In Portuguese language classes you study about verbs, both in speech and in writing... and learn how they are used, don't you? And the actions that we develop all the time, such as running, walking, jumping, playing, studying... they all represent the verbs.
But, after all, were you curious to know which elements constitute them? Our! as the language we speak is rich in details, every day we have the opportunity to know a little more about them, and that's what we'll do from now on. Well, you will know which elements are these, just be very careful (a).
It's all very simple as there are only three. All of them (all three) can be called morphemes. Watch:
* Radical – represents a very important morpheme, as it contains the essential meaning of the verb. Let's see some examples?
STUDY -AIR
PUL – AR
CANT- AR
WRITE – ER
PART- GO
Do you know those parts that are shaded? So, they are exactly the ones that represent the radical, a little piece of the word that always remains the same.
* Thematic vowel – we can say that it is just a tiny letter that makes the connection between the radical and the morpheme that we do not know yet – the endings. In the Portuguese language there are three types of thematic vowels, they are:
A - characterizes the verbs belonging to the first conjugation:
CANT – THE - R
STUDY - THE – R
Look at her here, well highlighted!!!
E - characterizes the verbs of the second conjugation:
CORR - AND – R
SALE - AND - R
I - characterizes those who belong to the third conjugation:
SMILE - I – R
PART - I – R
Endings – are the morphemes that join both the stem and the thematic vowel to indicate the inflections of the verb, because, as you know, it is inflected in number, tense, person and mood. Thus, there are two types of endings: the number-personal endings and the mode-temporal endings. Let's know them in a moment:
WE SINGED -
CANTA– represents the connection made between the stem and the thematic vowel. This link is called a theme.
-SE – represents the tempo-mode ending – this ending indicates that the verb is found in the imperfect past tense (which is the tense) of the subjunctive (which is the mode).
-MOS – represents the personal-number ending – this ending indicates that the verb refers to the first person plural, that is, if we sang.
See how easy it is?
By Vânia Duarte
Graduated in Languages
