Vocabulary · Brazilian Portuguese

Shapes in Brazilian Portuguese

The shapes in Portuguese, from círculo and quadrado to cubo and pirâmide, each with audio and an example sentence, plus the words Brazilians use to describe how things look: redondo, reto, pontudo.

21 words, each with audio · Quiz and flashcards

Shapes in Portuguese, with audio

Flat shapes

Flat shapes in Portuguese
Portuguese	English	Example
o círculo	circle	Desenhe um círculo no meio da folha.Draw a circle in the middle of the page.
o quadrado	square	O tabuleiro tem sessenta e quatro quadrados.The board has sixty-four squares.
o triângulo	triangle	Corta o sanduíche em triângulos, por favor.Cut the sandwich into triangles, please.
o retângulo	rectangle	A piscina tem a forma de um retângulo.The pool is shaped like a rectangle.
a oval	ovalAlso an adjective, the same for both genders: uma mesa oval.	Ela desenhou uma oval para fazer o rosto.She drew an oval for the face.
o losango	diamond, rhombus	A bandeira do Brasil tem um losango amarelo.Brazil's flag has a yellow diamond.
a estrela	star	As crianças recortaram estrelas de papel.The kids cut out paper stars.
o coração	heart	Ela mandou um coração no fim da mensagem.She sent a heart at the end of the message.
o pentágono	pentagon	Um pentágono tem cinco lados.A pentagon has five sides.
o hexágono	hexagon	O piso do banheiro é de hexágonos.The bathroom floor is made of hexagons.

Solid shapes

Solid shapes in Portuguese
Portuguese	English	Example
o cubo	cube	Coloca dois cubos de gelo no meu suco.Put two ice cubes in my juice.
a esfera	sphere	A Terra não é uma esfera perfeita.The Earth isn't a perfect sphere.
o cilindro	cylinder	Uma lata de refrigerante é um cilindro.A soda can is a cylinder.
o cone	cone	Colocaram cones laranja na rua.They put orange cones in the street.
a pirâmide	pyramid	Meu sonho é ver as pirâmides do Egito.My dream is to see the pyramids of Egypt.

Lines and describing

Lines and describing in Portuguese
Portuguese	English	Example
a linha	line	Escreva o nome na primeira linha.Write your name on the first line.
o ponto	point, dot	Ligue os pontos para formar o desenho.Join the dots to make the picture.
a curva	curve; bend	Vá devagar, a estrada tem muita curva.Go slowly, the road has lots of bends.
reto, reta	straightSempre reto is how directions say “straight ahead”.	Siga reto até o semáforo.Go straight until the traffic light.
redondo, redonda	round	A gente sentou numa mesa redonda.We sat at a round table.
pontudo, pontuda	pointed, pointy	Cuidado, essa faca é bem pontuda.Careful, that knife is really pointy.

How Brazilians use them

Shapes as adjectives

Several shapes double as adjectives and agree like any other: uma mesa redonda, um rosto quadrado, uma janela quadrada. Quadrado can also describe a person as square or old-fashioned: Meu pai é muito quadrado.

The losango on Brazil's flag

Brazil's flag is a yellow losango on green, with a blue globe in the middle full of stars, one for each state and the Federal District. The diamond is the shape most Brazilians picture first when they hear the word.

Practise

Quick quiz · question 1 of 8

What does curva mean?

Questions

How do you say circle in Portuguese?

Círculo, a masculine noun: o círculo. For the adjective round, Brazilians say redondo, redonda.

What are the shapes in Portuguese?

The basic ones are círculo (circle), quadrado (square), triângulo (triangle), retângulo (rectangle), losango (diamond), estrela (star) and coração (heart). Solid shapes include cubo, esfera, cilindro, cone and pirâmide.

Is “quadrado” masculine or feminine?

As a noun it's masculine: o quadrado, a square. As an adjective it agrees with the noun, so uma mesa quadrada but um prato quadrado.

More Portuguese words

Meet these words in real Brazilian stories

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