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Brazilian Portuguese Vocabulary: Only & Alone

Brazilian Portuguese Vocabulary: Only & Alone

posted on January 3, 2014

Online, I saw someone ask the question recently about the differences between three words in Brazilian Portuguese, all of them carry the meaning of “only” in English. The words are só, somente and apenas. Let’s take a look at the meanings and the examples I’ve created.

Só

As an adverb, só means “only” and as an adjective, it means “alone”. Be careful because the meaning of a sentence can change depending on where só is placed (when used as “only”), as you’ll see directly below.

  • Ela só trouxe uma mala para o aeroporto.

            = She only brought one bag to the airport (she didn’t bring more).

  • Só ela trouxe uma mala para o aeroporto.

             = Only she brought one bag to the airport (no one else brought one).

  • O homem estava só quando eu o vi na praça.

             = The man was alone when I saw him in the plaza.

In the picture above, the note reads: “Just for today” or “Only for today”.

Somente

  • Ela queria conversar, mas ele falava somente português.

            = She wanted to converse but he only spoke Portuguese.

In this sense, I can also use só with the same meaning:

  • Ela queria conversar, mas ele só falava português.

             = She wanted to converse but he only spoke Portuguese.

 

Apenas

This one is slightly different in that while it can mean “only”, it also means “just” and “merely” which aren’t all that different from “only”.

  • Viver é a coisa mais rara do mundo. A maioria das pessoas apenas existe.

             = Living is the strangest thing in the world. The majority of people merely exist.

 

Other Brazilian Portuguese Lessons:

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About Adam Lee

Adam is a writer and a researcher who has studied Brazilian culture for over a decade and created several Brazil-themed blogs going back to 2008. Having taught himself Portuguese, he put it to practical use by spending three years doing Brazil on a budget (and living in favelas), from Rio de Janeiro to the Amazon.

He now resides in Lisbon, Portugal, developing a startup and dreaming about having a beachside B&B in the Northeast of Brazil.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. PAOK

    August 29, 2021 at 11:18 am

    Bolches yarboclos

    Other use:
    Only she is in the airport.
    Só ela está no aeroporto.

    Reply

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