Moving to Brazil means signing-up for things. And signing-up for things. And signing-up for things.

You’re in whatever home country right now and probably spent your life involving yourself in the world gradually. By that I mean, you already have a Social Security card, an account at your DVD rental place, maybe an account with credit union.

Starting over is just that:

- registering for things

- applying for credit cards

- signing-up for insurance policies

- enrolling in classes

- joining religious extremist groups

Note the different verbs we just used to express the same idea: associating yourself with something or someone. Did you think it would be easier in Brazilian Portuguese? Você é muito engraçado!

While there are not any rules to clarify which verb is best to use, we can at least look at some of the most common implementations via examples:

inscrever-se = to sign-up (think classes, clubs and events)

> Saiba como se inscrever na escola agora.
> Como me inscriver no Bolsa universidade novamente?

cadastrar = to register (just about anything)

> Você já cadastrou no site Facebook?
> Eu quero cadastrar meu curriculo na empressa.

registrar = to register (mostly business contexts like domain names, business names, logos)

> Sabe como eu posso registrar minha marca empresarial?
> Precisamos registrar nossa empressa com a Junta comercial agora.

associar = to associate (health clubs, professional associations)

> Sociedade Brasileira de Física – Como associar-se
> Já pensou em associar-te na International Friendship League?

The bottom line is: cadastrar and inscrever are the most common, so use them when unsure.

Tags: portuguese language online, portuguese podcast

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