🇵🇹 Portuguese · C1 · Academic World

Writing a summary

8 min read · personal infinitive in academic context · impersonal constructions · textual cohesion

Vocabulary

resumirto summarize
sintetizarto synthesize
salientarto highlight
abrangerto encompass
a síntesethe synthesis
o parágrafothe paragraph
a paráfrasethe paraphrase
a coesão textualthe textual cohesion
o argumento centralthe central argument
a ideia-chavethe key idea

Writing a Summary in Portuguese

The Personal Infinitive

A unique Portuguese feature, the personal infinitive allows infinitives to have subjects. This is essential in academic writing:

Ao analisarmos os dados (When we analyze the data)
Antes de os investigadores concluírem (Before the researchers conclude)

Impersonal Constructions

Academic summaries avoid the first person. Use impersonal structures:

Constata-se que (It is observed that)
Importa salientar que (It is worth highlighting that)
Cumpre referir que (It should be mentioned that)

Textual Cohesion

A good summary maintains cohesion through reference words and connectors:

Este/a (this — referring back), o referido (the aforementioned)
Por sua vez (in turn), neste sentido (in this sense)
Em suma (in short), globalmente (overall)

Summary Structure

A Portuguese academic summary should: state the main topic, present key findings, note the methodology briefly, and end with the main conclusion. Avoid personal opinions and direct quotes.

Tip: Use the personal infinitive to vary sentence structure and avoid repetitive impersonal constructions.

Expressions

O autor defende queThe author argues that
Em síntese, o estudo concluiIn summary, the study concludes
Importa salientar queIt is worth highlighting that
Ao longo do artigoThroughout the article
No que concerne aos resultadosRegarding the results
Face ao expostoIn light of the above

Common mistakes

~~Ao analisar os dados, nós~~
Ao analisarmos os dados
Use personal infinitive (-mos) instead of «nós» with infinitive
~~O resumo tem que ser curto~~
O resumo deve ser conciso
«Tem que» is informal; use «deve» + academic vocabulary (conciso)
~~O estudo mostra muitas coisas~~
O estudo evidencia diversos aspetos
Too vague and informal — use precise academic vocabulary
~~Basicamente, o artigo diz que~~
Em síntese, o artigo sustenta que
«Basicamente» and «diz» are too colloquial for academic writing
~~Concluindo, acho que~~
Em conclusão, afigura-se que
Avoid personal opinion (acho) in summaries — use impersonal forms

Quick quiz

Question 1 of 5

How do you say “to encompass” in Portuguese?

This is the mini version

The real Portuguese tutor lives in the app

Reading is a start — Mio is built for practice. The app adds everything the web can’t do:

Talk
Real voice conversations with your AI tutor
Listening
Short stories and dialogues with comprehension questions
Smart flashcards
Spaced repetition that shows words right before you forget them
Your coach Mio
Tracks your mistakes and builds a daily plan around your weak spots