You might even be surprised to discover that you commit some of them without realizing it.
Portuguese mistakes are part of everyone’s daily life — even the most experienced and demanding teachers.
After all, the language is full of rules, exceptions and gotchas that can confuse even those who speak the language well.
Sometimes, the rush when speaking or writing is enough to slip into constructions that, after hearing so much, seem correct.
Therefore, it is worth reviewing some of the most common Portuguese mistakes that go unnoticed.
You might even be surprised to discover that you commit some of them without realizing it.
6 Portuguese mistakes that even the most demanding teachers make without realizing it
1. “Between you and me”
This is one of the most classic Portuguese mistakes. The correct way is “between you and me”.
This is because, after prepositions (such as “entre”, “de”, “para”), the pronoun must be in oblique form — that is, “mim”, “ti”, “si”. Saying “between you and me” is a very common mistake, even among teachers.
2. “There were problems”
Another frequent slip-up. The verb “haver”, when used in the sense of “exist”, is impersonal.
Therefore, it is always in the singular: “there were problems”.
The same goes for “there were doubts”, “there were people” and so on.
3. “If I see”
This confuses a lot of people. The correct one is “if I see it”.
The verb “see”, in the future subjunctive, becomes “to come”.
So, phrases like “if I see you tomorrow” should be replaced with “if I see you tomorrow”.
4. “It’s been ten years”
Even those who have a good command of Portuguese tend to make mistakes here.
The verb “to do”, when it indicates elapsed time, is also impersonal.
Therefore, it must remain in the singular: “ten years ago”.
The same goes for “it’s been two months”, “it’s been a long time”, etc.
5. “Watch the movie”
Although it seems right, the correct thing is to “watch to the film”.
The verb “assistir”, in the sense of “see” or “witness”, requires the preposition “a”.
Thus, the same applies to phrases like “attend class” and “watch the game”.
6. “Among the more than a thousand students, none came”
Here the error is in the agreement. The subject is “none”, singular, and not “students”.
Therefore, the truth is “none came”.
This type of confusion is common in sentences with words that give the idea of plural, but whose nucleus is singular.
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