The different syntactic structures of Portuguese and their use

Abstract

The aim of this study is to present the diff erent syntactic structures of Portuguese from a Functional Discourse Grammar perspective. To this end, the study uses a corpus that includes texts from diff erent varieties of Portuguese spoken in Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Saint Thomas and Prince, and East Timor and sets the discursive act as the unit of analysis. Results show that each syntactic structure is motivated by pragmatic concerns as well as the communicative needs of the speakers.