personagem

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from French personnage.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /peʁ.soˈna.ʒẽj̃/ [peh.soˈna.ʒẽɪ̯̃]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /peʁ.soˈna.ʒẽj̃/ [peh.soˈna.ʒẽɪ̯̃]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /peɾ.soˈna.ʒẽj̃/ [peɾ.soˈna.ʒẽɪ̯̃]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /peʁ.soˈna.ʒẽj̃/ [peχ.soˈna.ʒẽɪ̯̃]
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /peɻ.soˈna.ʒẽj̃/ [peɻ.soˈna.ʒẽɪ̯̃]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /pɨɾ.suˈna.ʒɐ̃j̃/

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -aʒẽj̃, (Portugal) -aʒɐ̃j̃
• Hyphenation: per‧so‧na‧gem

Noun

personagem f or m m or f by sense (plural personagens)

1. character (being involved in the action of a story)

Usage notes

The word personagem has three different rules for gender inflection, all correct and widely used:

• Always feminine: a personagem João e a personagem Maria ― the character John and the character Mary
• Always masculine: o personagem João e o personagem Maria ― the character John and the character Mary
• Agreeing with the person: o personagem João e a personagem Maria ― the character John and the character Mary

The choice is up to the speaker or writer. However, it is advised keeping one particular style throughout the text for consistency.

Further reading

• “personagem”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “personagem”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026