atuais

atuais is the plural form of the Portuguese adjective atual, meaning present, current, or contemporary. It agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies: the singular is atual, and the plural is atuais. The adjective has the same form in the singular for masculine and feminine, while the plural uses atuais (os dados atuais, as situações atuais, os presidentes atuais).

Etymology and sense: atual comes from Latin actualis, related to actus, meaning “in action” or “presently existing.” Over time, its meaning in Portuguese shifted to denote something that pertains to the present time or the current state of affairs.

Usage and nuance: atuais is widely used to indicate items or conditions that exist now. Common collocations include dados atuais, situação atual, tecnologia atual, eventos atuais. The term is often contrasted with sense of recency (recente) or with modernity (moderno), depending on context. In position, the adjective typically follows the noun (dados atuais), but it can precede the noun for emphasis or stylistic reasons (o atual presidente).

See also and related terms: contemporâneo, vigente, moderno. The concept is central in journalism, science, and everyday language when referring to the present moment, current circumstances, or up-to-date information.