gêmeos
/ˈʒẽ.mjus/
The English phrase "twins" is translated into Portuguese as gêmeos.
The term is used to describe two children born from the same pregnancy. While gêmeos is often used in common speech to imply identical twins, you can be more specific by using gêmeos idênticos for identical twins or gêmeos fraternos (or gêmeos não idênticos) for fraternal twins.
Which one should you use?
In common usage, gêmeos is frequently used to imply identical twins, whereas the technical term for identical twins is monozigóticos. To specify that twins are fraternal, you should use gêmeos fraternos.
How does it change in a sentence?
The word changes gender depending on whom you are describing. The form gêmea refers to a single female twin, while the plural form gêmeas is used specifically when referring to two female twins.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈʒẽ.mjus/. The word has 2 syllables, and the stress is on the 1st syllable.
Did you know?
- Portuguese has a specific term gêmeos univitelinos to describe identical twins, which literally translates to 'single-yolk twins'.
- In Brazil, the word gêmeos is sometimes used colloquially to describe any two things that look exactly alike, such as two identical cars or houses.
- The word gêmeo shares a linguistic root with the zodiac sign Gemini, which in Portuguese is Gêmeos.
Examples in context
- Ela deu à luz gêmeos.She gave birth to twins.This sentence is useful for describing the act of giving birth to gêmeos.Tatoeba #1141714 by alexmarcelo, translation #312090 by CK
- Tom e John são gêmeos.Tom and John are twins.This sentence is useful for stating that two people are gêmeos.Tatoeba #4453018 by Ricardo14, translation #3956086 by CK
- Meus filhos são gêmeos.My children are twins.This sentence is useful for describing one's children as being gêmeos.Tatoeba #3436832 by Welton, translation #1744418 by Djef_Messaoudi
- Eles são gêmeosThey are twins
- Meu irmão é gêmeoMy brother is a twin
- Meus primos são irmãos gêmeosMy cousins are twin brothers
- Pablo e Pedro são gêmeos idênticos e gostam de jogar futebol juntos.Pablo and Pedro are identical twins and they love playing soccer together.
- Minhas irmãs são gêmeas fraternas e têm personalidades bem diferentes.My sisters are fraternal twins, and they have very different personalities.
- Eu sou a mais velha dos três pares de irmãos gêmeos na minha família.I am the oldest of the three sets of twin siblings in my family.
- 46 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Mariana and Lucas are looking at a photo album.
- MarianaQuem são esses meninos na foto?Who are these boys in the photo?
- LucasEles são meus primos gêmeos.They are my twin cousins.
- MarianaNossa, eles são idênticos!Wow, they are identical!
- LucasSim, os gêmeos são muito parecidos.Yes, the twins are very similar.
Sources
- Pronunciation from the Wiktionary entry Gêmeos.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
