Ainda with an adjective or an adverb to say “even more”, “even less”, “even better”, “even worse”, etc.

I will break my examples in two parts: regular and irregular comparatives.

1) Use Ainda with a regular comparative to say “even more” or “even less”

Example 1

Carla: Vanessa da Mata tem uma voz linda.

Paula: Marisa Monte tem a voz ainda mais bonita.

Translation:

Carla: Vanessa da Mata has a beautiful voice.

Paula: Marisa Monte has an even more beautiful voice.

Example 2

Rodrigo: Que restaurante caro!

Milena: Aquele do outro lado da rua é ainda mais caro.

Translation:

Rodrigo: What an expensive restaurant!

Milena: That one across the street is even more expensive.

Example 3

Helena: Joana fala demais.

Felipe: Francisco fala ainda mais.

Translation:

Helena: Joana talks too much.

Felipe: Francisco talks even more.

Example 4

In a bookstore:

Helena: Já li esse livro. Não é muito bom

Felipe: Esse outro aqui é ainda menos interessante.

Translation:

Helena: I’ve read this book. It’s not very good.

Felipe: This other one here is even less interesting.

Example 5

Cristina: Carla come pouco.

Priscila: Ana come ainda menos.

Translation:

Cristina: Carla eats little.

Priscila: Ana eats even less.

2) Remember the irregular comparatives

Example 1

Joana is recovering from the flu:

Joana: Estou melhor hoje.

Felipe: Fique mais um dia em casa e amanhã você vai se sentir ainda melhor.

Translation:

Joana: I am better today.

Felipe: Stay at home one more day and tomorrow you will feel even better.

Example 2

Diogo: O trânsito é péssimo em Recife.

Cleo: É ainda pior em São Paulo.

Translation:

Diogo: Traffic is terrible in Recife.

Cleo: It is even worse in São Paulo.

Example 3

Diogo: Recife é uma cidade grande.

Cleo: São Paulo é ainda maior.

Translation:

Diogo: Recife is a big city.

Cleo: São Paulo is even bigger.

Example 4

Diogo: Paraty é uma cidade pequena.

Cleo: Búzios é ainda menor.

Translation:

Diogo: Paraty is a small city.

Cleo: Búzios is even smaller.

In summary

• Ainda mais … = even more …
• Ainda menos … = even less …

Irregular comparatives:

• Ainda melhor = even better
• Ainda pior = even worse
• Ainda maior = even bigger
• Ainda menor = even smaller

I hope you will enjoy using your new expressions. Just remember that Ainda has other meanings in different contexts. More about that later.