meu irmão
/mew iʁˈmɐ̃w̃/word by word
To say "my brother" in Portuguese, use meu irmão.
meu irmão refers to a male sibling of the speaker. In certain informal contexts, it can also be used to refer to a close male friend, similar to the English terms "my brother" or "bro".
How does it change in a sentence?
The possessive pronoun meu must agree in gender with the noun irmão. To make the phrase plural, both the possessive pronoun and the noun must change to their masculine plural forms: meus irmãos.
How do you pronounce it?
/mew iʁˈmɐ̃w̃/
When do people say it?
If you wish to express affection for a little brother, you can use the term Irmãozinho.
Did you know?
- The word irmão shares a root with the English word 'germinate', as both descend from the Proto-Indo-European root for 'seed' or 'offspring'.
- In Brazil, meu irmão is often shortened to meu mano or simply mano in street slang. This version is used even for people who are total strangers.
- In certain regions of Brazil, meu irmão can be used as a mild exclamation of disbelief or frustration, similar to saying 'man!' or 'come on!' in English.
Examples in context
- É o meu irmão.He is my brother.This sentence is useful for identifying someone as meu irmão.Tatoeba #7803038 by Ricardo14, translation #250680 by CK
- Ali é meu irmão.Ali is my brother.Tatoeba #4923314 by carlosalberto, translation #566755 by zaman_rasikh
- Meu irmão é mau.My brother is evil.This sentence is useful for describing a characteristic of meu irmão.Tatoeba #12411075 by Advanced, translation #2721760 by Hybrid
- 280 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Mariana and Gabriel are talking at a coffee shop.
- MarianaVocê conhece o meu irmão?Do you know my brother?
- GabrielNão, eu ainda não o vi.No, I haven't seen him yet.
- MarianaO meu irmão é muito simpático.My brother is very friendly.
- GabrielEle parece ser um bom rapaz.He seems to be a good guy.
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (meu, irmão) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries irmão, meu, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
