PARA MIM versus PARA EU

My mom still gets mad when I get “I” and “me” mixed up. It still happens too often, giving her joy every time. It’s the same thing in Portuguese. The big confusion is whether to say para mim or, para eu. Fortunately, there is a very simple trick to getting these right. Once you know…

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To SER or not to ser.

One of the biggest deals to learn as a beginner is the difference between SER and ESTAR. Let’s forget the differences between the two and just look at ser, and when/how to use it. SER: to be SER is really just to talk about the hard facts. Nothing at all temporal or changing. But don’t…

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Portuguese Pronunciation – lh

The LH in the middle of a word is one of the trickiest pronunciations. Really though, it’s not that hard. You just need to remember to half-pronounce the ‘L’. So, it’s not trabayar it’s, trabaLHar. Feel yourself saying the L. But don’t dwell on it. As soon as you feel the L, continue right into…

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A gente » The conversational “we”

One of the many curiosities about the Portuguese language is the fact that there are TWO ways to say “we.” “A gente” can be used almost interchangeably with “nós.” A gente (we) is a colloquial form and is usually used in the spoken language instead of nós (we). Even though it means we, it’s a…

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the Preterit Indicative of irregular verbs

The Preterit Indicative (often called the “simple past”) is by-far, the most important past-tense to know. Let’s look at the most common irregular verbs in this tense: fazer, ter, ir, ser, estar, querer & dizer. There are many more irregulars, but most of them will follow similar patterns to these common examples presented here.

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Mesmo in Portuguese

One of the first things you’ll notice in Brazil is the word “mesmo.” You’ll hear it everywhwre! It has a few common uses: as “really” to emphasize, as “even though” triggering the subjunctive, and as “the same”. This post will show how to use ” mesmo”, and when it needs to become “mesmA” 😉

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mais in Portuguese

Let’s take a look at the different uses of ‘mais’ in Portuguese. It can compare one thing to another or simply mean ‘most’ or ‘more.’ You can use it to describe objects, or you can talk about the quantity of something, but using it correctly can be a challenge. As usual, in-context examples quickly bring this important word into focus.

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The future with IR

In Portuguese, the fastest way to start talking about the future is with the verb IR. All you need to know is how to conjugate IR in it’s present tense. This will give you superpowers to construct useful sentences like “I’m going to swim later today,” “She’s going to be mad!,” and “We’re going to buy the nuclear powered scooter.” Embrace the potential of IR – combine it with ANY VERB and say what’s GOING to happen.

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tudo vs. todo

TUDO in Portuguese is used when talking about non-specific things. So for example when you say “tudo bem” you’re saying, “everything’s fine / all is well”. Use TODO & TODA when you want to get more specific about things. For example, when saying something like, “I like to see here every day before going to work”…

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Você tem certeza?

Você tem certeza… ? Brazilians love a sure thing. They are a positive people. To be sure about something is instrinsically optimistic and Brazilians love it. Let’s learn the every-day phrases that they use to talk about sureness and certainty.

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Portuguese Articles: the The

The first thing that struck me as wrong with the use of o and a for THE. One letter? I really wanted at least an “el” or, “la”. Portuguese Articles (called: definite articles) are actually super-practical. Two immediate and big payoffs: (1) Most nouns that end in “o” take the “o”article. Most “a” ending words use “a” for “the”. (2) You can also combine…

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the Preterit Indicative ~ar verbs

The Preterit Indicative is sometimes called “the simple past tense” (or, the preterit). It’s the clearest past tense in Portuguese because It describes action that is over and done. Simple! Use it to say things like: I played soccer yesterday; Did she go to the club with you?; I liked the movie a lot — Don’t use it to say things like: If I were feeling better I’d go too; I was taking a shower when you called.

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GOSTAR

GOSTAR is obviously going to be one of your top-10m verbs that you use. There are two aspects of it that you need to be aware of to use it right: (1) the “de” that always (always) follows gostar; (2) the way that Brazilians actually say, “I like this and that” using the PAST tense rather than the present. In this post we’re going to look at the most common ways you’ll hear GOSTAR used, and learn how to use it effectively.

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Portuguese Contractions

The 3 most common Portuguese contractions are: (1) from em: no, na (2) from de: do, da (3) from a: ao, à. Once you know these 3, all the others will make sense! The hardest part is just getting used to saying for example, “no” when you do not mean “não” – but rather: em + o (in the).

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Portuguese possessive pronouns

Mine, Yours, His &; Hers The words that we use to convey POSSESSION are pretty simple because all objects are treated as gender-neutral. In Portuguese of course, there are always two options: the masculine and the feminine. These are called possessive pronouns and they are going to test the limits of your patience until you…

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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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Portuguese Expressions of Time

These are really useful ways to talk about the timing of things. These are the most common ones but, you can also modify these to say exactly what you want to say without learning anything else! I put most of these on my flashcard stack and memorized them before traveling to Brazil. Test yourself: Study…

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pequeno & grande – menor & maior

Stumbling block #1 for new learners is making sense of how Brazilians say small, smaller, smallest & big, bigger, biggest. (or, large/larger/largest) What’s the big deal? In all Portuguese you express things like short, smart, fat, fast, sexy like this: short = baixo shorter = mais baixo shortest = o mais baixo * And of…

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