Comparative Grammar in Five Romance Languages:: Elements of

ELEMENTS OF
COMPARATIVE
GRAMMAR IN FIVE
ROMANCE LANGUAGES :
PORTUGUESE, SPANISH,
FRENCH, ITALIAN,
ROMANIAN
AN OUTLINE FOR INTERCOMPREHENSION
FABIO DE CASTRO JUVENCIO

ZAMPIERI 1
2
3
4
ELEMENTS OF COMPARATIVE GRAMMAR IN
FIVE ROMANCE LANGUAGES:
PORTUGUESE, SPANISH, FRENCH, ITALIAN,
ROMANIAN
AN OUTLINE FOR INTERCOMPREHENSION
FABIO DE CASTRO JUVENCIO
ZAMPIERI
5
Copyright © 2020 by Fabio de Castro Juvencio
Revision: Mariana Tavares, Marisa Bustamante
1st Edition 2020

ISBN XX XXXX XXXXXX
Zampieri
https://zampieri.discotheca.com
6
Aos meus pais, Aloísio e Maria Elise;
À Mariana, ao Tomás e ao Pedro
7
8
Preface 11
How to use this book 13
1.1 GRAMMAR Elements of Speech: ARTICLES 18
1.2 GRAMMAR Elements of Speech: PREPOSITIONS 25
1.3 GRAMMAR Elements of Speech: CONJUNCTIONS 32
1.4 GRAMMAR Elements of Speech: PRONOUMS 39
2.1 LEXICAL Elements of Speech: VERB 55
2.2 LEXICAL Elements of Speech: NOUN 86
2.3 LEXICAL Elements of Speech: ADJECTIVE 99
2.4 LEXICAL Elements of Speech: ADVERB 107
Appendix: NUMERALS 115
Appendix: CALENDAR 123
Appendix: PHONETIC TABLE 128
References 133
ABOUT THIS BOOK 146
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10
PREFACE
R
omance languages are languages that stem directly from
Latin, notably the vulgar Latin applied in different
geographies where the languages evolved, as detected in
the very origin of the term “romance", the adjective
“romanicus”, literally meaning “roman".
Today the number of the five most widely used Romance

languages speakers (native or as a second language) are
estimated at more than 1.5 billion. For the significance of such
presence and its impact in the world, this book is a feeble
attempt to provide native and second-language speakers of
Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian and Romanian, our five
most widely used Romance languages, an overview of their
similarities, commonalities and congruencies.
There are several Romance language elements that overlap

themselves, in a way that makes possible, to a certain extent
and exclusively dependent on one’s ability to focus, practice
and express, a certain degree of mutual comprehension. In
writing and reading inasmuch as in oral communication,
overcome, of course, a series of linguistic obstacles such as
dialectal variations, accents and vocabulary (which can
eventually present a daunting drawback), the reader of this
book should be armed with enough knowledge to tackle the
distinctive problem of intercomprehension.
__
A difficult decision was made in regards to the book

language itself. A choice for one Romance language or another
would have caused a bias towards one (or another). So the
11
decision to use English instead serves a double purpose: provide
ampler audience for any non-Romance language speaker
worldwide, assuming English is the most used second language,
and at the same time suitable for any Romance language
speaker who is looking for an approximation to another (or
several) Romance language, but needs an introducer or
intermediate agent. English the most obvious choice again.
Perhaps a future rendition of the work would bear a version of
each Romance language and each speaker could feel even more
at home when perusing its contents.
Each language has grown to acquire its own peculiarities.

Even more when comparing to Latin and also apparent when
comparing between Romance languages. Touching upon the
very similarities of each Element of Speech becomes the
touchstone of the present work.
With that said, on you go to the next section. Indulge my

idiosyncrasies and please feel free to direct any comments to
webmaster@discotheca.com. Thanks!
The author
Florida, 2020
12
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
T
his book has been based upon grammar elements that
exist in all Romance languages. This should not come as
surprise, given the common Latin origins all share.
Throughout the selected elements of speech, only where there is
enough common ground to create a comfortable zone for the
native speaker rests the focus. Therefore, rather than
exhaustively detain itself on every single grammar element that
evolved from each language, the book simply centers on where
there are obvious overlaps. For example, rather than compare
all verb moods and tenses for each language (and plenty of
verb books have exactly that, just check References at the end
of this book), the decision was to compare only the moods and
tenses that appear in all five languages: indicative present, past,
future, subjunctive, imperative, infinitive and participle.
For convenience, a distinct separation was made between

two categories of Elements of Speech: Grammar and Lexical.
Each part of the book is devoted to one of the two categories.
Part I delves into Grammar Elements of Speech, defined as the
fundamental basis for language structure and where we find the
most frequent words in all areas of speech, and in all languages.
According to numerous authors, and our opinion as well,
mastering those Elements will greatly accelerate inter-
comprehension fluency. The Grammar Elements of Speech,
each deserving its own chapter, are Articles, Pronouns
(personal, possessive, demonstrative and indefinite),
Prepositions and Conjunctions.
Part II discourses over Lexical Elements of Speech, words

much more numerous, but less frequent in speech. The Lexicon
13
is comprised of Verbs, Nouns, Adjectives and Adverbs1, again
each one deserving its own chapter.
Each chapter has comparison tables in which all languages

are placed next to the other, ordered by columns. This method
should facilitate intercomprehension and fast comparison of
familiar forms to one speaker of a particular language.
Instructions on how to read any extra columns containing
content are given when needed. And for English-only speakers,
free translations are provided thereafter.
The reader can jump right to the chapter or element of

speech of interest to consult specific topics, or simply follow the
given order for larger fruition. The appendices are also part of
the corpus and should provide substantive information as well.
Overall, the work derives massively from previous efforts

from linguists of ere, listed in References. In particular I would
highlight other intercomprehension works, such as Teyssier (in
French) and Brito et al (in Portuguese).
And on a more technical note, this book follows a few

conventions. Any Romance language word in the text is noted
in italic. When introducing an examplary form that will apply
to a table or entire element of speech (of course given the
existence of similar forms in other languages), the Portuguese
form (or phoneme) will be chosen to designate the spectrum of
forms. Thus, the use of “ser" or “estar" will designate the
whole "to be" family of verbs in all five languages.
Another important aspect of the book is the author’s

attempt to systematize and create an overarching taxonomy for
1 It is advised that the reader possesses some degree of solid understanding of such terms and
their definitions, meanings and feelings in his/her own original maternal language to facilitate
and expedite intercomprehension. Check our reading suggestions under References, in
particular English grammars for English speakers.
14
all eight Elements of Speech. The graphical representation of
this taxonomy is shown here.
Language
Element of Speech
Mood
Tense
Number
Person
Gender
Case
Degree
Form
An example of how the taxonomy model displays for the

verb ser (to be) in Portuguese, first person singular, indicative
present is:
Português
Verbo "ser"
Indicativo
Presente
Singular
Primeira
15
—
sou
As we can see, not all taxonomy categories apply to every

Element of Speech. In the verb example, there are no apparent
Case or Degree, and it can also be that some Moods will not
need Number as well. And consequently, an invariate Element
of Speech such as Conjunction will only have the obvious
Language and Element of Speech categories, besides irs form.
In terms of vocabulary, since each chapter will present

several full examples of forms in all five languages, and
depending on the Element of Speech, stressing similarities and
reinforcing memorization is key.
16
17
PART 1
1.1 GRAMMAR ELEMENTS OF SPEECH:
ARTICLES
A
rticles help define number, gender and designation of
other lexical elements of speech, such as nouns or
adjectives. As such they can be divided into two
categories: Definite (“the”) or Indefinite (“a”, “some"). When
we apply our taxonomy to the Portuguese article “as” (“as
meninas estão lendo as revistas” - the girls are reading the
magazines) we have:
Português
Artigo
Plural
Feminino
Definido
as
18
Articles are called Artigos, Artigos, Articles, Articoli,
Articole in Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian and Romanian,
respectively. The repetitiveness of the list and how familiar they
look and sound2 is what drives this book.
Definite Article
Definite articles share a resonant ancestrality to Latin

pronoun ille (masc.), illa (fem.), illud (neut.), weakened through
Vulgar Latin to become a mere designation of something and
thus the forms of le, la, il, le that we will find today.
Here are the forms for definite articles in all five languages.
The first colum brings Number and has "S" for Singular and
"P" for Plural. The second colum has Gender and brings “M"
for masculine and “F" feminine. When necessary, we will be
using “N"for neuter.
PT ES FR IT RO
nom., acc. gen., dat.
M o el / lo* le il, lo -(u)l, -le, -a -(u)lui

S
F a la la la -a, -(u)a -i
M os los les i, gli -i -lor
P
F as las les le -le -lor
* Neuter3
2 Refer to the Appendix Phonetic Table, devoted to phonetics and sounds on all five languages.
3Remarkably, Spanish conserves the neuter lo as a real neuter article, different from any other
Romance languages, to distinguish specifics from something, as in lo original de su carácter or
no me olvido lo cuanto te debo.
19
Romanian has a third Gender, neuter, which is not shown in
the table since it uses the masculine article in the singular and
the feminie in the plural4. Futhermore, other distinctions set
Romanian apart from the other compared Romance languages.
First, the articles are placed at the end of the words, as
desinences, said enclitic. Second, they have inflections
(declensions) in four cases: nominative, accusative, genitive
and dative. Third, depending on the word’s ending, they can
have one form or another. E.g., domn receives an extra “u"
besides the “l" thus becoming domnul (the house) and so elev,
becoming elevul (the student). Whereas ministru simply receives
an “l", thus ministrul (the minister).
French and Italian can produce elisions, not shown in the

table, when the article precedes a word beginning with vowels,
e.g., l’eau, l’acqua. Other not so evident rules for Italian
articles, such as the use of gli or i before certain sounds, should
be taken into consideration5.
Let’s now fill in the table with some of the common nouns.
Note the elisions in French and Italian, as mentioned above.
PT ES FR IT RO
M o homem el hombre l’homme l’uomo omul omului

S
F a vida la vida la vie la vita viața vieții
os los les gli

M oameni oamenilor
P homens hombres hommes uomini
4 Please refer to Romanian grammars in Reference for more.
5Please refer to Italian grammars in References for a more in depth analysis of this
phenomenon. In esssence, masculine words beginning with i+vowel, s+consonant, gn-, z-, x-, y-,
pn-, ps- use the definite lo/gli and indefinite uno/degli pairs. For masculine words beginning
with consonants and vowels, definite il/i and uno/dei/degli are used.
20
P
PT ES FR IT RO
F as vidas las vidas les vies le vite viețile vieților
Indefinite Article
Here are forms for indefinite articles in all five languages.

Again we have forms for Romanian nominative and accusative,
which are the same, and genitive and dative, also the same.
PT ES FR IT RO
M um un un, du un, uno un unui

S
F uma una une, de una o unei
M uns unos des (dei, degli) niște unor
P
F umas unas des (delle) niște unor
For French and Italian there are so called Partitive Articles.

They denote uncertain quantity or quality. In French they are
only used for positive meanings, as in je bois du vin or je mange
des pommes. (in opposition to pas de, as in je ne bois pas de vin
or je ne mange pas de pommes). In Italian, the use of Partitives
is rarer and more restrict, thus remarked between parenthesis in
the table, as it is more common to say bevo vino as opposed to
bevo del vino or mangio patate instead of mangio dei patate.
For Singular Feminine in Italian, note a possible elision, e.g.
una immagine becomes un’immagine.
Let’s fill in the table with some common examples:
21
PT ES FR IT RO
um un un un
M o lume* unei lumi*
mundo mundo monde mondo
S
F
uma una une una un unui
coisa cosa chose cosa lucru** lucru**
uns unos des (dei) niște

M unor lumi*
mundos mundos mondes mondi lumi*
P
F
umas unas des (delle) niște unor
coisas cosas choses cose lucruri** lucruri**
* Feminine in Romanian
** Neuter in Romanian
We have a deviation from the common Latin radicals in

Romanian, which derives into different genders for our
examples, as noted in asterisks.
In the Next chapter we will revisit Articles when looking at

contractions with Prepositions. In conclusion, and as valid
points to be memorized that can be applied furthermore in the
recognition of nouns' and adjectives' genders and numbers:
• For singular Definite Articles, we see masculine recognizable

marks for “o”, “-l” and feminine marks for “a”, “la".
• For singular Indefinite Articles, we see trends towards
“um”, “un”.
• Plural forms follow the traditional “-s” ending, which stems
from Latin accusative plural, except Italian and Romanian,
which uses “-i”, “-e” endings (probably stemming from
22
Latin nominative plural or simply because the “s” was
dropped along the language evolution6).
6Examples such as Carlo in Italian, Carol in Romanian, but Carlos, Carlos, Charles in PT, ES,
FR; or the fact that Italian has no words ending with “s”, but some dialects, such as Sardinian,
do, leaving us to believe that the choice of Florentine dialect as basis for modern Italian is to
blame.
23
24
PART 1
PREPOSITIONS
P
repositions are connective and relational elements of
speech. They are usually followed or preceded by Articles,
Nouns, Adjectives, Adverbs and Verbs. Our taxonomy
for an example such as "de" in Portuguese is simply:
Português
Preposição
de
Prepositions have a pure form, not inflecting or altering

themselves to serve a specific grammatical function, thus
25
considered to be invariable7. The following table displays the
most frequent Prepositions, with a forward slash “/“ indicating
alternate or variant forms8:
PT ES FR IT RO
de de de di / da de
a a à a la
em en dans (en) in in
para para pour / par per pentru
por por pour / par — pe
com con avec con cu
sem sin sans senza fără
contra /
contra contra contre contra
împotriva
desde desde depuis da de cand
durante durante pendant durante pe parcursul
antes antes avant prima inainte
após después après dopo după
sobre sobre sur su asupra
Free translations in English, would be, respectively, of, to/

for, in/on, to/for, through/for, with, without, against, since,
during (while), before, after, over (on).
We can observe several similarities, notably:
7An exception might be the contractions with Articles, which will be reviewed later on the
chapter.
8 A recurrent feature for all tables in the book.

26
• in the first row "de" strongly marked by "d-"
• "a" (second row), almost the same for all languages
• "para" with "par-", "per-" marks
• "por" with "p-r" marks
• "com" with "co-" marks, except French which uses an
evolution from Latin apud hoc, contracted from avoec.
Take a moment to compare other forms.
In Romanian some prepositions require a certain noun

declension, such as la, pe, in, which requires Accusative, and
contra/împotriva, asupra which requires Genitive, Dative.
Let’s now compare contracted forms of Prepositions de, a ,

em and Definite and Indefinite Articles, which denote more
precision in speech. As remarks, Portuguese forms are
enounced in the first column and because Romanian uses
enclitic forms for the Definite Article, no entries apply.
Definite PT ES FR IT RO
de + sing
fem da de la de la della dalla —
de + sing
masc do del de l’ del dell’ —
de + plur
fem das de las des delle dalle —
de + plur dei / dai /

masc dos de los des —
degli dagli
a + sing
fem à a la à la alla —
a + sing
masc ao al à l’ al / all’ —
a + plur
fem às a las aux alle —
a + plur
masc aos a los aux ai / agli —
27
em + sing
fem na en la dans la nella —
em + sing
masc no en lo dans il nel / nell’ —
em + plur
fem nas en las dans les nelle —
em + plur
masc nos en los dans les nei / negli —
com + com a
sing fem con la avec la colla —
(coa*)
com +
sing
masc
com os con el avec le col / coll’ —
com + pll com as

fem con las avec les colle —
(coas*)
com +
plur masc com os con los avec les coi / cogli —
sobre +
sing fem sobre a sobre la sur la sulla —
sobre +
sing sobre o sobre el sur le sul / sull’ —
masc
sobre +
plur fem sobre as sobre las sur les sulle —
sobre +
plur sobre os sobre los sur les sui / sugli —
masc
por +
sing fem pela por la pour la — —
por +
sing
masc
pelo por el pour le — —
por + plur
fem pelas por las pour les — —
por + plur
masc pelos por los pour les — —
28
para +
sing fem pra para la par la per la
para +
sing
masc
pro para el par le per il’ / per lo
para +
plur fem pras para las par les per le
para +
plur masc pros para los par les per li / per gli
* archaic form, but still present in Gallician
For Indefinite contractions of Prepositions and Articles, let’s

present the following table. Same remark as for Portuguese
form enounced.
PT ES FR IT RO
nom., gen.,
acc. dat.
de +
M dum de un d’un un, uno de un unui
sing
F duma de una d’une una o unei
de +
M duns de unos — — — unor
plur
F dumas de unas — — — unor
em +
M num en un dans un in un in —
sing
F numa en una dans une in una — —
em +
M nuns en unos dans des — — —
plur
F numas en unas dans des — — —
para +
M prum para un par un per un — —
sing
F pruma para una par une per una — —
para +
M pruns para unos par des — — —
plur
F prumas para unas par des — — —
29
For vocabulary sake, and because several forms have
uncanny similarities, we propose another set of prepositional
locutions in all five languages:
PT ES FR IT RO
antes de antes de avant prima de inainte de
ao lado de al lado de à côté de accanto a lângă
de-a
ao longo de a lo largo de le long de lungo
lungul
até / até a hasta jusqu’à fino a până
atrás de detrás de derrière dietro a in spate
através de a través de à travers attraverso peste
diante de delante de devant davanti a inainte de
em direção a hacia vers verso spre
au dehors
fora de fuera de fuori de in afara de
de / hors de
auprès de /
junto a / de junto a presso lângă
chez
longe de lejos de loin de lontano da departe de
perto de cerca de près de vicino a aproape
debaixo de debajo de sous sotto sub
English translations: before, besides, along, until, behind,

through, before (in fron of), towards, out (outside), together
with, close to, underneath.
30
31
PART 1
CONJUNCTIONS
C
onjunctions are invariable words that are used to
connect elements in a phrase, i.e. to express certain
coordinations or subordinations in the meaning of
phrase, and thus in these cases called Coordinate and
Subordinate Conjunctions. Our taxonomy for Conjunctions
will be dictated by the following, using a Portuguese example
mas (but):
Português
Conjunção
Coordenativa
Restritiva
mas
32
Our election was to use the Mood taxonomy element as
vehicle for the Coordination aspect and the Case element for its
expression in the context of the phrase.
We will use the following Coordinate Conjunction Moods:
• Adjunctive (A): the notion of connecting, adding or joining

elements or ideas
• Restrictive (R): the notion of counterproposition or
restriction of elements or ideas
• Alternative (AL): the notion of propose or suggest alternate
elements or ideas
• Conclusive (C): the notion of expressing a conclusion to
elements or ideas
• Explanative (E): the notion of expressing an explanation to
elements or ideas
And the following Subordinate Conjunction Moods:
• Completive (CO): the connective that concatenates or

subordinates elements or ideas
• Finitive: the notion of completion or means to an end to
elements or ideas
• Concessive (CS): the notion of conceding to alternate
elements or ideas
• Consecutive (CT): the notion of providing a logical
sequence for elements or ideas
• Causative (CA): the notion of expressing a cause-effect
explanation to elements or ideas
• Temporal (T): the notion of expressing temporality to
elements or ideas
• Hypothetitive (H): the notion of providing hypothesis to
elements or ideas
33
The first table will bring the most common Coordinate
Conjunctions.
PT ES FR IT RO
e y et e și
nem ni ni né nici
também también aussi anche de asemenea

A
tampouco (eu) tampoco (yo) (moi) non plus (io) nemmeno și nici (eu)
bem como bien como aussi bien que così come precum și
como também como tambiém comme aussi come pure cât și
mas / sin
mas mais ma dar
embargo
porém pero cependant però doar
R todavia todavía toutefois tuttavia însă
portanto portanto pourtant perciò totuși
no entanto no obstante néanmois nondimeno in orice caz
ou o ou o ori / sau
seja … seja sea … sea soit … soit sia … sia fie … fie
AL talvolta …
quer … quer quier … quier —
talvolta
ou (bien) … ou
ora … ora ya … ya o…o altfel
(bien)
logo luego pourquoi quindi curând
pois pues donc dunque pentru
portanto por lo tanto c’est pourquoi pertanto deci

C
assim — ainsi / aussi — așa
por isso por eso parce que ecco perchè pentru că
34
PT ES FR IT RO
por por par di
prin urmare
conseguinte conseguiente conséquent conseguenza
que que que che că
porque porque pourquoi perchè deoarece
isto é o sea c’est-à-dire questo è aceasta este

E
pois pues car poichè căci
porquanto — — giacchè —
com efeito en effecto en effet in fatti intr-adevar
English translations, respectively, for:
• Adjunctive: and, nor, also, either, as well as, and also

• Restrictive: but, nevertheless, however, therefore, although
• Alternative: or, be…be, this…that, sometimes…sometimes
• Conclusive: therefore, since, because, thus, that’s why,
consequently
• Explanative: that, because, that is, so, since, in fact
The second table has the most common Subordinative

Conjunctions.
PT ES FR IT RO
CO que que que che că
para que para que pour que perché ca să

F
a fim de que a fin de que à fin que affinché pentru ca să
embora aunque quoique benché deși
se bem que si bien bien que sebbene bine că
não obstante — — nonostante cu toate că

CS
35
PT ES FR IT RO
CS
apesar de que a pesar de que malgré que malgrado che măcar că
ainda que aún que encore que ancorché decăt
tão…que tan…que si…que così…che atăt…că
a tal punto
tanto que tanto que tant…que incăt
che
de modo que de modo que — di modo che —

CS
de maneira in maniera
de manera que de façon que astfel că
que che
de (telle)
de sorte que de suerte que talmente che in așa fel
sorte que
de forma que de forma que — — —
porque porque parce que perché pentru că
pois que puesto que puisque poiché deoarece
já que ya que comme giacché —
como como siccome cum

CA
étant donné
dado que dado que dato che dat fiind că
que
desde el
du moment dal momento din moment
uma vez que momento en
que che ce
que
quand / quando /
quando / cănd / pe
cuando / como lorsque / allorché /
como cănd / cum
comme come
enquanto mientras pendant que mentre in timp ce
antes que antes de que avant que prima che inainte
depois que despues de que après que dopo che după ce

T
dès que, à
apenas / mal apenas appena indată ce
peine
jusqu’à ce pină cănd

até que hasta que finché
que (ce)
36
PT ES FR IT RO
sempre que / siempre que / toutes les fois de fiecare
ogni volta che
cada vez que cada vez que que dată / cand
se si si se dacă
como se como si comme si come se cum dacă
H
caso en caso (de) que au cas où nel caso che in caz că
contanto que con tal (de) que pourvu que purché numai să
con la condición à condition a condizione cu condiția

desde que
(de) que que che ca
English translations, respectively, for:
• Completive: that
• Finitive: so that, in order that
• Concessive: regardless, although, despite
• Consecutive: so…that, so much that, so that, in such a way
that, in a manner that, so that
• Causative: because, since, as, given that, once that
• Temporal: when, while, before that, after that, just, until,
every time (whenever)
• Hypothetive: if, as if, in case, as long as, provided that
37
38
PART 1
PRONOUMS
P
ronoums represent declarations of individuality, single or
comunal, and externality, to the other person(s) or
thing(s). In speech, both as active or passive participants
of a syntactic sentence. This Element of Speech also conveys or
represents possession, determination or demonstration. And on
a more complex speech relationship, manifests treatment and
consideration to the other.
They will be divided into six categories:
• Personal
• Possessive
• Demonstrative
• Interrogative
• Indefinite
• Relative
Before focusing on each category, let’s look at the proposed

taxonomy for the example of “eu" in Portuguese:
Português
Pronome
39
Pessoal
Singular
Primeira
eu
Eu is the personal pronoun set for the first person of the

singular (number).
Personal pronouns represent a self-enunciated action

participation, or simply a syntactic function. Besides their
nature or category, as wel will see, they follow the notion of
Person and Number to determine who is the actual subject in
question. Therefore, in English the first person singular is
rendered as the self, I, the second person singular as the other,
You, the third person singular as someone or something else,
He/She/It. Plurals are, respectively, We, You, They. In grammar
terms, these forms are usually considered to be in the
Nominative case, to borrow a definition commonly used by
inflected languages. Which is the case for Latin. And which is
not, officially, for Romance Languages, with the exception, in
our case, of Romanian. They convey within the word (or
syntagm) the syntactic notion of Subject, as opposed to Object,
which is named Accusative case, and consequently the Personal
Pronouns brought up in other forms, as we will see9.
9 Just to add color, Portuguese cals the Nominative pronoums Pronomes de Caso Reto (eu, tu,
ele/ela, nós, vós eles) and Accusative pronouns, Pronomes de Caso Oblíquo (me, mim, o, a ,
lhe, lha, nos, vos, lhes, etc).
40
In the tables of this chapter, note that the third person
(singular and/or plural) almost always have two, and
sometimes three (for neuter) forms of gender differentiation.
Tables will use N for Number, P for Person, G for Gender and
C for Case in the first columns. In the Number row, S stands
for Singular, P for Plural. In the Person row the numbers
represent First (1), Second (2) and Third (3) persons. In the
Gender rows M stands for Masculine, F for Feminine and a R
represents Reflexive forms. In the Case rows, OI means Indirect
Object and OD Direct Object.
Personal Pronouns
Here we present the Tonic Forms as associated with a

Subject or Nominative.
PT ES FR IT RO
N P G
1 eu yo je io eu
2 tu tu tu tu tu
S 3 M ele él il egli / lui / esso el
3 F ela ella elle (ella) lei / essa la
3 N — ello — — —
1 nós nosotros nous noi noi
2 vós vosotros vous voi voi
P
M eles ellos ils loro / essi ei
3
F elas ellas elles loro / esse ele
41
It is extraordinaire to find the same word for ALL forms in
second person singular (tu), followed by close resemblances
between all the others. The special marks are the slight variance
for first person singluar between eu, -e, -o, the astounding
“no-“ mark for ALL first person plural.
As an additional remark, witness of language’s flexibility

and maleability, and justly because of its frequency and
popularity, the second person, both in singular and plural
forms, in Portuguese, more commonly in Brazil but gradually
growing in Portugal and elsewhere, is “você" which stems from
“vossa mercê” suffering reductions “vosmecê" -> “você” along
time and following the third person model (in verbal flection,
as we will see).
There are, in addition, Oblique Forms, associated with

object clauses, or Accusative or Dative cases, represented by
OD (Objeto Direto, Objecto Directo, Objéct Direct, Oggeto
Diretto, Casul Acuzativ) for Accusative and OI (Objeto
Indireto, Objecto Indirecto, Objéct Indirect, Oggeto Indiretto,
Casul Dativ) for Dative:
PT ES FR IT RO
N P G C
OD mă / m-
1 me me me mi
OI imi / mi / -mi-
OD te / -te-
2 te te te ti
OI iți / ți / -ți-
S
M OD -o lo le lo / l’ il / -l-
F OD -a la la la / l’ -o
3
M OI gli
lhe le lui li / -i-
F OI le
42
PT ES FR IT RO
N P G C
OD ne / -ne-
1 nos nos nous ci
OI ne / ni / -ne- / -ni-
OD vă / v-
2 vos os (vos) vous vi
P
OI vă / vi / v-
M OD -os los li ii / -i-
les
F OD -as las le -le-
3
M OI
lhes les leur loro -le- / li
F OI
Such forms appear frequently connected with verbs, as

shown with hyphens in the table (Conheci-os há pouco; No me
gustaría encontrarme solo).
The reflexive forms indicating impersonal follow a “s-“

mark and can be found as:
• Português: se
• Español: se
• Français: on
• Italiano: si
• Romana: se
Examples: Aqui se vendem livros, Acá se habla de todo, Qui

si mangia bene, Ici on danse toujours, Despre toate se vorbește
aici
Another worth mentioning formula is the Oblique Indirect

Object governed by preceding prepositions:
43
PT ES FR IT RO
N P G
1 mim mí moi me mine * / mie **
2 ti ti toi te tine* / tie**
M ele él lui lui / esso el* / lui**

S
F ela ella elle lei / essa ea* / ei**
3
N — ello — — —
R si sí soi sé sine* / sic, si**
M nosotros
1 nós nous noi noi* / nouă**
F nosotras
M vosotros
2 vós vous voi voi* / vouă**
P F vosotras
M eles ellos eux loro / essi ei* / lor *
3 F elas ellas elles loro / esse ele* / lor**
R si sí — sé —
* Direct Object
** Indirect Object
Portuguese has a contracted form of preposition “with”,

com, resulting in these forms:
comigo, contigo, consigo, conosco, convosco, consigo
Possessive Pronouns
Possessive Pronouns (sometimes also called Personal

Adjectives) follow the gender of the possessed object or idea,
44
therefore they are shown below associated with genre.
Furthermore, there is a distinction between possessing one
object or idea and several, thus two tables are presented for
each situation.
One object or idea:
PT ES FR IT RO
N P G
M meu mon mio meu

1 mi
F minha ma mia mea
M teu ton tuo tău
S 2 tu
F tua ta tua ta
M seu son suo său
3 su
F sua sa sua sa
M nosso nuestro nostro nostru
1 notre*
F nossa nuestra nostra noastră
M vosso vuestro vostro vostru
P 2 votre*
F vossa vuestra vostra voastră
M seu
3 su leur loro lor
F sua
* In French, when used as nouns, the accented forms nôtre and vôtre are used. This
approximates the word to the middle “s" mark encountered in all other languages, because the
accent hides an ancient interposed “s". Examples: C’est notre avis. Cette voiture est la nôtre.
Nous avons besoin de votre aide. Ces terres sont vôtres.
Several objects or ideas:
45
PT ES FR IT RO
N P G
M meus miei mei

1 mis mes
F minhas mie mele
M teus tuoi tăi
S 2 tus tes
F tuas tue tale
M seus suoi săi
3 sus ses
F suas sue sale
M nossos nuestros nostri noștri
1 nos
F nossas nuestras nostre noastre
M vossos vuestros vostri voștri
P 2 vos
F vossas vuestras vostre voastre
M seus
3 sus leurs loro lor
F suas
Take a moment to appreciate the uncanny similarities for all

possessive pronouns. There are very pronounced relations for
all Languages, specially the following marks:
• "m" for first person singular

• “t" for second person singular
• “s” for third person singular and plural
• “n" for first person plural
• “v" for second person plural
Note that only Portuguese has distinct forms for every single
combination of number, person and gender, which conveys
precise identity to the speech in all occasions when possessive
pronouns are used.
46
Demonstrative Pronouns
Demonstrative Pronouns serve the purpose of indicating

objects or ideas. The following table has sometimes three forms
that are related to the degree of distance (material or abstract),
from closest to farthest, presented in order.
PT ES FR IT RO
N G
questo
acesta /
este / este / éste* / ce (quest’) /
acestuia** /
M esse / ese / ése * / (cet) / quel (quello,
acela /
aquele aquel / aquél* celui* quell’) /
aceluia**
quello*
esta / ésta* / questa aceasta /

S esta /
esa / ésa* / cette / (quest’) / acesteia** /
F essa /
aquella / celle* quella aceea /
aquela
aquélla* (quell’) aceleia**
isto / ce (c’) /
esto / eso / questo /
N isso / ceci / —
aquello quello
aquilo cela, ça
estos / éstos* / aceștia /

estes / questi / quei
esos / ésos* / ces / acestora** /
M esses / (quegli) /
aquellos / ceux* aceia /
aqueles quelli*
aquéllos* acelora**
estas / éstas* / acestea /

estas /
P esas / ésas* / ces / queste / acestora** /
F essas /
aquellas / celles* quelle acelea /
aquelas
aquéllas* acelora**
ce (c’) /
N — — ceci / — —
cela, ça
* When used as Pronouns. Compare esta camisa es mía and ésta es tuya.
** Genitive/Dative forms, as opposed to their preceding Nominative/Accusative forms
47
In French there is a system where -ci or -là can be added to
the pronoun to indicate proximity or distance, forming celui-ci,
celle-là, ceux-là, etc.
Perhaps more related to Adverbs, but presented here for

context, the following forms express ideas of place or situation,
which can vary and have different meanings for different
speakers, thus to be taken lightly.
PT ES FR IT RO
Indeterm. lá là
Near cá, aqui, aí, ali acá, aquí, ahí ici qui, qua aici
Far acolá, lá allí , allá là, là-bas lì, là acolo
Other common forms are derived from elisions with

preceding prepositions and pronoums beginning in vowels,
such as in Portuguese:
• a+pronoun (àquele, àquela, àquilo, àqueles, àquelas)

• de+pronoum (deste, destes, desse, desses, daquele, daqueles,
desta, destas, dessa, dessas, daquela, daquelas, disto, disso,
daquilo)
• em+pronoum (neste, nestes, nesse, nesses, naquele,
naqueles, nesta, nestas, naquelas, nisto, nisso, naquilo)
Italian has, inbetween quest- and quel-, an intermediary

rarely used form codest- (codesto, codesta, codesti, codeste). It
also has a peculiar variant form of the singular feminine questa
(sta-) that goes together with the noun it “pre-nouns”, such as
in stamattina (questa+mattina), stasera (questa+sera), stanotte
(questa+notte), stavolta (questa+volta).
48
Interrogative Pronuns
PT ES* FR IT RO
cine / pe cine /
who quem quién qui chi
cui
que / o que / ce / care / cărui /

what qué che
que / quê quoi cărei / căror
when quando cuándo quand quando când
comme /
how como cómo come cum
comment
quanto / cuánto / quanto /

how quantos / cuántos / combien quanta / cât / câtă / câți /
much
quanta / cuánta / (de) quanti / câte / câtor
quantas cuántas quante
donde /
where onde où dove unde
adónde
por que /
why por qué pourquoi perché de ce / pentru ce
por quê
quel /
which
qual / cuál / quelles / quale / care / cărui / cărei
quais * cuáles quels / quali / cărora
quelles
* Spanish has distinct interrogation and exclamation marks that are inverted (¿ and ¡) and
appear at the beginning of exclamative or interrogative clauses, even in the middle of a
sentence: ¡Cómo legué tarde! Pero, ¿por qué preguntas? Another distinguished fact is the use of
accents to mark interrogative and exclamative clauses.
Indefinite Pronouns
Indefinite pronouns denote indefinition or, at the other

opposite, quantities and expressions of distributive quantities,
absence or exclusion. When used together with nouns, they
49
may take an adjective value. Here we are going to consider
them pronouns altogether.
For the sake of clarity, let’s divide Indefinite Pronouns into

four quantitative categories: Universal, Distributive, Existential
and Non-Existential (absence, emptiness) and consequently
four tables.
Universal Quantification:
PT ES FR IT RO
todo /
tut / toți
todos / todo / todos / tout / toute / tutto / tutta /
all, every / toată /
todas / todas / todas tous / toutes tutti / tutte
toate
todos
cualquier /
qualunque /
cualquiera /
qualquer / quelconques / qualsiasi / orice /
any cualesquiera /
quaisquer quiconque qualsiansi oricare
quienquiera /
quienesquiera
seja quem
whoever sea quien sea quiconque chiunque oricine
for
quem quer quien quera que ce soit n’

chicchessia oricine
que seja que sea importe qui
quoi que ce
o que quer soit /
whatever sea lo que sea checchessia orice
que seja n’importe
quoi
de
de cualquier n’importe in qualunque
anyhow qualquer oricum
modo comme modo
modo
em
qualquer in qualunque
en cualquier
anywhere parte n’importe où luogo / oriunde
parte (lugar)
(lugar) / dovunque
alhures
50
PT ES FR IT RO
em
en cualquier n’importe in qualunque
whenever qualquer oricând
momento quand momento
momento
Distributive Quantification:
PT ES FR IT RO
ciascuno / fiecare / fiecărui /

each cada cada chaque
ogni fiecărei
cada ciascuno /
cada um /
each uno / chacun / ciascuna / fiecare / pentru
one a cada
cada chacune agnuno / fiecare
qual
una ognuna
Existential Quantification:
PT ES FR IT RO
algum / alguno / vreum /

some
alguma / alguna / quelque / alcuni, vreo /
alguns / algunos / quelques alcune vreunul /
algumas algunas vreuna
um / uma uno / una / unul / una /

un / une /
ones / uns / unos / qualche câtiva /
des
umas unas câteva
pouco / poco / puțin /

poco / poca
pouca / poca / puțini /
few peu de / pochi /
poucos / pocos / puțină /
poche
poucas pocas puține
51
PT ES FR IT RO
muito / mucho / molto / mult /

much, muita / mucha / beaucoup molta / molti mulți /
many
muitos / muchos / de / molte / multă /
muitas muchas assai multe
tanto / tanto /
tanto / tanta atat de mult
so tanta / tanta / tellement
much / tanti / / asa de
tantos / tantos / de
tante mult
tantas tantas
outro / otro / alt / altă /

autre /
outra / otra / altro / altra / alți / alte /
other autres /
outros / otros / altri / altre altui / altei /
d’autres
outras otras altor
demasiad
troppo /
o/ prea mult /
bastante troppa /
many, demasiad trop de / prea mulți /
enough / troppi /
of a/ assez de prea multă /
bastantes troppe /
bastante / prea multe
abbastanza
bastantes
diverso / diverso /
diversa / diversa /
diverse — divers divers
diversos / diversi /
diversas diverse
vario /
many, vários / varios / mai mulți /
various plusieurs varia / vari/
várias varias mai multe
varie
certo / cierto / certain /

certo / certa
certa / cierta / certaine /
cartain / certi / anumit
certos / ciertos / certains /
certe
certas ciertas certaines
Non-Existential Quantification:
52
PT ES FR IT RO
aucun /
ningún /
nenhum / aucune / nini un /
ninguno /
nenhuma / auncuns / nessuno / nici o /
none ninguna /
nenhuns / aucunes / nul nessuna nici unul /
ningunos /
nenhumas / nulle / pas nici una
ningunas
un / pas une
no one ninguém nadie personne nessuno nimeni
nulla /
nothing nada nada rien nimic
niente
Relative Pronouns
PT ES FR IT RO
which que que qui che ce / care
ce / pe care /
that que que que che căruia /
căreia / cărora
quien /
who quem qui cui care
quienes
o qual / a el cual / el lequel /

a cui /
to qual / os que / los lequelle /
which alla cărei / căreia
quais / as cuales / lequels /
quale
quais las cuales lequelles
de que / de de que /
al / a / ai / ale /
of quem / do de quien / di cui /
which duquel căruia /
qual / da del que / di quale
căreia / cărora
qual del cual
cuyo /
from cujo / cuja /
which cuya / donc il cui cărei / căreia
cujos
cuyos
53
54
PART 2
2.1 LEXICAL ELEMENTS OF SPEECH:
VERB
V
erbs are actions. They denote whatever (figuratively or
not) is being done in the present, was done in the past or
will be done in the future. From this definition there is
an obvious association with time. Therefore, aside from the
'what', there is a 'when'. The sometimes subtle variations or
inferences used in speech to express a time-related situation or
causal relationship are usually called ‘moods’. They usually
denote verbal tenses, as in relation to time, but also sometimes
will denote a form of speech or ‘how' the communication is
rendered towards interlocutors. Therefore it is easy to grasp the
meaning of the Gerund mood associated with a continuous
action (I am writing) that has not necessarily finished. Or to
understand the form of speech behind the Imperative mood, of
how it gives forth the idea of command or order ("Read the
book now!").
Verbal moods are presented in two forms: verbal or

nominal. Both forms can be inflected and inflections are
effected:
• through suffixes or terminations (desinences) appended to

the verb radical (when the verb is called regular)
• through different words away from the radical (when the
verb is called irregular)
55
The following two tables depict a list of all Verbal Moods
for our five Romance languages. Note that mood names are
written in their original languages and that there is a striking
resemblance throughout. Please take a moment to appreciate
the similarities in these two tables10.
List of Verbal Moods - Verbal Forms
Indicative Subjunctive Imperative Conditional Presumptive
PT INDICATIVO SUBJUNTIVO IMPERATIVO
ES L’INDICATIF LE SUBJONCTIF L’IMPÉRATIF LE CONDITIONNEL
FR INDICATIVO SUBJUNTIVO IMPERATIVO
IT INDICATIVO CONGIUNTIVO IMPERATIVO CONDIZIONALE
RO INDICATIV CONJUNCTIV IMPERATIV CONDIȚIONAL PREZUMTIV
List of Verbal Moods - Nominal Forms
Infinitive Participle Gerund Supine
PT INFINITIVO PARTICÍPIO GERÚNDIO
ES L’INFINITIF LE PARTICIPE LE GERONDIF
FR INFINITIVO PARTICIPIO GERUNDIO
IT INFINITO PARTICIPIO GERUNDIO
RO INFINITIV PARTICIPIV GERUNDIV SUPINUL
10For more on the Romanian Prezumtiv, I recommend the following paper by Teodora Mihoc,
found at https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/tmihoc/files/
mihoc_2012_the_romanian_presumptive_mood_ma_thesis.pdf?m=1526488703 (as of May
2020).
56
For Verbal Forms we will compare Indicative, Subjunctive
and Imperative moods for eight (8) verbs in all languages, as
well as Infinitive, Participle and Gerund moods in Nominal
Forms for the same eight verbs in all languages. Following up
our proposed taxonomy, each Mood can be further
characterized by Tenses, which indicate an idea of time that
situates the speech. For the sake of their recurrence presence in
all languages, our examples will use:
Language
Verb
Indicative
Present / Past / Future
Subjunctive
Presen / Past
Imperative
Present
Infinitive
Present
Participle
Past
Gerund
Present
The Number or quantity of who or what conveys the speech

is called Person11, the speech originator in relation to oneself.
11 Personal Pronouns on the other hand, were treated more extensively in the previous chapter.
57
Persons will be presented in all applicable cases. In all
languages, except French, the endings in verbal form are
enough to express Person. Because of French peculiar phonetic
evolution, through which several sounds lost pronounciation
differentiation (while still keeping unique written forms for
each Person), the use of Personal Pronouns is necessary to
express clarity and avoid misinterpretation.
A few notes on the tables in this chapter. The selection of

verbs was the result of an investigation involving the most
commonly used verbs in both oral and verbal forms in all
languages. Also largely accounted for were their radical
similarities, remarkably from their original Latin forms. Some
verbs are very irregular, in a way that radicals cannot help and
so learning their unique forms is the only way to know. Since
most of the conjugation paradigms could be applied to so many
other verbs, the radicals are noted after each table, separating
the desinences that mark Number and Person by a hyphen.
Beside the obvious rows with PT for Portuguese, ES for

Spanish, FR for French, IT for Italian and RO for Romanian,
here is the key for other rows and columns in the tables:
T (column): Tense
N (column): Number, where S and P down this column
represent Singular and Plural, respectively
P (column): Person, where the numbers down represent
first Person, second Person, etc. Therefore P1 represents first
person; P2, second person, etc
P (row): Present
PI (row): Past Imperfect
PP (row): Past Perfect
F (row): Future
Indicative
58
Ser/Estar; Ser/Estar; Être; Essere/Stare, a Fi/a Sta
PT ES FR IT RO
ESSERE /
T N P SER / ESTAR SER /ESTAR ÊTRE STARE A FI / A STA
soy / sono /
1 sou / estou suis sint / stau
estoy sto
S eres /
2 és / estás es sei / stai ești / stai
estás
3 é / está es / está est è / sta este / stă
P somos /
somos / siamo / sintem /
1 estamos sommes
estamos stiamo stăm
P sois / siete / sinteți /

2 sois / estais êtes
estáis state stați
son / sono /
3 são / estão sont sint / stau
están stanno
era / ero / eram /

1 era / estava étais
estaba stavo stăteam
eras / eras / erai /

S 2 étais eri / stavi
estavas estates stăteai
era / era /
3 era / estava était era / stătea
estaba stava
éramos / éramos / eravamo eram /

1 étions
estávamos estábamos / stavamo stăteam
éreis / erais / eravate / erați /

PI P 2 étiez
estáveis estabais stavate stăteați
eram eran / erano / erau /

3 étaient
estavam estaban stavano stăteau
1 fui / estive fui / estuve fus fui / stetti fui /stătui
59
PT ES FR IT RO
ESSERE /
T N P SER / ESTAR SER /ESTAR ÊTRE A FI / A STA
STARE
foste / fuiste / fosti / fuși /

2 fus
S
estiveste estuviste stesti stătuși
fue /
3 foi / esteve fut fu / stette fu / stătu
estuvo
PP
fomos / fuimos / fummo / furăm /
1 fûmes
estivemos estuvimos stemmo stăturăm
fostes / fuisteis / foste / furăți /

P 2 fûtes
estivestes estuvisteis steste stăturăți
foram / fueron / furono / fură /

3 furent
estiveram estuvieron stettero stătură
seré / sarò / voi fi / voi

1 serei / estarei serai
estaré starò sta
serás / serás / sarai / vei fi / vei

2 seras
S estarás estarás starai sta
sarà /
será / va fi / va
3 será / estará sera starà
estará sta
F
seremos / seremos / saremo / vom fi /

1 serons
estaremos estaremos staremo vom sta
sereis / seréis / sarete / veți fi / veți

P 2 serez
estareis estaréis starete sta
serão / serán / saranno / vor fi / vor

3 seront
estarão estarán staranno sta
We can observe the following repeatable patterns, noted in

bold, which are important to identify and remember forms in
each language:
• Indicative Present Singular for ser

60
✓ a mark for “e” and "s", noting the phonetically open
“e" ( ɛ as in dress or bed) pronunciation in all
languages
• Indicative Present Singular for estar
✓ a mark for “est" or “st"
• Indicative Present Plural for ser
✓ a mark for a beginning “s" in all languages (except
French second Person, which follows the estar
paradigm ) and always the presence of a “m" for the
second Person
• Indicative Present Plural for estar
✓ a mark for a beginning “est" or “st” in all languages
(French has “êt”, which we consider as an elision of
“est”)
• Indicative Past Imperfect Singular and Plural for ser
✓ a recurrent mark for “er" in all forms
• Indicative Past Imperfect Singular and Plural for estar
✓ a recurrent mark for “est" or “st"
• Indicative Past Perfect Plural for ser
• Indicative Past Perfect Plural for estar
Haver (Ter); Haber (Tener); Avoir (Tenir); Avere (Tenere);

Avea (Ține)
PT ES* FR IT RO
T N P HAVER / TER HABER / TENER AVOIR / TENIR AVERE / TENERE AVEA / ȚINE
1 hei / tenho he / tengo ai / tiens ho / tengo am / țin
S 2 hás / tens has / tienes as / tiens hai / tieni ai / ții
ha (hay) /
3 há / tem a / tient ha / tiene are / ține
tiene
P
1
havemos / hemos / avons / abbiamo / avem /
temos tenemos tenons teniamo ținem
61
PT ES* FR IT RO
P 2
haveis / habéis / has / avez / avete / aveți /
tendes tenéis / tenés tenez tenete țineți
ont / hanno /
3 hão / tém han / tienen au / țin
tiennent tengono
avais / avevo / aveam /

1 havia / tinha había / tenía
tenais tenevo țineam
S 2
havias / habías / avais / avevi / aveai /
tinhas tenías tenais tenevi țineai
avait / aveva / avea /

3 havia / tinha había / tenía
tenait teneva ținea
PI
1
havíamos / habíamos / avions / avevamo / aveam /
tínhamos teníamos tenions tenevamo țineam
habíais /
P 2
havíeis / habías / aviez / avevate / aveați /
tínheis teníais / teniez tenevate țineați
tenías
3
haviam / habían / avaient / avevano / aveau/
tinham tenían tenaient tenevano țineau
ebbi / avui /
1 houve / tive hube / tuve eus / tins
tenni ținui
houveste / hubiste / avesti / avuși /

S 2 eus / tins
tiveste tuviste tenesti ținuși
ebbe / avu /
3 houve / teve hubo / tuvo eut / tint
tenne ținu
PP
1
houvemos / hubimos / eûmes / avemmo / avurăm /
tivemos tuvimos tînmes tenevamo ținurăm
hubisteis /
P 2
houvestes / hubiste / eûtes / aveste / avurăți /
tivestes tuvísteis / tîntes teneste ținurăți
tuviste
62
PT ES* FR IT RO
3
houveram / hubieron / eurent / ebbero / avură /
tiveram tuvieron tinrent tennero țineau
voi
haverei / habré / aurai / avrò /
1 avea /
terei tendré tiendrai terrò
voi ține
vei
S haverás / habrás / auras / avrai /
2 avea /
terás tendrás tiendras terrai
vei ține
habrá / aurait / avrà / va avea /

3 haverá / terá
tendrá tiendra terrà va ține
F vom
haveremos / habremos / aurons / avremo /
1 avea /
teremos tendremos tiendrons terremo
vam ține
habréis /
veți avea
havereis / habrás / aurez / avrete /
P 2 / veți
tereis tendréis / tiendrez terrete
ține
tendrás
vor
haverão / habrán / auront / avranno /
3 avea /
terão tendrán tiendront terranno
vor ține
* the second form of the second person plural for each verb is for vos, peculiar to
Castellano, more common in Argentina: vos has, vos tenés, etc.
This a very irregular pair of verbs, that also work as

auxiliary verb for composed tenses.
Falar; Hablar; Parler; Parlare; Vorbi
63
PT ES FR IT RO
T N P FALAR HABLAR PARLER PARLARE VORBI
1 falo hablo parle parlo vorbesc

S 2 falas hablas parles parli vorbești
3 fala habla parle parla vorbește
P
1 falamos hablamos parlons parliamo vorbim
habláis /
P 2 falais parlez parlate vorbiți
hablás
3 falam hablan parlent parlano vorbesc
1 falava hablaba parlais parlavo vorbeam

S 2 falavas hablabas parlais parlavi vorbeai
3 falava hablaba parlait parlava vorbea
PI
1 falávamos hablábamos parlions parlavamo vorbeam
hablabais /
S 2 faláveis parliez parlavate vorbeați
hablabas
3 falavam hablaban parlaient parlavano vorbeau
1 falei hablé parlai parlai vorbii

S 2 falaste hablaste parlais parlasti vorbiși
3 falou habló parla parlò vorbi
PP
1 falamos hablamos parlâmes parlammo vorbirăm
hablasteis /
P 2 falastes parlâtes parlaste vorbirăți
hablaste
3 falaram hablaron parlèrent parlarono vorbiră
1 falarei hablaré parlerai parlerò voi vorbi

S 2 falarás hablarás parleras parlerais vei vorbi
3 falará hablará parlera parlerà va vorbi
64
PT ES FR IT RO
F
1 falaremos hablaremos parlerons parleremo vom vorbi
hablaréis /
P 2 falareis parlerez parlerete veți vorbi
hablarás
3 falarão hablarán parleront perleranno vor vorbi
Except for the dissonant Romanian vorbi12, considered of

the fourth paradigm -i, this verb of the first paradigm -ar, -ar,
-er, -are use desinences that can be applied to a multitude of
verbs of the same paradigm, such as:
• Português: achar, amar, cantar, chamar, dar, escutar,

estudar, jantar, mudar, nadar, olhar, parar, sonhar, tocar,
usar, etc
• Español: bailar, buscar, cantar, comprar, desear, enseñar,
escuchar, estudiar, necesitar, pagar, practicar, tocar, tomar,
trabajar, usar, etc
• Français: adorer, aimer, chanter, danser, demander,
détester, donner, écouter, étudier, montrer, regarder, rester,
trouver, etc
• Italiano: abitare, amare, ascoltare, aspettare, camminare,
cenare, cominciare, incontrare, guardare, mangiare,
nuotare, pagare, salutare, sbagliare, etc
Fazer; Hacer; Faire; Fare; Face
12 Which can be traced either from slav 'dvoriba' or even from Latin ‘verbum'
65
PT ES FR IT RO
T N P FAZER HACER FAIRE FARE FACE
1 faço hago fais faccio fac

S 2 fazes haces fais fai faci
3 faz hace fait fa face
P
1 fazemos hacemos faisons facciamo facem
P 2 fazeis hacéis faites fate faceți
3 fazem hacen font fanno fac
1 fazia hacía faisais facevo făceam

S 2 fazias hacías faisais facevi făceai
3 fazia hacía faisait faceva făcea
PI
1 fazíamos hacíamos faisions facevamo făceam
hacíais /
P 2 fazíeis faisiez facevate făceați
hacías
3 faziam hacían faisaient facevano făceau
1 fiz hice fis feci făcui

S 2 fizeste hiciste fis facesti făcuși
3 fez hizo fis fece făcu
PP
1 fizemos hicimos fimes facemmo făcuram
hicisteis /
P 2 fizestes fites faceste făcurăți
hiciste
3 fizeram hicieron firent fecero făcura
1 farei haré ferai farò voi face

S 2 farás harás feras farai vei face
3 fará hará fera farà va face
F
1 faremos haremos ferons faremo vom face
66
PT ES FR IT RO
haréis /
P 2 faríeis ferez farete veți face
harás
3 farão harán feront faranno vor face
Verbs of the second paradigm in Portuguese, Spanish (-er,

-er) are shown below. French faire and Italian fare follow
different paradigms. Romanian has face as part of the third
paradigm (vinde, crede, alege).
• Português: aprender, beber, comer, debater, escolher,

escrever, escolher, ler, merecer, morrer, prender, ver, etc
• Español: agradecer, aprender, atraer, beber, caer, defender,
detener, establecer, leer, prender, remover, saber, valer, etc
Vir; Venir ; Venir ; Venire; Veni
PT ES FR IT RO
T N P VIR VENIR VENIR VENIRE VENI
1 venho vengo viens vengo vin

S 2 vens vienes viens vieni vii
3 vem viene vient viene vine
P
1 vimos venimos venons veniamo venim
P 2 vindes venís venez venite veniți
3 vêm vienen viennent vengono vin
1 vinha venía venais venivo veneam

S 2 vinhas venías venais venivi veneai
67
PT ES FR IT RO
3 vinha venía venait veniva venea

PI
1 vínhamos veníamos venions venivamo veneam
veníais /
P 2 vínheis veniez venivate veneați
venías
3 vinham venían venaient venivano veneau
1 vim vine vins venni venii

S 2 vieste viniste vins venisti veniși
3 veio vino vint venne veni
PP
1 viemos vinimos vînmes venimmo venirăm
vinísteis /
S 2 viestes vîntes veniste venirăți
viniste
3 vieram vinieron vînrent vennero veniră
1 virei vendré viendrais verrò voi veni

S 2 virás vendrás viendrais verrai vei veni
3 virá vendrá viendra verrà va veni
F
1 viremos vendremos viendrons verremo vom veni
vendréis /
P 2 vireis viendrez verrete veți veni
vendrás
3 virão vendrán viendront verranno vor veni
The third paradigm for Portuguese and Spanish -ir, Italian

-ire and French -ir (called second group) have some examples
below. Romanian -i (ști, hotări) is considered fourth paradigm
or group.
68
• Português: abrir, assistir, confundir, dividir, exigir, garantir,
insistir, prescindir, resistir, sair, etc
• Español: abrir, asistir, añadir, discutir, describir, existir,
partir, subir, sufrir, etc
• Français: abolir, accomplir, bâtir, choisir, définir, établir,
finir, guérir, investir, nourrir, refléchir, réussir, saisir, etc
• Italiano: aprire, divertire, offrire, partire, servire, soffrire,
etc
Dormir; Dormir; Dormir; Dormire; Dormi
PT ES FR IT RO
T N P DORMIR DORMIR DORMIR DORMIRE DORMI
1 durmo duermo dors dormo dorm

S 2 dormes duermes dors dormi dormi
3 dorme duerme dort dorme doarme
P
1 dormimos dormimos dormons dormiamo dormim
P 2 dormis dormis dormez dormite dormiți
3 dormem duermen dorment dormono dorm
1 dormia dormía dormais dormivo dormeam

S 2 dormias dormías dormais dormivi dormeai
3 dormia dormía dormait dormiva dormea
PI
1 dormíamos dormíamos dormions dormivamo dormeam
dormíais /
P 2 dormíeis dormiez dormivate dormeați
dormías
3 dormiam dormían dormaient dormivano dormeau
1 dormi dormí dormis dormii dormii

S 2 dormiste dormiste dormis dormisti dormiși
69
PT ES FR IT RO
3 dormiu durmió dormit dormi dormi

PP
1 dormimos dormimos dormîmes dormimmo dormirăm
dormisteis /
P 2 dormistes dormîtes dormiste dormirăți
dormiste
3 dormiram durmieron dormirent dormirono dormiră
1 dormirei dormiré dormirai dormirò voi dormi

S 2 dormirás dormirás dormiras dormirai vei dormi
3 dormirá dormirá dormira dormirà va dormi
F
1 dormiremos dormiremos dormirons dormiremo vom dormi
P 2 dormireis dormiréis dormirez dormirete veți dormi
3 dormirão dormirán dormiront dormiranno vor dormi
Subjunctive
PT ES FR IT RO
T N P SER / ESTAR SER /ESTAR ÊTRE ESSERE / STARE A FI / A STA
seja / să fiu / să
1 sea / esté sois
esteja stau
sejas / sia / stia

să fii / să
S 2 seas / estés sois
estejas stai
seja / să fie / să
3 sea / esté soit
esteja stea
P
sejamos / seamos / siamo / să fim / să
1 soyons
estejamos estemos stiamo stăm
70
PT ES FR IT RO
sejais / seáis / seas / siate / să fiți / să

P 2 soyez
estejais estéis / estés stiate stați
sejam / siano / să fie / să

3 sean / estén soient
estejam stiano stea
fuera / fuese /
fosse /
1 estuviera / étais
estivesse
estuviesen fossi /
fueras / fueses / stessi
fosses /
S 2 estuvieras / étais
estivesses
estuvieses
fuera / fuese /
fosse / fosse /
3 estuviera / était
estivesse stesse
estuviese
fuéramos /
fôssemos /
fuésemos / fossimo / să fi fost /
P 1 estivéssem étions
estuviéramos / stessimo să fi stat
os
estuviésemos
fuerais /
fueseis / fueras /
fueses /
P fôsseis / foste /
2 estuvierais / étiez
estivésseis steste
estuvieseis /
estuvieras /
estuvieses
fueran / fuesen /
fossem / fossero /
3 estuvieran / étaient
estivessem stessero
estuvieses
Haver (Ter); Haber (Tener); Avoir (Tenir); Avere (Tenere);

A avea
71
PT ES FR IT RO
AVERE /
T N P HAVER / TER HABER / TENER AVOIR / TENIR AVEA / ȚINE
TENERE
aie /
1 haja / tenha haya / tenga să am
tienne
hayas / aies / abbia /

S 2 hajas / tenhas să ai
tengas tiennes tenga
ait /
3 haja / tenha haya / tenga să aibă
tienne
P hajamos / hayamos / ayons / abbiamo /

1 să avem
tenhamos tengamos tenions teniamo
hayáis /
hajais / hayas / ayez / abbiate /
P 2 să aveți
tenhais tengáis / teniez teniate
tengas
hajam / hayan / aient / abbiano /

3 să albă
tenham tengan tiennent tengano
hubiera /
1
houvesse / hubiese / eusse /
tivesse tuviera / tinsse
tuviese avessi /
hubieras / tenessi
S 2
houvesses / hubieses / eusses /
tiveste tuvieras/ tinsses
tuvieses
hubiera /
houvesse / hubiese / avesse /
3 eût / tînt
tivesse tuviera / tenesse
tuviese
hubiéramos /
avessimo
PI houvéssemos hubiésemos / eussions / sî fi avut
1 /
/ tivéssemos tuviéramos / tinssions
tenessimo
tuviésemos
72
PT ES FR IT RO
AVERE /
TENERE
hubierais /
hubieseis /
hubieras /
P 2
houvésseis / hubieses / eussiez / aveste /
tivésseis tuvierais / tinssiez teneste
tuvieseis /
tuvieras /
tuvieses
hubieran /
3
houvessem / hubieses / eussent / avessero /
tivessem tuvieran / tinssent tenessero
tuvieses
PT ES FR IT RO
1 fale hable parle să vorbesc
S 2 fales hables parles parli să vorbești
P
3 fale hable parle să vorbească
1 falemos hablemos parlions parliamo să vorbim
P
2 faleis habláis parliez parliate să vorbiți
3 falem hablan parlent parlino să vorbească
hablara /
1 falasse parlasse
hablase
parlassi
73
PT ES FR IT RO
parlassi
hablaras /
S 2 falasses palasses
hablases
hablara /
3 falasse parlaît parlasse
hablase
PI
1 falássemos
habláramos /
parlassions parlassimo să fi vorbit
hablásemos
hablarais /
hablaseis /
P 2 falásseis parlassiez parlaste
hablaras /
hablases
hablaran /
3 falassem parlassent parlassero
hablasen
Fazer; Hacer; Faire; Fare; A Face
PT ES FR IT RO
1 faça haga fasse să fac

S 2 faças hagas fasses faccia să faci
3 faça haga fasse să facă
P
fassion
1 façamos hagamos facciamo să facem
s
P
2 façais hagáis fassiez facciate să faceți
3 façam hagan fassent facciano să facă
1 fizesse hiciera / hiciese fisse
hicieras / facessi
S 2 fizesses fisses
hicieses
74
PT ES FR IT RO
3 fizesse hiciera / hiciese fît facesse
hiciéramos /
1 fizéssemos fissions facessimo
PI hiciésemos să fi făcut
hicierais /
hicieseis .
P 2 fizésseis fissiez faceste
hicieras /
hicieses
houvessem hicieran /
3 fissent facessero
/ tivessem hiciesen
PT ES FR IT RO
1 venha venga vienne să vin

s 2 venhas vengas viennes venga să vii
3 venha venga vienne să vină
P
să
1 venhamos vengamos venions veniamo
venim
P
2 venhais vengáis veniez veniate să veniți
3 venham vengan viennent vengano să vină
1 viesse viniera / viniese vinsse

venissi
S 2 viesses vinieras / vinieses vinsses
3 viesse viniera / viniese vînt venisse
viniéramos / să fi
PI 1 viéssemos vinssions venissimo
viniésemos venit
75
PT ES FR IT RO
T N P VIR VENIR VENIR VENIRE venit
VENI
P
vinierais /
2 viésseis vinieseis / vinieras vinssiez veniste
/ vinieses
3 viessem vinieran / viniesen vinssent venissero
PT ES FR IT RO
1 durma duerma dorme să dorm

S 2 durmas duermas dormes dorma să dormi
3 durma duerma dorme să doarmă

P
1 durmamos durmamos dormions dormiamo să dormim
P 2 durmais durmáis dormiez dormiate să dormiți
3 durmam duerman dorment dormano să doarmă
durmiera /
1 dormisse dormisse
durmiese
dormissi
durmieras /
S 2 dormisses dormisses
durmieses
durmiera /
3 dormisse dormît dormisse
durmiese
durmiéramos să fi
PI
1 dormíssemos / dormissions dormissimo dormit
durmiésemos
durmierais /
P durmieseis /
2 dormísseis dormissiez dormiste
durmieras /
durmieses
76
PT ES FR IT RO
durmieran /
3 dormissem dormissent dormissero
durmiesen
Imperative
PT ES FR IT RO
1 — — — — —
S
2 sê / está sé / sea sois sii / stai stai
seja (você) / sia (Lei) / stia

3 sea (usted) — —
esteja (você) (Lei)
P
sejamos siamo /
1 seamos soyons —
estejamos stiamo
P
2 sejais /estai sed / sé soyez siate / state stați
3 sejam / estejam sean — siano / stiano —
Haver (Ter); Haber (Tener); Avoir (Tenir); Avere; A avea
PT ES FR IT RO
AVOIR /
T N P HAVER / TER HABER / TENER AVERE / TENERE AVEA / ȚINE
TENIR
1 — — — — —
habe / he / aie /
2 há / tem abbi / tieni fii
S ten tiens
77
PT ES FR IT RO
AVOIR /
T N P HAVER / TER HABER / TENER AVERE / TENERE AVEA / ȚINE
TENIR
haya (usted) / abbia (Lei) /

3 haja / tenha — —
tenga (usted) tenga (Lei)
P
hajamos / hayamos / ayons / abbiamo /
1 —
tenhamos tengamos tenons teniamo
habed / tened ayez / abbiate /

P 2 havei / tende fiți
/ tené tenez tenete
hajam / hayan / abbiano /

3 — —
tenham tengan tengano
PT ES FR IT RO
1 — — — — —
S 2 fala habla parle parla vorbește
3 fale hable (usted) — parli (Lei) —
P
1 falemos hablemos parlons parliamo —
P 2 falai hablad / hablá parlez parlate vorbiți
3 falem hablen — parlino —
PT ES FR IT RO
1 — — — — —
78
PT ES FR IT RO
S 2 faz / faze haz fais fai / fa’ fă

3 faça haga (usted) — faccia (Lei) —
P
1 façamos hagamos faisons facciamo —
P 2 fazei haced / hacé faites fate faceți
3 façam hagan — facciano —
PT ES FR IT RO
1 — — — — —
S 2 vem ven viens vieni vino
3 venha venga (usted) — venga —
P
1 venhamos vengamos venons veniamo —
P 2 vinde venid / vení venez venite veniți
3 venham vengan — vengano —
PT ES FR IT RO
1 — — — — —
S 2 dorme duerme dors dormi doarme
3 durma duerma — dorma (Lei) —
P
79
PT ES FR IT RO
P
1 durmamos durmamos dormons dormiamo —
P 2 dormi dormid dormez dormite dormiți
3 durmam duerman — dormano —
Infinitive
PT ES FR IT RO
1 ser / estar
S 2 seres / estares
3 ser / estar
P ser / estar être essere / stare fi / sta
1 sermos / estarmos
P 2 serdes / estardes
3 serem / estarem
Haver (Ter); Haber (Tener); Avoir; Avere; Avea
PT ES FR IT RO
AVERE /
TENERE
1 haver / ter
S 2 haveres / teres
3 haver / ter haber / avoir / avere /
P avea
tener tenir tenere
80
PT ES FR IT RO
AVERE /
TENERE
haber / avoir / avere /
P avea
1 havermos / termos tener tenir tenere
S 2 haverdes / terdes
3 haverem / terem
PT ES FR IT RO
1 falar
S 2 falares
3 falar
P hablar parler parlare vorbi
1 falarmos
P 2 falardes
3 falarem
PT ES FR IT RO
1 fazer
S 2 fazeres
3 fazer
P hacer faire fare face
1 fazermos
81
PT ES FR IT RO
P 2 fazerdes
3 fazerem
PT ES FR IT RO
1 vir
S 2 vires
3 vir
P venir venir venire veni
1 virmos
P 2 virdes
3 virem
PT ES FR IT RO
1 dormir
S 2 dormires
3 dormir
P dormir dormir dormire dormi
1 dormirmos
P 2 dormirdes
82
PT ES FR IT RO
3 dormirem
Participle

Haver (Ter); Haber; Avoir; Avere; A avea
PT ES FR IT RO
T FALAR HABLAR PARLER PARLARE VORBI
sido / sido /
été stato / stata fost / stat
estado estado
havido / habido /
eu / tenu avuto / tenuto avut
tido tenido
falado hablado parlé parlato vorbit
PP făcut /
facută /
feito hecho fait fatto
făcuți /
făcute
venuto /
vindo venido venu venit
venuta
dormido dormido dormi dormito dormit
Gerund
83
Haver (Ter); Haber; Avoir; Avere; A avea
PT ES FR* IT RO
T
sendo / siendo / essendo /

en étant fiind / stând
estando estando stando
havendo / habendo / en ayant / en avendo /

având
tendo teniendo tenant tenendo
PP
falando hablando en parlant parlando vorbind
fazendo haciendo en faisant facendo făcând
vindo viniendo en venant venendo venind
dormindo dormiendo en dormant dormindo dormind

* The french Gérondif is obtained with the particle en and the present participle of the
verb: Le temps n’étant pas trop mauvais, nous En jouant, Jean a marqué un but et son équipe a
gagné.
84
85
PART 2
NOUN
N
ouns are perhaps one the most used, common and
notable lexical elements of speech, along with verbs, since
they are used to denominate virtually everything we
know, interact with, create and/or exist. Most of each
language's vocabulary are nouns. Nouns are called, respectively
in Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian and Romanian,
Substantivos, Sustantivos, Noms (or Substantifs), Sostantivos,
Substantive.
The most basic grammar notions of Nouns are Gender and

Number. Therefore a noun can be masculin or feminin.
Romenian still adopts a third gender, neuter, and as we have
seen in some previous comparative table, so does Spanish.
When necessary, we will introduce such third forms as well. In
terms of number, we should stick to either Singular (the unity,
one) or Plural (more than one).
Here is our proposed taxonomy for the example of “filhos"

in Portuguese. Mostly only gender and number are affected, the
only exception in our case is Romanian, which on top of
gender and number uses four cases (Nominative, Accusative,
Genitive, Dative) but maintains the same forms for
Nominative/Accusative and Genitive/Dative pairs.
86
Português
Substantivo
Plural
Masculino
filhos
The approach here will be twofold. Present a number of

Latin-stemmed examples that still conserve some uncanny
similarity among languages in their sometimes peculiar gender
in each language (which varies wildly and cannot be
constrained into any rules) and their Plural correlates. Since
Romanian has declensions, we will present only Nominative
case forms13. And still for Romanian, some examples lack the
immediate similarity and thus need a more archaelogical work
to find its Latin roots (or Slavic, for what it is worth).
The other approach is formative, associated with several

phonetical evolutions that stem from Latin choice nouns,
primarily Vulgar Latin, and survived nowadays. Also to this
approach will belong a quantity of prefixes and suffixes, mostly
derived directly from Greek and Roman radicals, that
contribute to an enormous number of noun compositions, such
13Further grammar references for Romanian, for the ones interested in deepening Romenian
knowledge of declensions might find help in the References section at the end of the book.
87
as verb nominalization or substantivation. All those will
certainly be recognizable by any native speaker or Romance
language student and should help and foster further
assimilation and familiarization.
Numbers and calendar vocabularies will be presented as

Annexes, as practical references given some historical and
idiosyncratic disparities.
The following examples will be preceded, when applicable,

by their articles and/or indication whenever a noun may
fluctuate between one or the other. Corresponding English
translations will be given after each table.
Loose Examples
PT ES FR IT RO
N
o livro el libro le livre il libro carte
a vida la vida la vie la vita viață
o dente el diente la dent il dente dinte
o fim el fin la fin la fine scop
a ponte el puente le pont il ponte pod
o sangue la sangre le sang il sangue sânge
le il
a linguagem el linguage limbă
language linguaggio
S
prieten /
amigo / amigo / amico / prietenă
ami / amie
amiga amiga amica (amic /
amică*)
el cliente / la client / client /

o cliente cliente
cliente cliente clientă
88
PT ES FR IT RO
N
o forte el fuerte fort il forte fort
o vinho el vino le vin il vino vin
il
o vendedor / el vendedor / vendeur / venditore / vânzător /
a vendedora la vendedora vendeuse la vânzătoare
venditrice
os livros los libros les livres i libri cărțile
as vidas las vidas les vies le vite vieți
os dentes los dientes les dents i denti dinți
os fins los fines les fins le fine scopuri
as pontes los puentes les ponts i ponti poduri
os sangues las sangres les sangs i sangui sângiuri
les
as linguagens los linguages i linguaggi limbi
languages
P
amigos / amigos / prieteni
amies amici
amigas amigas (amici*)
os clientes / los clientes /

clients clienti clienți
as clientes las clientes
os fortes los fuertes les forts i forti forturi
os vinhos los vinos les vins i vini vinuri
los
os vendedores
vendedores / vendeurs / venditori /
/ as vânzători
las vendeuses venditrici
vendedoras
vendedoras
Freely English translations are, respectively, the book, the

life, the tooth, the end, the bridge, the blood, the language,
89
friends, the client, the fort, the wine, the salesman / the
saleswoman; the books, the lives, the teeth, the bridges, the
bloods, the languages, friends, the clients, the forts, the
salesmen / saleswomen.
Prefixes
Prefixation as word formation follows sometimes the very

own original word simply transmutated or inherited from Latin
or as consequence from the application of Ancient Greek into
Latin or the addition of the prefix to another radical noun or
derivations from other elements of speech (such as Verbs).
There is a canopy of words that use prefixes and several
pertaining to a more particular usage (medical, scientifical) or
in many cases to indicate a morphological change to the actual
word meaning. In general, they do not, as opposed to Suffixes,
alter word pronounciation, gender or number.
LA* PT ES FR IT RO
ad- / a- admiração admiración admiration ammirazione admirație
ab- /
abs- ausência ausencia absence assenza abseță
ambi- ambivalência ambivalencia ambivalence ambivalenza ambivalență
ante- antecedente antecendente antecedent antecedente antecedent
bene- /
ben- benfeitor benefactor bienfaiteur benefattore binefăcător
bis- / (période)
bi- biênio bienio biennio bienal
biennale
co- /
com- comissão comisión commission commissione comision
circum- circunferência circunferencia circonférence circonferenza circumferință
contra- contrapartida contrapartida contrepartie contrapartita schimb
de- decisão decisión decision decisione decizie
dis- distancia distante distant distante distanță
90
LA* PT ES FR IT RO
e- /
em- / embarque embarque embarquement imbarco imbarcare
en-
entre- /
inter-
entrelinha interlinea(do) interligne interlinea interlinie
extra- extraordinário extraordinario extraordinaire straordinario extraordinar
im- /
in- importação importación importation importazione import
justa- justaposição yuxtaposición juxtaposition giustaposizione juxtapunere
per- percurso (recorrido) parcours percorso parcurs
pos- posterior posterior (ultérieur) posteriore posterior
pre- prevenção prevención prévention prevenzione prevenire
pro- proposta propuesta proposition proposta propunere
rientro
re- reentrada reentrada rentrée intrare
(reingresso)
retro- retrospectiva retrospectiva rétrospectie retrospettiva retrospectiv

semi- semicondutor semiconductor semiconducteur semiconduttore semiconductor
super-
/su- / sobrevivência supervivencia survie sopravvivenza supraviețuire
sobre-
sub- suporte suporte support soporte suport
trans- transação transacción transaction transazione tranzacție

vis- /
vice- vice-rei virrey vice-roi viceré vicerege
* Latin
Freely English translations are, respectively: absence,

ambivalence, antecedent, biennium, commission, counterparty,
decision, distant, boarding, interline, extraordinary, import,
juxtaposition, course, posterior, prevention, proposal, reentry,
retrospective, semiconductor, survival, support, transaction,
viceroy. It is notable that many prefixes conserve their meaning
and form also in English, as it continuously suffered Latin
influences directly or indirectly (in the case of French. e.g.).
91
Suffixes
Suffixation is very common in word formation and in

Romance languages of course most likely derives from Latin
suffixes. Below are the most representative, which cover a wide
number of words and also have very similar correlations with
English.
Since they are appended to the end of words, Suffixes carry

the weight of not only determining person and gender in nouns,
but also the occasional synthatical burden of declension
endings. For our comparison exercise, only nominative cases
will be presented for Romanian, the only language of our group
to still use declensions.
LA PT ES FR IT RO
-abilem responsável responsable responsable responsabile responsabil
-aceus cetáceo cetáceo cétacé cetaceo cetaceu

-alis plural plural pluriel plurale plural
espérance
-ansia esperança esperanza speranza speranță
(espoir)
-ationem colaboração colaboración collaboration collaborazione colaborare
-aticum selvagem selvage sauvage selvaggio sălbatic

-atorem caçador cazador chasseur cacciatore vânător
-culus /
-cula /
-culum
ridículo ridículo ridicule ridicolo ridicol
-ensis francês francés français francese francez

-idae calamidade calamidad calamité calamità calamitate
-ilis hostil hostil hostile ostile ostil

-icus mecânico mecácnico mécanique meccanico mecanic
92
LA PT ES FR IT RO
-ius acessório accesorio accessoire accessorio accesoriu
-mentum momento momento moment momento moment
-osus vitorioso vitorioso victorieux vittorioso victorios
-tor leitor lector lecteur lettore cititor
-trix atriz actriz actrice attrice actriță
This table comprehends an amazing collection of similarities

that undeniably convey the idea behind this book. And as we
can appreciate from the following list of English translations,
also for the English language: responsible, cetacean, plural,
hope, colaboration, savage, hunter, ridiculous, french, calamity,
hostile, mechanical, accessory, moment, victorious, reader,
actress.
Lexical Evolution
To help a more holistic approach to determining the origins

of a Latin word and approximate its journey to the modern
Romance languages we are targeting, we will present a list of
recurrent symmetries examples from Latin. They give clues to
the differences we encounter in modern forms and
Starting with the vowels, where unstressed vowels have a

tendency to go from ‘u' to ‘o’, replace subsequent consonants
or create a consonantal digraph.
LA PT ES FR IT RO
unstressed
vowels
MURU- muro muro mur muro mur
93
LA PT ES FR IT RO
unstressed
vowels
VIVU- vivo vivo vif vivo viu

SEPTEM sete siete sept sette șapte
NOVEM nove nueve neuf nove nouă
PAC- paz paz paix pace pace
SECULU- século século siècle secolo secol
MELIOR- melhor mejor meilleur migliore mai bun
For stressed vowels the most frequent phenonenom is the

formation of diphtongs, mostly recognizable when sometimes
comparing Portuguese with all the others or only French and
Italian or only French. And in some cases, only in Portuguese.
LA PT ES FR IT RO
stressed
vowels
PORTA porta puerta porte porta poartă

OVU- ovo huevo oeuf uovo ovul
TERRA terra tierra terre terra țară
FERU- ferro hierro fier fiero fier
FLOR- flor flor fleur fiore floare
HORA hora hora heure ora oră
CAUSA cousa / coisa cosa chose cosa chestia
PAUCU- pouco poco peu poco puțin
94
For consonants, let’s look at initial positions first. The
symmetries have phonetical reasons, such as:
• from palatals PL-, FL- to CH-, LL- or vice-versa, palatals

PL-, BL-, CL- to PR-, BR-, CR-
• the interchange between F- and H, mostly in Spanish
• the use of J-, Y- or G- for Latin IU- and G-
• the cases of intial ’s’, where a vowel is added, except in
Italian
• the French from CA- to aspirated CH-
LA PT ES FR IT RO
cheio /
PLENU- lleno plein pieno plin
pleno
PLAGA praga llaga plaie piaga pestă
FLAMMA chama llama flamme fiamma flacără
(descoperire
AFFLARE achado hallazgo — (acchiare)
)
CLAV- chave llave clef chiave cheie
CLAMARE chamado llamado — chiamato chemare
PLAGIA praia playa plage (s)piaggia piajă
PLACERE prazer placer plaisir piacere plăcere
CLAVU- cravo clavo clou chiodo clavecin
DUPLU- dobro doble double doppio dublu
FICU- figo higo figue fico fig
FARINA farinha harina farine farina făină
FORMICA formiga hormiga fourmi formica furnică
95
LA PT ES FR IT RO
GELU- gelo hielo gelo gel gheață
IUVEN- jovem joven jeune giovane june
IUGU- jugo yugo joug giogo jug
SCHOLA escola escuela école scuola școală
SPATHA espada espada épée spada spadă
STUDIU- estudo estudio étude studio studiu
CABALLU
- cavalo caballo cheval cavallo cal
CANTU- canto canto canto chant căntec
For consonants in middle positions, we mention:
• the interchange between -C- and -G-, -T- and -D-, -P- and
-B-, because of phonetic proximity
• the Italian double consonants for -BS-, -BT-, -CT-
• disappearance of fricatives -D-, -N-
• occlusion of -CUL-, -TUL- or -LI- into digraphs lh, ll, ch
• softening of -C- into I when followed by T as in -CT-
• transformation of -X- into sibilars or hard aspirated Spanish
-J-
• loss of internal -N- or -L- in Portuguese
LA PT ES FR IT RO
AMICA amiga amiga amie amica amică
PETRA pedra piedra pierre pietra piatră
VITA vida vida vie vita viața
SAPERE saber saber savoir sapere — (ști)
OBSERVARE observação observación observatio osservazione observație
96
LA PT ES FR IT RO
OBTINERE obtenção obtención obtention ottenimento obținerea
ACTU- ato acto acte atto act

EFFECTU- efeito efecto effet effetto efect
PED- pé pie pied piede picior
CRUDU- cru crudo cru crudo crud
PAGANU- pagão pagano païen pagano păgân
OCULU- ollho ojo oeil occhio ochi
VETULA velha vieja vieille vecchio bătrână
OCTO- oito ocho huit otto opt
LECTU- leito lecho lit letto (pat)*
NOCT- noite noche nuit notte noapte
DIXI- disse dije (je) dis dissi —
LUXU- luxo lujo luxe lusso lux
EXEMPL- exemplo ejemplo exemple esempio exemplu
EXAMEN exame examen examen esame examen
LUNA lua luna lune luna lună
CAELU- céu cielo ciel cielo cer
MANU- mão mano main mano mână
TELA tela tela toile tela (pânză)
ARENA areia arena arène arena arină
CADENA cadeia cadena chaîne catena (șir / lanț)
* but compare lapte (LACTU-, leite, leche, lait, latte)
97
98
PART 2
ADJECTIVE
A
djectives serve the purpose of noun or pronoun
qualification, granting features and characteristics,
abstract or concrete, that describe, modify or limit a
given noun or pronoun. Some Adjectives demonstrate degree to
express comparison, thus having different forms to convey
smaller or greater degree of qualities. For Romance languages,
let’s look at four degrees: positive (or equality), comparative,
superlative and absolute.
To illustrate degree, let’s look at the proposed taxonomy for

the example of “a melhor" in Portuguese, comparative
feminine for the adjective bom:
Português
Adjetivo
Singular
Feminino
99
—
Comparativo
a melhor
Syntactically, Adjectives will follow gender and number of

nouns and pronoums they are paired with.
In terms of position of the adjective in relation to nouns and

pronouns, Romance languages can adopt both a prenominal or
post-nominal position to express sometimes different meanings.
That differs from germanic languages such as English that
always position adjectives in a prenominal position. Therefore
we can find in Portuguese as equivalent to "a beautiful girl” the
following two formulas:
Uma linda menina

Uma menina linda
The first formula might have a more literal conotation,

while the second formula might have a more subjective
conotation, although orally only the actual subtleties of
inflection and tone could convey more precise meaning.
Some examples of the most common adjectives are listed

below. Note that gender pairs (masculine and feminine,
respectively) are grouped together in each singular or plural
row, when applicable.
PT ES FR IT RO
buena / buono /
S bom / boa bon / bonne bun / bună
bueno buona
100
PT ES FR IT RO
buenas / bons / buoni /

P bons / boas bune
buenos bonnes buone
grand /
S grande grande grande mare
grande
grands /
P grandes grandes grandi mari
grandes
cierto / certain /
S certo / certa certo / certa cert / certă
cierta certaine
certos / ciertos / certains /

P certi / certe certe
certas ciertas certaines
último / último / ultimo / ultim /

S ultime
útlima última ultima ultimă
útimos / últimos / ultimi /

P ultimes ultime
últimas últimas ultime
próprio / propio / proprio / propriu /

S propre
própria propia propria proprie
próprios / propios / propri /

P propres proprii
próprias propias proprie
S fácil fácil facile facile facil / facilă
P fáceis fáciles faciles facili facile
S outro / outra otro / otra autre altro / altra alt / altă
outros / otros /
P autres altri / altre alte
outras outras
heureux /
S feliz feliz felice fericit
heureuse
P felizes felices heureux felici fericite
101
PT ES FR IT RO
mauvais /
S mau / má malo / mala male / mala rău / rea
mauvaise
malos /
P maus / más mauvaises mali / male răi / rele
malas
S
próximo / próximo / prochain / prossimo / următor /
próxima próxima prochaine prossima următoare
P
próximos / próximos / prochains / prossimi / următori /
próximas próximas prochaines prossime următoare
pequeno / pequeño / piccolo /

S petit / petite mic / mică
pequena pequeña piccola
pequenos / pequeños / petits / piccoli /

P mici
pequenas pequeñas petites piccole
mesmo / mismo / stesso / același /

S même
mesma misma stessa* aceeași
mesmos / mismos / stessi / aceiași /

P mêmes
mesmas mismas stesse aceleași
asa de mult
tanto /
S tanto / tanta tant tanto / tanta / asa de
tanta
multa
tantos / tantos / asa de

P tant tanti / tante
tantas tantas multe
très / trop de
muito / mucho / molto / mult /
S / beaucoup
muita mucha molta multă
de
très / trop de
muitos / muchos / molti / mulți /
P / beaucoup
muitas muchas molte multe
de
vecchio / vechi /
S velho / velha viejo / vieja vieux / vieille
vecchia veche
velhos / viejos / vieux / vecchi /

P veche
velhas viejas vieilles vecchie
102
PT ES FR IT RO
pouco / poco / puțin /

S peu poco / poca
pouca poca puțin
poucos / pocos / pochi /

P peu puține
poucas pocas poche
bonito / bonito / frumos /

S beau / belle bello / bella
bonita bonita frumoasă**
bonitos / bonitos / beaux / frumoși /

P belli / belle
bonitas bonitas belles frumoase
S forte fuerte fort forte tare
P fortes fuertes forts / fortes forti tari
brutto /
S feio / feia feo / fea laid / laide urît / urită
brutta
brutti /
P feios / feias feos / feas laids / laides urîți / urîte
brutte
corto / court / corto / scurt /

S curto / curta
corta courte corta scurtă
curtos / cortos / courts / scurți /

P corti / corte
curtas cortas courtes scurte
conosciuto
conhecido / conocido / connu / cunoscut /
S /
conhecida conocida connue cunoscută
conosciuta
conhecidos
conocidos / connus / conosciuti / cunoscuți /
P /
conocidas connues conosciute cunoscute
conhecidas
nuevo / nouveau / nuovo /

S novo / nova nou / nouă
nueva nouvelle nuova
novos / nuevos / nouveaux / nuovi /

P noi
novas nuevas nouvelles nuove
* compare to less common medesimo / medesima, medesimi / medesime
** compare to Portuguese formosa / formosa, andSpanish hermoso / hermosa
103
We offer the following translations, respectively, beginning
with Portuguese bom / boa: good, grand (big), certain, last,
own, easy, other (another), happy, bad, next, little, same, quite
(so much), old, few (little), pretty, strong, ugly, short, known,
new.
Degrees of Comparison
The table has each group divided into four degress of

comparison, positive (or equality), comparative, superlative and
absolute, noted as P, C, S, A in the first column. We present
first the forms that show complex or unstructured radicals,
followed by examples that can be applied to several other
adjectives to express degrees of comparison, including the usage
of expression particles (mais, más, muy, plus, très, più). Only
masculin forms are given.
PT ES FR IT RO
P bom bueno bon buono bun
C melhor mejor meilleur migliore mai bun
S o melhor el mejor le meilleur il migliore cel mai bun
A ótimo óptimo très bon ottimo foarte bun
P mau malo mauvais malo rău

C pior peor pire peggiore mai rău
S o pior el pior le pire il peggiore cel mai rău
très
A péssimo pésimo pessimo foarte rău
mauvais
P grande grande grand grande mare

C maior mayor majeur maggiore mai mare
S o maior el mayor le majeur il maggiore cel mai mare
104
PT ES FR IT RO
A máximo máximo maximum máximo foarte mare
P pequeno pequeño petit piccolo mic

C menor menor mineur minore mai mic
S o menor el menor le mineur il minore cel mai mic
A mínimo mínimo minimum mínimo foarte mic
P puro puro pur puro pur

C mais puro más puro plus pur più puro mai pur
S o mais puro el más puro le plus pur il più puro cel mai pur
A puríssimo purísimo purissime* purissimo foarte pur
P inteligente inteligente intelligent intelligente inteligent
más plus
C mais inteligente più intelligente mai inteligent
inteligente intelligent
o mais el más le plus cel mai

S il più intelligente
inteligente inteligente intelligent inteligente
A inteligentíssimo inteligentísimo très intelligent intelligentissimo foarte inteligent
P pobre pobre pauvre povero pauper
plus
C mais pobre más pobre più povero mai pauper
pauvre
o mais el más le plus cel mai

S il più povero
pobre pobre pauvre pauper
foarte
A paupérrimo muy pobre très pauvre poverissimo
pauper
* French forms are rare, and the addition to très is preferred, such as très pur, très pauvre,
etc.
As for Numbers, despite the fact that they could be

construed as adjecives, they will be presented as appendix.
105
106
PART 2
ADVERB
A
dverbs are used to modify other elements of speech such
as verbs, adjectives or even nouns or pronouns. They
will be represented by the following categories:
• Adverbs of Mode (or Manner)

• Adverbs of Place (or Location)
• Adverbs of Time
• Adverbs of Affirmation and Negation.
Adverbs maintain the same forms and are not inflected in

any way. To illustrate an adverb placed into our taxonomy,
let’s look “frequentemente" in Portuguese:
Português
Advérbio
107
—
frequentemente
Several Adverbs are formed from Adjectives, either from

straight inaltered conversion or from the addition of suffixes
such as “mente, ment”. All Romance languages admit the
adverbial use of adjectives, in examples such as “falar certo”,
“comer direito”, which are very popular in oral expression and
denote the use as adverbs (to influence additional meaning to
verbs falar and comer) as straight inaltered forms from
adjectives certo and direito.
Some Adverbs may be construed as Adverbial Locutions

when formed by the addition of prepositions, as we will show
in some examples. They should be read as units rather than
separately.
Adverbs of Mode (or Manner)
PT ES FR IT RO
assim así ainsi così așa
bem bien bien bene bine
mal mal mal male rău
pronto / de vite /
depressa presto repede
prisa rapidement
devagar despacio lentement piano încet
108
PT ES FR IT RO
adrede / a
propósito /
de propósito de exprès apposta anume
propósito / a
posta
pelo avesso,
al revés à l’envers alla rovescia pe dos
às avessas
lentamente lentamente lentement lentamente agale
simplesmente
simplesmente / simplement simplicemente doar
sencillamente
às cegas a ciegas à l’aveuglette alla cieca orbește
frequentemente frecuentemente fréquemment frequentemente des
com gosto / con gusto /

de bom grado de buena cu
volontiers volentieri
/ de boa gana / de plăcere
vontade buen grado
in
enfim / afinal al fin / por fin enfin finalmente
sfârșit
mais más plus più mai
mai
menos menos moins meno
puțin
moyen /
meio medio mezzo mijiloc
millieu
tanto / tão tanto / tan tant così tanto atât
pouco poco peu poco puțin
très / mult /
muito mucho molto
beaucoup foarte
109
PT ES FR IT RO
assaz / assai /
bastante assez destul
bastante abbastanza
demais demás trop troppo prea
aussi /
também también anche încă
également
Adverbs of Place (or Location)
PT ES FR IT RO
dentro dentro dedans dentro inăuntru
fora fuera dehors fuori afară
diante /
delante / inainte / in
adiante / em devant davanti
adelante față
frente / à frente
atrás / inapoi /
atrás / detrás derrière dietro
detrás indărăt
vicino /
perto cerca près aproape
cerca
longe lejos loin lontano departe
abaixo / giù / in
abajo en bas jos
debaixo basso
acima / em
arriba en haut su / in alto sus
cima
por toda a parte por todas

dappertutto
/ em toda a partes / en partout peste tot
/ dovunque
parte todas partes
ao lado / do
al lado à côté accanto alături
lado
110
PT ES FR IT RO
no meio en medio au millieu in mezzo in mijloc
à direita a la derecha à droite a destra la dreapta
a la
à esquerda à gauche a sinistra la stânga
izquierda
in nessun
em nenhum en ningún
posto / in
lugar / em lugar lugar / en ailleurs niciunde
qualsiasi
algum / alhures lugar algún
posto
em nenhuma nulle
en ninguna da nessuna
parte / em parte part / nicăieri
parte parte
alguma aucune
Adverbs of Time
PT ES FR IT RO
antes antes avant prima înainte
depois después après poi / dopo după aceea
cedo temprano tôt presto devreme
tarde tarde tard tardi tărziu
agora ahora maintenant ora acum
então entonces alors allora atunci
antiguam
antigamente una volta autre fois altădată
ente
ieri l’altro /
anteontem anteayer avant-hier alaltăieri
l'altro ieri
ontem ayer hier ieri ieri
hoje hoy aujourd’hui oggi astăzi
111
PT ES FR IT RO
amanhã mañana demain domani mâine
depois de pasado après- dopodoman

poimâine
amanhã mañana demain i
intotdeauna /
sempre siempre toujours sempre
totdeauna
nunca /
nunca / jamais jamais mai niciodată
jamás
vez vez fois volta oară / dată
vezes veces fois volte ori / dăți
às vezes / por talvolta / a uneori /

a veces parfois
vezes volte căteodată
uma vez una vez une fois una volta o dată
dos
duas vezes deux fois due volte de două ori
veces
de căteva
varias plusieurs parecchie
várias vezes ori / de mai
veces fois volte
multe ore
a
menudo / adesea /
muitas vezes souvent spesso
muchas adeseori
veces
de nouveau un’altra
outra vez / de otra vez /
/ volta / di din nou / altă
novo / nuevame
nouvelleme nuovo / dată
novamente nte
nt nuovamente
de vez em de vez en de temps di quando din cănd in

quando cuando en temps in quando cănd
já ya déjà già sosit
ainda aún encore ancora incă
112
Adverbs of Affirmation & Negation
PT ES FR IT RO
sim sí oui sì da
não no non no nu
nada nada rien niente nimic
nenhum ningún rien (nessuno) nici usul
ninguém nadie personne nessuno nimeni
que che
senão (só)* sino (sólo) decăt (numai)
(seulement) (soltanto)
não…nem no…ni ne…ni non…né nu…nici
pode ser puede ser peut-être può essere se poate
acaso / tal forse /

talvez peut-être poate
vez / quizás magari
que sí /
claro que mais si / ma sì /
claro que desigur
sim mais ouis certo che sì
sí / pues sí
que no / ma no /
claro que
claro que mais non certo che desigur că nu
não
no no
também não
/ nem… tampoco non plus neanche nici
também
* compare the examples: ele não falava senão disso (ele só falava disto), no hablaba sino
de eso (sólo hablaba de eso), il ne parlait que de cela (il parlait seulement de cela), non parlava
che di questo (parlava soltanto di questo), nu vorbea decăt de asta (vorbea numai de asta).
113
114
APPENDIX: NUMERALS
N
umbers are presented below for all five Romance
languages. There are several similarities, notably in the
first twenty numbers and throughout the tens. To stress
such similarities, it seems convenient to present their
Latin correlates (always in nominative singular) in Roman
numerals:
• I - unus, una, unum

• II - duo, duae, duo
• II - tres, tria
• IV - quattro (quattor, quattuor)
• V - cinque (quinque)
• VI - sex
• VII - septem
• VIII - octo
• IX - novem
• X - decem
• XI - undecim
• XII - duodecim
• XIII - tredecim
• XIV - quattuordecim
• XV - quindecim
• XVI - sedecim (dece et sex)
• XVII - septendecim (dece et septe)
• XVIII - duodeviginti (dece et octo)
• XIX - undeviginti (dece et nove)
• X - viginti
115
Accusative forms also show similarities in modern Romance
languages, specially if we look the forms for the three first
numbers (masculine, feminine, neuter):
unum, unam, unum

duos/duo, duas, duo
tres/tris, tria
Cardinal Numbers
PT ES FR IT RO
0 zero cero zéro zero zero
1 um, uma un, una un, une uno, una unu, une
2 dois, duas dos deux due doi
3 três tres trois tre trei
4 quatro cuatro quatre quattro patru
5 cinco cinco cinq cinque cinci
6 seis seis six sei șase
7 sete siete sept sette șapte
8 oito ocho huit otto opt
9 nove nueve neuf nove nouă
10 dez diez dix dieci zece
11 onze once onze undici unsprezece
12 doze doce douze dodici doisprezece
13 treze trece treize tredici treisprezece
14 quatorze catorce quatorze quattordici patrusprezece
15 quinze quince quinze quindici cincisprezece
16 dezesseis dieciséis seize sedici șasesprezece
17 dezessete diecisiete dix-sept diciassette șaptesprezece
116
PT ES FR IT RO
18 dezoito dieciocho dix-huit diciotto optsprezece
19 dezenove diecinueve dix-neuf diciannove nouăsprezece
20 vinte veinte vingt venti douăzeci
douăzeci și
21 vinte e um veintiuno vingt-et-un ventuno
unu
22 vinte e dois veintidós vingt-deux ventidue douăzeci și doi
23 vinte e três veintitrés vingt-trois ventitré douăzeci și trei
vinte e douăzeci și
24 veinticuatro vingt-quatre ventiquattro
quatro patru
douăzeci și
25 vinte e cinco veinticinco vingt-cinq venticinque
cinci
douăzeci și
26 vinte e seis veintiseis vingt-six ventisei
șase
douăzeci și
27 vinte e sete veintisiete vingt-sept ventisette
șapte
douăzeci și
28 vinte e oito veintiocho vingt-huit ventotto
opt
douăzeci și
29 vinte e nove veintinueve vingt-neuf ventinove
nouă
30 trinta treinta trente trenta treizeci
40 quarenta cuarenta quarante quaranta patruzeci
50 cinquenta cincuenta cinquante cinquanta cincizeci
60 sessenta sesenta soixante sessanta șasezeci
septante /
70 setenta setenta settanta șaptezeci
soixante-dix
șaptezeci și
71 setenta e um setenta y uno soixante-onze settantuno
unu
setenta e șaptezeci și
72 setenta y dos soixante-douze settantadue
dois doi
huitante /
80 oitenta ochenta octante / ottanta optzeci
quatre-vingts
117
PT ES FR IT RO
huitante-et-un /
ochenta y
81 oitenta e um quatre-e-vingt- ottantuno optzeci și unu
uno
un
huitante-deux /
ochenta y
82 oitenta e dois quatre-vingt- ottantadue optzeci și doi
dos
deux
nonante /
90 noventa noventa noinante/ novanta nouăzeti
quatre-vingt-dix
noventa y quatre-vingt-
91 noventa e um novantuno nouăzeti și unu
uno onze
noventa e noventa y quatre-vingt-

92 novantadue nouăzeci și doi
dois dos douze
100 cem cien cent cento sută
101 cento e um ciento uno cent-et-un centuno sută unu
200 duzentos doscientos deux-cents duecento două sute
300 trezentos trescientos trois-cents trecento trei sute
400 quatrocentos cuatrocientos quatre-cents quattrocento patru sute
500 quinhentos quinientos cinq-cents cinquecento cinci sute
600 seiscentos seiscentos six-cents seicento șase sute
700 setecentos sietecientos sept-cents settecento șapte sute
800 oitocentos ochocientos huit-cents ottocento opt sute
900 novecentos novecientos neuf-cents novecento nouă sute
1000 mil mil mille mille mie
10000 dez mil diez mil dix-mille diecimila zece mii
100000 cem mil cien mil cent-mille centomila una sută mil
million um milhão un millón un million un milione unu milion

2
million dois milhões dos milliones deux millions due milioni două milioane
billion um bilhão un billón* un billion un miliardo unu miliard
2 billion dois bilhões dos billones deux billions due miliardi două miliarde
118
PT ES FR IT RO
trillion um trilhão un trillón** un trillion un bilione un trilion
* Also mil millones or millardo is used instead, moatly in the Americas.
** Also billón, mostly in the Americas.
Ordinal Numbers
Note that each entry can also bear an alternate feminine

form, since only the masculine form is given. Thus, for the first
row, primeiro and primeira, primero and primera, premier and
première, primo and prima, etc.
Here the influence of Latin ordinal numbers is even more

accentuated (nominative), so we present the Latin forms for
comparison:
• I - primus
• II - secundus
• II - tertius
• IV - quartus
• V - quintus
• VI - sextus
• VII - septimus
• VIII - octavus
• IX - nonus
• X - decimus
• XI - undecimus
• XII - duodecimus
• XIII - tertius decimus
• XIV - quartus decimus
• XV - quintus decimus
• XVI - sextus decimus
• XVII - septimus decimus
• XVIII - duodevicesimus
• XIX - undevicesimus
119
• XX - vicesimus
• C - centesimus
• CC - ducentesimus
• M - milesimus
PT ES FR IT RO
1st primeiro primero premier primo primul
2nd segundo segundo deuxième secondo doilea
3rd terceiro tercero troisième terzo treilea
4th quarto cuarto quatrième quarto patrulea
5th quinto quinto cinquième quinto cincilea
6th sexto sexto sixième sesto șaselea
7th sétimo séptimo septième settimo șaptelea
8th oitavo octavo huitième ottavo optulea
9th nono noveno neuvième nono nouălea
10th décimo décimo dixième decimo zecelea
11th décimo primeiro undécimo onzième undicesimo unsprezecelea
12th décimo segundo duodécimo douzième dodicesimo doisprezecelea
13th décimo terceiro decimotercero treizième tredicesimo treisprezecelea

14th décimo quarto decimocuarto quatorzièmne quattordicesimo paisprezecelea
15th décimo quinto decimoquinto quinzième quindicesimo cincisprezecelea
16th décimo sexto decimosexto seizième sedicesimo șaisprezecelea

17th décimo sétimo decimoséptimo diz-septième diciassettesimo șaptesprezecelea
18th décimo oitavo decimooctavo dix-huitième diciottesimo optsprezecelea
19th décimo nono decimonoveno dix-neuvième diciannovesimo nouăsprezecelea
20th vigésimo vigésimo vingtième ventesimo douăzecilea
30th trigésimo trigésimo trentième trentesimo treizecilea
40th quadragésimo cuadragésimo quarantième quarantesimo patruzecilea
50th quinquagésimo quincuagésimo cinquantième cinquantesimo cincizecilea
120
PT ES FR IT RO
60th sexagésimo sexagésimo soixantième sessantesimo șaizecilea
soixante-
70th septuagésimo septuagésimo settantesimo șaptezecilea
dixième
quantre-
80th octogésimo octagésimo ottantesimo optzecilea
vingtième
quatre-vingt-
90th nonagésimo nonagésimo novantesimo nouăzecilea
dixième
100
th centésimo centésimo centième centesimo sutălea
200
th duocentésimo ducentésimo deux-centième duecentesimo două sutelea
300 trois-
th tricentésimo tricentésimo trecentesimo trei sutelea
centième
400
th quadringentésimo cuadrigentésimo quatre-centième quattrocentesimo patru sutelea
500
th quingentésimo quingentésimo cinq-centième cinquecentesimo cinci sutelea
600
th sexcentésimo sexcentésimo six-centième seicentesimo șase sutelea
700
th septingentésimo septingentésimo sept-centième settecentesimo șapte sutelea
800
th octingentésimo octingentésimo huit-centième ottocentesimo opt sutelea
900
th noningentésimo noningentésimo neuf-centième novecentesimo nouă sutelea
1000
th milésimo milésimo millième milesimo mielea
121
122
APPENDIX: CALENDAR
T
he hours in Romance languages usually follow the 24
hours clock, beginning at 0:00 (12:00 am) and ending at
24:00 (12:00 am). Several common expressions to notate
periods and frequencies of the day, of the week and of the
year are displayed.
PT ES FR IT RO
hour hora hora heur ora oră
dodici nel
doze horas doze horas douze heures ora
12pm pomeriggio
(meio-dia) (mediodía) (midi) douăsprezece
(mezzogiorno)
doze de la ora
douze heures dodici della
doze da noite noche douăsprezece
12am de la nuit notte
(meia-noite) Imedia / amiază /
(minuit) (mezzanotte)
noche) miezul zilei
uma da
1am
manhã (uma una de la une heure du una di ora uno / una
da madrugada matin mattina dimineață
madrugada)
uma da tarde una de la une heure (de una di

1pm ora uno
(treze horas) tarde l’après-midi) pomeriggio
duas e meia ora două și

deux heures et due e mezza
da tarde dos y media treizeci / ora
2:30pm demie (de (di
(quatorze de la tarde două și
l’après-midi) pomeriggio)
horas) jumătate
tres y
três e cuarenta y
quarenta e cinco de la quattro meno
quatre heures ora patru fără
3:45pm cinco da tarde tarde / un quarto (di
moins le quart un sfert, seara
/ quinze para cuatro pomeriggio)
as quatro menos
cuarto
123
PT ES FR IT RO
cuatro y
quatro e quinze de la quattro e
quatre heures et ora patru și
4:15pm quinze da tarde / quarto (di
quart un sfert, seara
tarde cuatro y pomeriggio)
cuarto
day dia día jour giorno ziua
primeiro de primero de primo

le premier primul
010/1/20 janeiro de enero de gennaio del
20 janvier deux ianuarie, două
dois mil e dos mil y due milla
mille vingt mii douăzeci
vinte veinte vinte
nueve de
nove de julho nove luglio
julio de mil le neuf julliet noua iulie o
07/09/19 de mil (del)
32 novecientos mille neuf cent mie noua sute
novecentos e millenovecent
y treinta y trente-deux treizeci si doi
trinta e dois otrentadue
dos
early petites heures / notte / prime

morning madrugada madrugada noapte
aube ore
dawn alvorada amanecer aube alba zori
morning manhã mañana matin mattina dimineață
noon meio-dia mediodía midi mezzogiorno amiaza
afternoon tarde tarde après-midi pomeriggio după-amiază
puesta del coucher du

sundown pôr-do-sol tramonto apus de soare
sol soleil
night noite noche soir / nuit sera / notte seara / noapte
daily diariamente diariamente quotidiennement quotidianamente în fiecare zi / zilnic
week semana semana semaine settimana săptămână
sun Domingo Domingo dimanche Domenica Duminică
Segunda-
mon Lunes lundi Lunedì Luni
Feira
tue Terça-Feira Martes mardi Martedì Marți
wed Quarta-Feira Miércoles mercredi Mercoledì Miercuri
thu Quinta-Feira Jueves jeudi Giovedì Joi
124
PT ES FR IT RO
fri Sexta-Feira Viernes vendredi Venerdì Vineri
sat Sábado Sábado samedi Sabato Sămbătă
sfârșit de
fim de fin de fin de semaine / fine settimana
weekend săptămână /
semana semana weekend / weekend
weekend
weekly /
once a
week
semanal semanal hebdomadaire settimanale săptămânal
biweekly quinzenal quincenal bihebdomadaire quindicinale bisăptămânal
before semana semana altra săptămână

last week semaine avant
retrasada antepasada settimana înainte
semana semana settimana săptămână

last week semaine passée
pasada pasada scorsa trecută
year ano año année anno an
JAN Janeiro Enero janvier Gennaio ianuarie
FEB Fevereiro Febrero février Febbraio februarie
MAR Março Marzo mars Marzo martie
APR Abril Abril avril Aprile aprilie
MAY Maio Mayo mai Maggio mai
JUN Junho Junio juin Giugno iunie
JUL Julho Julio juillet Luglio iulie
AUG Agosto Agosto août Agosto august
SEP Setembro Septiembre septembre Settembre septembrie
OCT Outubro Octubre octobre Ottobre octombrie
NOV Novembro Noviembre novembre Novembre noiembie
DEC Dezembro Diciembre décembre Dicembre decembrie
winter inverno invierno hiver inverno iarnă
summer verõo verano été estate vara
spring primavera primavera printemps primavera primăvară
125
PT ES FR IT RO
fall outono otoño automne autunno toamnă
month mês mes mois mese lună
monthly mensal mensual mensuel mensile lunar
bimonthly bimestral bimensual bimensuel bimestrale bilunar
quarter trimestre trimestre trimestre trimestre trimestru

six
months semestre semestre semestre semestre semestru
yearly anual anual annuel annuale anual
año que l’année anno

next year ano que vem anul viitor
viene prochaine prossimo
año
last year ano passado l’année dernière anno scorso anul trecut
passado
126
127
APPENDIX: PHONETIC TABLE
T
he following tables represent phonetically vowels and
consonants sounds found in our five Romance languages.
International Phonetical Alphabet (IPA)14 characters are
given in the first column, followed by examples in all languages
(whenever the sound exists) with their sounds marked in bold.
Vowels
IPA PT ES FR IT RO
a mar mar patte mare mare
ɑ pâte
ɐ banho
ə levar păr
ɨ mână
ɛ terra tierra terre terra
e rede red chanté rete perete
i vinho vino lit vino vin
ɔ pó forma fort forte
o lobo lobo beau amore foc
u puro puro loup puro lup
œ jeune
14A notation system created by linguists to represent sound aspects of any given oral language.
A good reference, including audio samples can be found at Wikipedia.
128
IPA PT ES FR IT RO
ø jeûne
y pur
ã blanc
˜ɐ lã
˜œ brun
˜ɛ fin
ĩ vento
˜ɔ fim bon
õ bom
ũ nenhum
j varios bien paille piano pai
w água bueno oui buono ziuă
ɥ nuit
ḙ fereastră
o, oameni
Consonants
IPA PT ES FR IT RO
p pai padre père padre patrie
t terra tierra terre terra tot
k corpo cuerpo corps corpo corp
b bem bien bien bene bine
d data data date data doi
129
IPA PT ES FR IT RO
g gota gota goutte goccia gură
f forte fuerte fort forte foarte
Ɵ ciego
s sete siete sept sette sete
∫ chá chat scena șapte
x mujer / girar horn
ẞ lobo
v vinho vin vino vin
ƌ lado
z rosa rose rosa roz
3 já jeune joe
Ɣ logo luego manger
ts alzare țară
dz zero
t∫ chica dolce ceară
dȝ giro ginere
m mar mar mer mare mare
n nove nueve neuf nove nouă
ɲ vinha viña vigne vigna
l ler leer lire leggere lectură
𝛌 filho calle figlio
ƚ falta
130
IPA PT ES FR IT RO
r caro caro caro care
rr carro carro
R carro mari
131
132
.
REFERENCES
R
eferences presented here are divided into two main
sections: Romance Philology and Romance Languages.
The Romance Philology section corresponds to studies
in philology, comparative grammars and any other
books supporting at least two Romance languages, including
dictionaries. It includes references in other languages as well,
such as Latin or English.
The Romance Language section brings references and

studies related to one of the five Romance languages in
partcular, ranging from grammars, verb conjugation to
language history, philology studies.
Bibliographical references are presented in alphabetical

order of author’s last name (also following alphabetical order
when there are more than one author), and follow the pattern:
AUTHOR'S LAST NAME, Author's Other Names “Title of the

Book" City: Publisher, year
ROMANCE PHILOLOGY
133
AZEREDO, J. C. de; BRITO, Ana Maria; LOHSE, Birger;
NETO, Godofredo de Oliveira “Gramática Comparativa
Houaiss: Quatro Línguas Românicas, Português, Espanhol,
Italiano, Francês” São Paulo: Publifolha, 2010
BASSETTO, Bruno F. “Elementos de Filologia Românica” São

Paulo: EDUSP, 2001
BOURCIEZ, Édouard “Éléments de Linguistique Romane”

Paris: Librairie Klincksieck, 1956
CARVALHO, José G. H. de “Estudos Linguísticos 2o volume”

Coimbra: Atlântida Editora, 1969
CHOMSKY, Noam “ Language and Responsibility” New

York: Pantheon, 1979
COSERIU, Eugenio “Estudios de Lingüística Románica”

Madrid: Gredos, 1977
DÍAZ Y DÍAZ, Manuel C. “Antologia del Latin Vulgar”

Madrid: Gredos, 1962
DIEZ, Friedrich "Wörterbuch der Romanischen Sprachen

Erster Theil” Bonn, Adolph Marcus, 1870
————— "Wörterbuch der Romanischen Sprachen Zweiter

Theil” Bonn, Adolph Marcus, 1870
————— “Grammatik der Romanischen Sprachen - Dritter

Theil“ Bonn, Eduard Weber’s Verlag Marcus, 1882
ELIA, Silvio “Preparação à Lingüística Românica” Rio de

Janeiro: Editora Ao Livro Técnico, 2004
134
FERNALD, James C. “English Grammar Simplified” New
York: Funk & Wagnalis, 1916
BUESCU, Victor (coord.) “Dicionário de Romeno-Português”

Porto: Porto Editora, 1977
GALVEZ, José (edit.)”Dicionário Larousse Francês/Português -

Português/Francês” São Paulo: Larousse, 2005
GHISELLI, Alfredo “Grammatica e Filologia: Studi di

Grammatica Latina” Firenze: Sansoni, 1961
GRANDGENT, C. H. “Introduzione allo Studio del Latino

Volgare” Milano: Hoepli, 1914
GRÖBER, Gustav (org.) “Grundriss der Romanischen

Philologie - II Band 3. Abteilung” Strassburg: Karl J. Trübner,
1901
ILARI, Rodolfo “Lingüística Românica” São Paulo: Ática,

2000
IORDAN, Iorgu; MANOLIU, Maria “Manual de Lingüística

Románica tomo II” Madrid: Gredos, 1972
JAKOBSON, Roman “Fonema e Fonologia” Rio de Janeiro:

Livraria Acadêmica, 1967
MEIER, Harri “Ensaios de Filologia Românica” Rio de

Janeiro: Grifo, 1974
MEYER-LÜBKE, W. “Einführung in das Studim der

Romanischen Sprachwissenschaft” Heilderberg: Carl Winter’s
Universitätsbuchhandlung, 1920
135
————— “Grammaire de Langues Romanes - Tome
Premier: Phonetique“ Paris: H. Welter, 1890
————— “Grammatik der Romanischen Sprachen - Erster

Band: Lautlehre“ Leipzig: Fues’s Verlag, 1890
————— “Grammatik der Romanischen Sprachen - Zweiter

Theil: Wortbiegungslehre“ Bonn: Eduard Weber’s Verlag, 1882

Deuxième: Morphologie“ Paris: H. Welter, 1895

Troisième: Syntaxe“ Paris: H. Welter, 1900

Quatrième: Tables Générales“ Paris: H. Welter, 1906
PEI, Mario A. “Studies in Romance Philology and Literature”

Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1963
POLITO, André G. “Michaelis Dicionário Escolar Italiano-

Português, Português-Italiano” São Paulo: Melhoramentos,
2003
QUEIROZ, T. A. (editor.) “Estudos de Filologia e Lingüística”

São Paulo: EDUSP, 1981
RAGAZZINI, Giuseppe “Dizionario Inglese Italiano - Italiano

Inglese” Bologna: Zanichelli, 1995
RONCONI, Alessandro “La Sintassi Latina” Firenze: Sansoni,

1959
SAUSSURE, Ferdinand de “Course in General Linguistics”

New York: McGraw-Hill, 1966
136
СЕРГИЕВСКИЙ, М. В. “Введение в Романское Языкознание”
Москва: Издателъство Литературы на Иностранных Языках,
1952
TEYSSIER, Paul “Comprendre les Langues Romanes: Méthode

d’Intercompréhension du français… à l’espagnol, au portugais,
à l’italien & au roumain” Paris: Chandeigne, 2012
WALTER, Henriette “L'Aventure des Langues en Occident”

Paris: Robert Laffont, 1994
ROMANCE LANGUAGES
PORTUGUÊS
BASSO, Renato; ILARI, Rodolfo “O Português da Gente: a
língua que estudamos, a língua que falamos” São Paulo:
Contexto, 2014
CUNHA, Celso “Gramática de Base” Rio de Janeiro:

FENAME, 1981
FONSECA, Fernando V. Peixoto da “O Português entre as

línguas do mundo” Coimbra, Livraria Almedena, 1995
HOUAISS, Antônio “Grande Dicionário Houaiss da Língua

Portuguesa” São Paulo: Objetiva, Instituto Antônio Houaiss,
2001
137
LAPA, M. Rodrigues “Estilística da Língua Portuguesa” Rio de
Janeiro: Livraria Acadêmica, 1973
NETO, Serafim da Silva “Manual de Filologia Portuguesa” Rio

de Janeiro: Livraria Acadêmica, 1957
OLIVEIRA, Nelson Custódio de “Português ao Alcance de

Todos” Rio de Janeiro: Bloch, 1968
ESPAÑOL
GARCÍA, Ernesto C. “Océano Gramática Práctica: Ortografía,
Sintaxis, Incorrecciones, Dudas” México: Oceano, 2001
ROMERO, Gilda Rocha; ZATARAIN, Irma M., ZATARAIN,

Martha E. M. “Conjugación Lengua Española” México:
Larousse, 2006
VARIOUS, “Diccionario Esencial de Sinónimos y Antónimos

Lengua Española” Barcelona: Vox, 2001
VARIOUS, “Diccionario de la Lengua Española” Madrid: Real

Academia Española (Vigésima Primera Edición), 1997
FRANÇAIS
BESCHERELLE, Louis-Nicolas “Bescherelle: La Grammaire
pour Tous” Paris: Hatier, 1997
138
BRUNEU, Charles; BRUNOT, Ferdinand "Précis de
Grammaire Historique de la Langue Française” Paris: Masson
& Cie, 1949
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“Harrap's French Grammar” Kent: Harrap, 1991
DAUZAT, Albert; DUBOIS, Jean; MITTERRAND, Henri :

"Dictionnaire Étymologique et Historique du Français” Paris:
Larousse, 1999
DE LAGE, Guy Raynaud “Introduction a l’ancien Français”

Paris: Sedes, 1993
JACQUENOD, Raymond “Dictionnaire Étymologique:

l’origine de 20.000 mots Français” Paris: Éditions de la Seine,
2006
JOUETTE, André; LE LAY, Yann “Larousse de la

Conjugaison” Paris: Larousse, 2001
KENDRIS, Christopher “201 French Verbs fully conjugated in

all the tenses” Woodbury: Barron’s Educational Series, 1963
MAGNE, Augusto “O mais antigo documento da Língua

Francesa: ensaio sobre a parte francesa dos Juramentos de 842”
Petrópolis: Vozes, 1991
ROBERT, Paul “Le Nouveau Petit Robert - dictionnaire

alphabetique et analogique de la langue française” Paris:
Dictionnaires Le Robert, 1993
ITALIANO
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regolari e irregolari” Perugia: Guerra, 1983
STOPPELLI, Pasquale (coord.) “Il Grande Dizionario Garzanti

della Lingua Italiana” Milano: Garzanti, 1997
WILLERS, Hermann “Langenscheidts Kurzgrammatik

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140
141
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Composed in Pages 10.0 for iMac

Fonts used in this book: Sabon, Helvetica Neue, Druk
When printed, this first edition was printed by Kindle Direct Publishing
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ABOUT THIS BOOK
E
lements of Compartive Grammar in Five Romance
Languages: Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian,
Romanian - an outline for intecomprehension” is a
handbook where five Romance languages are compared side by
side, using tables, aiming intercomprehension among native
speakers of one or several of the Romance languages. Main
features:
• Eight Elements of Speech compared (Articles,

Prepositions, Conjunctions, Pronouns, Adverbs, Verbs,
Nouns, Adjectives)
• Proposed taxonomy for classification of all Elements of
Speech
• More than 80 compative tables
• More than 3,500 words and expressions in five
languages
• Appendices with phonetical equivalents, numbers and
calendar terms in all five languages
• Over 65 book references in Romance Philology and
Romance Languages
146

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ELEMENTS OF

FABIO DE CASTRO JUVENCIO

FABIO DE CASTRO JUVENCIO

Revision: Mariana Tavares, Marisa Bustamante

1st Edition 2020

À Mariana, ao Tomás e ao Pedro

Today the number of the five most widely used Romance

There are several Romance language elements that overlap

A difficult decision was made in regards to the book

Each language has grown to acquire its own peculiarities.

With that said, on you go to the next section. Indulge my

For convenience, a distinct separation was made between

Part II discourses over Lexical Elements of Speech, words

Each chapter has comparison tables in which all languages

The reader can jump right to the chapter or element of

Overall, the work derives massively from previous efforts

And on a more technical note, this book follows a few

Another important aspect of the book is the author’s

An example of how the taxonomy model displays for the

As we can see, not all taxonomy categories apply to every

In terms of vocabulary, since each chapter will present

Definite articles share a resonant ancestrality to Latin

M o el / lo* le il, lo -(u)l, -le, -a -(u)lui

French and Italian can produce elisions, not shown in the

M o homem el hombre l’homme l’uomo omul omului

F a vida la vida la vie la vita viața vieții

os los les gli

4 Please refer to Romanian grammars in Reference for more.

Here are forms for indefinite articles in all five languages.

nom., acc. gen., dat.

M um un un, du un, uno un unui

For French and Italian there are so called Partitive Articles.

Let’s fill in the table with some common examples:

uns unos des (dei) niște

We have a deviation from the common Latin radicals in

In the Next chapter we will revisit Articles when looking at

• For singular Definite Articles, we see masculine recognizable

Prepositions have a pure form, not inflecting or altering

para para pour / par per pentru

por por pour / par — pe

com con avec con cu

sem sin sans senza fără

desde desde depuis da de cand

durante durante pendant durante pe parcursul

antes antes avant prima inainte

após después après dopo după

sobre sobre sur su asupra

Free translations in English, would be, respectively, of, to/

We can observe several similarities, notably:

8 A recurrent feature for all tables in the book.

Take a moment to compare other forms.

In Romanian some prepositions require a certain noun

Let’s now compare contracted forms of Prepositions de, a ,

de + plur dei / dai /

com + pll com as

For Indefinite contractions of Prepositions and Articles, let’s

antes de antes de avant prima de inainte de

ao lado de al lado de à côté de accanto a lângă

até / até a hasta jusqu’à fino a până

atrás de detrás de derrière dietro a in spate

através de a través de à travers attraverso peste

diante de delante de devant davanti a inainte de

em direção a hacia vers verso spre