Tag Archives: learn portuguese

Get used to it

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Phrasal verbs just don’t exist in Portuguese.

Get used to it.

(*phrasal verbs are verbs joined with a prepositionn SUCH AS, turned-on, run-down, sit-up, used-to, used-up and etc…!)

I am always wanting to say things like “I’m not used to this weather yet” or, “Hey, are you getting used to your long commute to work?”

And I was constantly trying to incorporate the verb usar which of course, does not work in this case. (usar is never used to mean “accusomed to”).

In Portuguese, use acostumar.

or also (but less commonly) adaptar, habituar & familiarizar

Here’s how:

infinitive > Como eu vou me acostumar a esse estilo de vida?

present indicative > A Gente se acostuma a tudo.

preterite > Você se acostumou a acordar cedo?

as a past participle >  Eu já estou acostumado a esses sapatos.

*** NOTE that it’s most often used reflexively since the subject for this verb is almost always receiving the action.

 

I can hardly wait

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I found it really difficult to learn how to say things like,

‘barely’, ‘hardly’, and ‘scarcely’ — staples of english communication ;-)

I would always come up with, for example: ‘não posso esperar’ — which translates quite literally to ‘I am unable to wait’

To express the true meaning of hardly /barely etc, use MAL. This may seem counter-intuitive as mal can have other loaded meaning such as evil, wrong, bad…

Here’s how to use it for hardly, barely etc:

I can hardly wait. >> Eu mal posso esperar.

He can hardly walk. >> Ele mal pode andar.

She was barely able to speak. >> Ela mal podia (conseguia) falar.

He was hardly able to do it. >> Ela mal conseguia faze-lô.

* Remember, it’s mal+poder or conseguir to say anything like this.

 

No clima da sustentabilidade – Rio+20

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O que é Rio+20?

Em junho, o Brasil vai sediar a ‘Rio+20′, conferência da ONU que vai reunir líderes do mundo todo para discutir meios de transformar o planeta em um lugar melhor para se viver.

In this sentence EM UM is expressing ‘into a’  Let’s try using this in another example:

She wants to turn the frog into a prince with a kiss. > Ela quer transformar o sapo em um principe.

*EM UM can also be contracted like this: EM UM/A = NUM/NUMA

I fell into a deep sleep. > Cai em um (num) sono profundo.

He fell into a trap. > Ele caiu numa cilada.

E você sabe por que o evento recebeu o nome de Rio+20? Porque a reunião acontecerá no Rio de Janeiro, exatamente 20 anos depois de outra conferência internacional que tinha objetivos muito semelhantes: a Eco92

O evento será realizado no Rio de Janeiro, 20 anos depois da Eco92.

Em junho, líderes dos 193 Estados que fazem parte da ONU, além de representantes de vários setores da Organização, se reunirão para discutir como podemos transformar o planeta em um lugar melhor para viver, inclusive para as futuras gerações. Uma grande responsabilidade, não é mesmo? 

 

I’ve been working

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Eu tenho trabalhado, e você?

And, what about you, what have you been up to?

In english, the ‘been or present perfect‘ is a way of signaling that you’re talking about the past, about something that is ongoing. 

In Portuguese,  if you say for example. ‘Eu trabalhei’ it means that you worked and that it’s done. To talk about some action that is ongoing you combine the verb TER + verb (past participle). So to say ‘I’ve been working’ it’s eu TENHO trabalhADO.

And to ask, ‘What have you thinking’ it’s o que você TEM pensADO?

Simple!

Let’s do an ER verb:

‘Iv’e been eating a lot’ >> eu TENHO comIDO muito’

How about an irregular verb like, FAZER?

‘What have you been doing?’ >> o que você TEM feito?

You need to know the past participles of verbs! This conjugation is called the Present Perfect Indicative and it’s really, really useful so: learn it now!

More examples:

‘What have you been thinking?’ >> o que você tem pensado?’

‘We’ve been watching movies a lot lately’ >> nos temos assistido muitos filmes atualmente.

‘They’ve been going out every day’ >> eles têm saido todos os dias.

What number are you?

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Are they calling you a ‘nota dez’ or simply a ‘um-sete-um’ -?

You better know. Brazilians love to use numbers with hidden meanings. Let’s look at the most common;

zero = brand, spanking, new.

> Ele ganhou um carro zero para trabalho.

10=  really, really good.

> Ela é linda, inteligente e simpatica — Ela é NOTA dez!

22= maluco. No Tarô há a carta do ARCANO 22 – O LOUCO.

> Ela deu uma de 22 e começou a gritar igual um macaco.

24= gay (veado). This comes from the betting game “jogo do bicho” which is played with numbered cards, each with the image of an animal. No. 24 is the deer or, veado. Not totally sure why deer = gay, but it does.

> Olha, eu vi ele saindo de uma boate gay no centro então, acho que ele deve ser ’24.’

171= rip-off, con (estelionato). Comes from the código penal in which 171 is that which deals with cons and fraud.

> Aquele home é maior 171, vive dando golpe.

0800= grátis, de graça. 800 is the toll-free prefix!

> Antes das 10 horas a entrada na boate é 0800.

mil= really, really great. Just like ‘dez’ only more so.

 

 

 

 

How to get what you want.

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One of the toughest things to get used to in this language is how you ‘ask’ for things. I mean, in a polite way — like when you’re requesting something from a store clerk. We dare used to saying for example, ‘I would like…’ / ‘May I have…’ / ‘Could you please give me a …’ — BUT, all of that is pretty much out the window here. It’s not that Brazilians are any less polite, but the words that they use, if taken literally can sound pretty abrasive. Here’s how for example, a typical request goes:

Me dá um quilo de mussarela / porção de batata fritas / melancia / beijo, por favor.  *note the ‘por favor‘ — that’s important.

Quero 5 pães franceses / um litro de gasolina / um hamburger

Vou querer um açaí com granola / fazer uma viajem para Buenos Aires.

 

And then she said…

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FALAR ou, DIZER?

 

Falar = speak/talk.
Dizer = say/tell.

Ele fala português. = He speaks Portuguese.
Ele estava falando comigo quando você nos interrompeu. = He was talking to me when you interrupted us.
Ele disse que não poderá vir hoje. = He said he won’t be able to come today.
Ele disse à namorada que a ama. = He told his girlfriend he loves her.

However, many people would substitute falar for dizer in Ele disse que não poderá vir hoje > Ele falou que não poderia vir hoje. and Ele disse à namorada que a ama > Ele falou à namorada que a ama, which is especially common, but still regarded as incorrect by many people.