Muito or Muita?

Is it Muito or Muita? In Portuguese, when talking about degree or intensity, always use “muito.” It’s the DEFAULT. For quantities you have to match the the subject. Below, I’ll help you decide when the situation is talking about degree/intensity, or quantity. When it’s not clear, ask yourself: is this about the quantity of something?

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Brazilian Gringos (parte 1)

“Gringo” is not a bad word in Brazil. It’s used as a kind label for any foreigner. DO NOT be offended when someone calls you a gringo! In these next two dialogs we’ll learn some very useful new vocabulário. Whenever you’re getting new vocab in a story with rich context, it’s supremely memorable!

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Tomar in Portuguese

The Portuguese verb “tomar” can be confusing because it encompasses the meanings of “to take,” “to drink,” and “to consume.” Similar to “beber,” Brazilians specifically use “tomar” when something becomes part of their being or changes them internally. For instance, they “take” breakfast and coffee, but not lunch or dinner. Let me explain…

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Dar para – the Portuguese power combo

The combination of the Portuguese verb DAR + para is one of the most powerful you will find. Let me show you how to convey possibilities and abilities. With lots of real-world examples, from making a meal to to asking if something is doable. It’s a unique construction that, along with other special verbs like FICAR, IR, and TER, accelerates language learning and aids in natural conversations.

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Pode ser

Pode ser is one of those phrases that finds it’s way into just about every Brazilian conversation. “Pode ser” in Portuguese, can express “maybe,” “could be,” or “possible,” and using it correctly will put you in charge of the conversation.

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I can hardly wait.

There are 3 ways that Brazilians use to say that something hard to wait for. The most common is with “mal posso esperar” – “badly able to wait” (literally). We usually say “I can hardly wait” and Brazilians say, “Eu mal posso esperar”.

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Lá in Portuguese

Lá in Portuguese is actually used in many different ways in day-today conversation. To Brazilians it’s much more than just, “there”! Let’s look at the most common examples and how “lá” gets incorporated into some of the most iconic Portuguese expressions.

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the Portuguese infinitive

In English, the infinitive form is “to” + the verb. Like this: to dance, to kiss, to spend etc. The Portuguese infinitive is just the verb itself: falar, comer, dormir etc. There’s no need to add a “to”. Every verb is born in its infinitive beauty self-contained and ready for use.

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the Present Subjunctive

Using the Present Subjunctive Portuguese uses the Subjunctive mood to indicate something is uncertain to happen or to have occurred. There are 3 different degrees of uncertainty: (1) extremely unlikely, (2) plausible, (3) likely. The Present Subjunctive is used for case (2): actions that are plausible, yet have not yet occurred.

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the Imperfect Indicative

In Portuguese, there are several ways to refer to something that happened in the past, each with varying shades of meaning. Verb tenses! The Past Imperfect – officially called the Imperfect Indicative (o Pretérito Imperfeito), is used when talking about continuous or ongoing action in the past. Something that used to occur or, would always occur….

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por acaso & de propósito

por acaso » by chance Simônimos » inesperadamente, acidentalmente, casualmente, aleatoriamente, arbitrariamente Exemplo: Encontrei meus primos no festival por acaso. Não tínhamos combinado nada. » I met my cousins at the festival by chance. We hadn’t arranged anything. de propósito » on purpose Simônimos » deliberadamente, intencionalmente Exemplo: O propósito da vida é seguir a…

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Qualquer in Portuguese

I’m old enough to remember the lan house. And in Brazil – especially the favelas you can still (it’s 2020) find them! In my early days traveling in Brazil I would always go to the same lan house. I would always go when I knew there would be this one girl working there – but…

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Advanced forms of TER

Prerequisite Reading: Portuguese verb TER. Superpowers? Sim, TER has superpowers. Though these are considered advanced-level, any ambitious learner can start using them now! Just keep in mind that the conjugation of TER is very irregular. Let’s start with the most used: The Imperative of Ter You will hear these all_the_time: Tenha um bom dia! >…

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What kind? in Portuguese.

We Americans are so lazy. We get away with saying so much with so little. I probably use the word, kind a dozen times every day. But in Brazil, there are several more options used to say, What kind? in Portuguese. What kind of cheese do you want? I like all kinds of science fiction…

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perto de

perto de I keep coming back to this subject because so many people ask about it. I’ve posted about Portuguese adverbs of position & place before, but today I just want to review the super-common two: perto de: close to and, longe de: far from It’s obvious why the de is there, right? Brazilians say…

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