Portuguese man / gold coin
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Portuguese man
A man or male person who comes from Portugal or has Portuguese citizenship.
Mein neuer Kollege ist Portugiese und hat ein Restaurant in der Altstadt eröffnet.
My new colleague is a Portuguese man and has opened a restaurant in the old town.
'Der Portugiese' (the Portuguese man) belongs to the N-declension. This means that the noun takes the ending '-n' in all cases except the nominative singular. Learners often make mistakes with this.
Ich habe gestern einen Portugiesen kennengelernt.
I met a Portuguese man yesterday.
The word is derived directly from the country 'Portugal' (Portugal). The word family also includes the adjective 'portugiesisch' (Portuguese), which is used to describe things or qualities.
Er ist Portugiese und lebt seit fünf Jahren in Deutschland.
He is Portuguese and has been living in Germany for five years.
The meaning 'Goldmünze' (gold coin) is very rare and limited to historical or numismatic contexts. In normal usage, 'der Portugiese' (the Portuguese man) always means a person from Portugal.
Die Ausstellung zeigte einen goldenen Portugiesen aus dem 16. Jahrhundert.
The exhibition showed a golden Portuguese coin from the 16th century.
Portuguese
'portugiesisch' and 'der Portugiese' belong to the same topic, but they have different grammatical functions. 'portugiesisch' is an adjective and describes something that has to do with Portugal, the culture, or the language. 'der Portugiese' is a noun and refers to a male person from Portugal. Learners may confuse the words because they look similar. Pay attention to the question: If it is about a quality or a language, 'portugiesisch' fits. If it is about a person, 'der Portugiese' fits.
Beim Fußballtraining lernen wir einen Portugiesen kennen, der neu in der Stadt ist.
At soccer practice, we meet a Portuguese man who is new in town.
Im Urlaub möchte ich ein paar portugiesische Wörter lernen.
On vacation, I want to learn a few Portuguese words.